Adolescent’s mental health (Part 4)
This issue is in continuation with previous topic on adolescents’ common problems. We are discussing on issues faced by good number of adolescents who would need counselling at the right time t
o correct their course of action, stay focused, develop emotional stability and become healthy societal members. We will be covering in subsequent issues, the medium to severe mental disorders, if these common problems are untreated for a long time.
Some more common problems and solutions
3. Exam Fear:
Do you experience most difficulty while you’re
studying for exams? Or, in the exam room itself?
The symptoms can be expressed from physical aspects
like sweating, heart palpitation to procrastination, poor concentration and
less of focus to drug abuse.
Catch
22: You are aware that to study effectively you have to
focus on the material, but the thoughts are about ‘what happens if I fail’ or
‘what if I go blank during the exam’. Negative thoughts are the killers.
Remember
the 2 states of mind (part 2), conscious mind should be fed with positive
thoughts for the subconscious mind to work 24x7 and make us do the right
things. Following are some of the techniques:
1.
Visualization or Imagery: You
should imagine that you are going to exam hall, receiving the question paper,
read all questions and you are starting to write the answers of questions of
your choice, you are able to write all answers covering all the points and
coming out successfully. This is positive thinking and imagination. Practice
this scenario every day after 10 mins of deep breathing.
2.
Deep Breathing: Relaxation technique of concentrating on slow inhalation through left
nostril and breathing out through right by closing left. Again, start with
right nostril to breathe out through left. This not only supplies sufficient
oxygen for the brain to keep you with energy, but also helps in diverting the
negative thoughts. More oxygen to brain and body, the better effort from your
side is exerted. Also, relaxation and stress cannot co-exist. So, you are
driving away stress.
3.
Preparation: If you have not started reading and writing
from the beginning, at least start now.
a.
Put
up a schedule for the remaining days for the subjects that needs to be studied.
Prioritize on difficult subjects first.
b.
Do
Read-Write-Rehearse for 45 mins and take a small break. Last issue covers the
studying and rehearsing method.
c.
Solve
question papers, a way of estimating writing time and rehearsing the exam
moments. This practice is a must. It is called as “Graded Exposure”, you are
getting exposed to exam like scenarios and helps in planning, executing well
with several rehearsals.
d.
Keep
doing Visualization and Deep breathing every day.
4.
Avoid the following
5.
Diet and Sleep: Stick to nutritious balanced diet with plenty of water intake and
sufficient sleep
6.
Previous day of Exam:
a. Get
a good night’s sleep
b. Make
sure you know the venue of exam and time of exam, plan for the commute time to
reach the exam 1 hour prior to exam.
c. Get
pens, pencils, erasers, your watch, ID, Hall tickets, etc ready the night
before
d. Do not read anything new. Go through
the written notes or key points. Revise and Rehearse.
7. Day
of Exam
a. Breathing
and Visualization must activities to begin the day.
b. Mentally
plan time schedule for answering the different sections in the Question Paper.
i.
5 mins glancing the questions – mental note on
confident, not so confident etc
ii. Last 10-15 mins for revision is a must. This should accommodate 5 mins
iii. 1st question will take 5 mins extra, you need to make up for the rest of the questions.
c. Stop analysing the questions and answers
written post exam, its done deal. Conserve energy to focus on next paper.
Next issue, we will cover the important topic on Anger
and its management. This will include maintaining healthy relationships.
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