Many students suffer silently until they crumble under the pressure

All through school, Sindhu (name changed) was what teachers called a ‘good performer’. She aced her Class X exams, and for a while it was smooth sailing. But by Class XII, the 17-year-old felt her life starting to unravel. The pressure to do well and succeed was growing to the point of claustrophobia, and she felt constricted by the expectations from parents, teachers and even her peers. It got to the point where she began thinking of dropping out.
Her anxiety began manifesting itself in different ways: she began experiencing migraines and bouts of depression, and refused to interact with others.
There are many students like her who suffer silently until they crumble under the intense stress and pressure. With exam season around the corner, help-lines, psychologists and psychiatrists have seen a rise in students battling exam-related stress disorders. They also expect more students to approach them in March when the final exams are held.
Mental health professions that The Hindu spoke to reiterated that the onus is not on students but on society and the education system.
Many students who experience severe manifestations of exam anxiety often need psychiatric help. K. John Vijay Sagar, Associate Professor, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS said that while a majority of his patients were those appearing for the board examinations, the youngest is an eight-year-old.
Some of the symptoms, such as depression, not interacting with others, decrease in sleep and appetite, fatigue and lack of concentration, are indications that a person needs medical help. "If the child is suffering from emotional or behaviour disorder, then the psychologist counselling him/her needs to decide if the counselling is helping or the patient needs more help," said Dr. Sagar.
It was only after experiencing these debilitating effects that Sindhu agreed to see a counsellor. “I felt suffocated in my college and at home. With counselling, I was able to express all my problems, such as issues with my college and the unreasonable expectations set by my college and parents.” Her parents wanted her to become either an engineer or a doctor. “After attending these sessions, my parents stopped pressuring me and allowed me to pursue pure sciences," she said.
Bharathi Singh, founder of Sa-Mudra Foundation, which runs a helpline during the exam season along with the Karnataka Secondary Education and Examination Board, said that the helpline receives around 3,900 calls throughout the year. “But during exam season, we get 200 calls per day,” she said.
Ms. Singh said that many students lose their appetite, do not take care of personal hygiene and experience severe headache.
Students can’t remember what they’ve learned
Over the past two or three years, counsellors have noticed that many students complain that they are not able to recall what they had studied.  “Due to all assignments and homework going online, the dependence on digital data is so much that many students are unable to recall," Ms. Singh said.
Don’t stress
Tips
- Form a study schedule and stick to it 
- Do not study for long hours at a stretch
- Take a break every one hour 
- Do not panic if you can’t recollect what you have learned. Go through the concepts again
- Eat healthy
- Ensure that you drink at least 10 glasses of water a day
- Exercise, meditate or practice yoga to de-stress 
- Identify what causes the stress and find solutions to tackle them 
- Do not set unreasonable expectations
Source: Sa-Mudra Foundation