Exam stress

A definition of stress may be:

• Strain felt by somebody: mental, emotional, or physical strain caused by, e.g. anxiety or overworking. It may cause such symptoms as raised blood pressure or depression.
• Cause of strain: something that causes stress. In current society, we may refer to ourselves as being “stressed” when we in fact mean that we are under pressure, or under strain.

Stress tends to come when it is prolonged and there is no release in that pressure. Stress begins to impact us in a number of ways:

• How we think e.g. we may think negatively about ourselves, or what we are doing
• How we behave e.g. we can withdraw from activities that were previously helpful and start unhelpful activities such as smoking more
• Our emotions e.g. may feel frustrated, angry, low or anxious some of the time
• How we feel e.g. we may feel tired all the time

Have a look at these signs and consider those that are relevant to you:

• Struggling to concentrate
• Noticing signs like sweating and heart racing
• Getting irritable with others
• Thinking you’re going to fail
• Spending too much, or not enough, time revising
• Thinking that everyone else is doing better
• Having trouble sleeping
• Worrying about letting people down
• Not eating well
• Stopping socialising or socialising too much

If you identify with some of these, it may be helpful for you to get some tips before it becomes unmanageable.

If you recognise most, you will be experiencing exam-related stress and it can be helpful to get some support from friends, family or others to manage this.

We may feel like everyone else around us isn’t stressed. They seem to be coping fine and don’t seem to do half the revision that you do.

We will discuss later about negative thinking, but how likely we are to become stressed can be part of our personality. There are two personality ‘types’: Type A and Type B. Both have incredible strengths. You will have qualities of both, but one might feel more you than the other.

Type A traits:

• Must be on time for things
• Must get things done on a deadline
• Wants everything perfect
• Might interrupt others’ conversations
• Likes to do more than one thing at a time
• Always in a hurry

Type B traits:

• Unhurried about appointments
• Can leave things unfinished for a while
• Easy-going and doesn’t mind things not being perfect
• Can listen and wait easily in conversations
• Focuses on one task
• Not rushed about many things

So, now you have identified which personality type you might be, it can be helpful to understand how this might be affecting you.

If you are more of a personality Type A, you will aim high and have high expectations for yourself. This personality may be more prone to stress for those reasons. These are great qualities. However, it can become unhelpful. For example:

Helpful: Likes to be on time. Homework is rarely late. On time for lessons and the start of school. Gets praise from others and feels good about themselves.

Unhelpful: Spends time every evening doing homework. Turns down invites from friends. Feels anxious when it might look like we’ll be late, for example may feel irritated in a traffic jam.

If you are more of a personality Type B, you will be more accepting of change and be easy-going about personal goals. These are good qualities. However, it can become unhelpful. For example:

Helpful: Work gets done nearly always on time and there’s no worry if it’s late. Can leave things until last minute and feel comfortable with that.

Unhelpful: Work builds up and there is too much to do. Work becomes late and you feel anxious or worried while others become frustrated with you.

We said that stress comes from pressure or strain that is prolonged. This stress can impact on how we feel, how we think and what we do. When we think of exams, we can think that there is a build up of preparation and mock exams before getting to the actual exam.

Is there any wonder that some people may experience exam stress under these conditions?

For some others, there may be factors that add to the build up of exam stress. For example, pressure from parents to do well, a university offer, pressure from ourselves or previous unsuccessful attempts at passing exams. This all feeds into a vicious circle.

Plan ahead. No matter which personality type you are, it is helpful to plan ahead.

Planning ahead ensures that you do not over revise, or that you revise enough and ensures you dedicate enough time to every topic. Here are a few handy hints and tips to help you plan:

• Write down the topics you need to revise and break it down into small chunks.
• Make a revision timetable. Plot out all the topics on the timetable and when the exam is.
• Get some previous exam papers towards the end of your revision.
• Find what revision styles work for you. Is it alone or with a parent, carer or friend? Do you learn best by drawing diagrams, talking about it or do you like to write things out?
• Plan things to do outside of your revision and events to look forward to after your exam. This will be like rewarding yourself for having completed the revision or the exam.

We can challenge or change how we think. If we think we will not do well, we may begin to act in a way that makes this more likely. Therefore, how we think is vital to overcoming exam stress.

When we are stressed, we are more likely to focus on the negative thoughts. You can challenge these thoughts by asking yourself some simple questions:

• Am I focusing on the negative or the positive?
• What is helpful about thinking in this way?
• Do I need to look at the bigger picture?
• Am I asking questions that have no answer?
• What could I change about my situation?
• Am I condemning myself based on one single event?

This is a very useful question to ask yourself. Sometimes, because the thoughts we have are ours, we don’t question them and we believe them.

A fact is undisputable, like a week has seven days. It’s based on real events and is led by rational thought. An opinion is disputable, like it feels like a long week. It’s based on feelings and is emotion-led.

If we had a thought, “I am going to fail this exam” but then challenged it by asking, “is this fact or is this opinion?”, we may have the following arguments:

Fact: I didn’t fail my mock exam. No one has said I will fail.

Opinion: I feel like my friends are doing better. I feel stressed.

A lot of the time, these thoughts are just thoughts. They are here because you feel stressed. Challenging them helps us to realise that there may be little or no facts that support that thought. Therefore, it is merely an opinion.

• Take regular breaks
• Plan things to look forward to after exams
• Remember there’s life after exams
• Challenge your negative or unhelpful thinking
• Get a good night’s sleep and plenty of rest
• Don’t just focus on the topics you enjoy, but ensure there’s a mix
• Don’t increase smoking or drinking alcohol
• Don’t listen to unhelpful people
• Don’t be tempted to cram in your revision

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

The same is true for revision and the exam is the elephant. By taking it piece by piece you will be able to tackle it!