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Impact of Competitive Exams on Mental Health of Students

Mental Health

Right from the age of development children are taught that they need to ahead of the game all the time. Getting good grades in school without fail have been a known tradition from the early times. Children are often told that getting admission in reputed colleges, universities or even getting a good job can be near to impossible if they lack a competitive nature. Well, it is definitely pressurizing for the fledging minds to handle but is also true to a lot of extent. This tendency to be ahead of time, pace along with the fiercely competitive world still exists when they grow up.

As a matter of fact, human life is never free from competition. Growing up does not solve the problem of tension anxiety even though academic life ends. Nowadays job market demands candidates who are able to handle stress and work under pressure. Candidates also need to score good in competitive entrance examinations even when they want to dream of a promising and stable career. Tests like Gate exam, ies exam, etc. often impose a scenario where even the most experienced individuals end up losing their confidence. This is mostly the case nowadays and important research says that it is even impacting the mental health conditions of students atquite an extent. Take a closer look to the occurrences.

Test anxiety – a new entity in the academic world
Exam anxiety is being termed as a new entity in the realm of science and research. It is nothing concrete and is absolutely psychological. However, the sufferer can be highly affected by the same. Test anxiety can be really powerful at times and can affect plenty of actions and thoughts of the student. Researchers state that the relevant symptoms includes the overthinking about tests, lack of confidence, sleeplessness, possessing a typical negative belief, insecurity about exam preparation and more. Panic disorder, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder are some of the most common mental health problems that appear in academic realms. When it comes to competitive tests like, ies exam, MBA or BBA, the level of anxiety nearly doubles up. It is becomes even more challenging to handle because the sufferer is a fully grown adult with quite activated senses and feelings. Predicting performance for competitive exams is also done based on realistic grounds.

Competitive exams affect the physical health of students
Anxiety can stretch its hands long enough and does not only make a space for itself in the mind but also adversely affect the body. Symptoms like nausea, headache, fatigueless, Change in appetite or weight, etc. can appear. Physical and mental health is strongly related and it is important that you are aware of the same before you let it in.

Too much stress and nervousness can trigger pre-existing mental health
Research says that exam anxiety have complete power to awaken existing mental health issues. If the student possess past trauma, depression or anxiety issues, examination stress can make it worse. Cooperation of family members and parents plays an important role here. Taking a professional assistance is a wise idea if things are not within the control. Competitive exams are different than that of regular or school examinations and the earlier you take the precautions the better for the student. You can also take help from a professional counselor without any hesitation as exam stress is quite common among students nowadays. Plenty of the future career life of a student depends on a competitive exam.

Know about the concept of ‘exam stresses to be one step ahead
It is important for students appearing in competitive examinations to know about the stress that can develop with the rolling of time. Some students tend to suffer from stress for a long time and lose interest in the practical activities of life including studying. On the other hand, some suffer from a last-minute severe anxiety which can hamper the performance of the individual drastically. Irrespective of how prepared you are, stress can take a significant leap to ruin it all. So, if you are informed and educated about it from beforehand, you can cut out on the same to a large extent. Just like how driving becomes much easier when you are informed about which way you are heading.

But handling competitive exam stress is no rocket science as well
It will not be right to directly say that you need to avoid nervousness and stress before or while appearing for a competitive exam. Competitive exams are about a lot of investment of time, money and above all effort. Every aspirant has hope in their minds and it is important for you to know that there are ways to avoid stress if you know the tactics. It might not disappear completely but you can get the situation in your grip and save your performance for the best. After all that is all you need to accomplish at the end of the day. So listed below are some of the quick and practical tips for you to avoid stress while preparing and appearing in competitive exams.

  • Know about the exam pattern, format, timings and duration. Whether you are appearing for a PMP exam, Gate exam or say ies exam, do some research about what you are going to deal with in the exam hall. Most of the exams are taken online (computer-based) these days and you can also do some research on the tools and software if applicable.Take the breaks that are provided in between the exam sessions. Know that they are given for a reason.
  • Envision the test as just another test and give your two hindered person without any unnecessary procrastination.
  • Rather replace the negative thoughts with optimism.
  • Do not compromise on sleep the night before
  • Do a revision of the significant pointers early in the morning on the exam day.

Know that stress is inversely proportional to performance. It is a simple equation. Above all, it is important to train your mind step by step and proceed with utmost conviction as you are the best person to prepare yourself.

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