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Tuesday 17th May: Exam Stress — live Q&A with Student Minds

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@StudentMinds


Welcome to your Q & A on exam stress! :smile:
I have a question.

I for one used to hate exams, but was always awful at remembering everything. Have you got any advice on how to remember a number of things for an exam.

Thanks!
Original post by Pickles
@StudentMinds


Welcome to your Q & A on exam stress! :smile:


Hi @Pickles, thanks for having us on today! Looking forward to answering some questions and calming some stressful times if we can!
Quite often I feel my whole future is about my exams and that I haven't done enough and then I find that feeling crippling and I find it so hard to start revising again.

and then on the day, I get so nervous at the start of the exam I waste minutes reading and re reading questions and losing time.

How can I manage this?
Original post by StudentMinds
Hi @Pickles, thanks for having us on today! Looking forward to answering some questions and calming some stressful times if we can!


Hey, welcome to TSR! I really hope you guys will be able to help out with exam stress. There might be some posts already in here you can help out with, but here's a question:

It's the night before an exam… I'm panicking and trying to cram everything. What's the best thing to do the night before? Should I cram or relax? :holmes:
Original post by iEthan

Exam time can be a very stressful one. It affects us all differently. Sometimes, people find it more difficult than others.ChildLine ran a National Exam Stress Survey and found that 96% of the 1300 who took part in the survey felt anxious about exams and revision. 59% felt pressure from their parents to succeed and 64% felt they have never received any support in dealing with exams.

TSR is running a campaign all of this week for Mental Health Awareness Week 2016 to promote and inform others of the state of mental health and to try and reduce the stigmas associated with mental health.

Student Minds will be popping on the site from 3-4pm today to help answer any of your questions and help you cope with your exam stress.

Furryface12 has written about exam stress and some of the ways you can deal with it, check it out here:

•

Exam stress: When it gets too much by furryface12


Do you get stressed by exams? Do you stress-busting tips to share?

We're here to share some tips to do with revision and exam stress, and link you to some useful sources of support: it could be blogs, videos, articles we really love.

It's good to note, everyone has different ways of studying and getting into a rhythm that's comfortable for them. Tips are helpful, but will always be personal so everyone's experience is different!
Original post by Queen Cersei
How do you stop yourself from obsessing about an exam once it's done?


A big part of this is in the preparation: knowing you've had a healthy routine in the build-up to an exam, and have revised everything you wanted to can really help your outlook however the exam goes. Also getting a chance to plan (and estimate timings) at the start, and reflect at the end of the exam can help to recognise what went well/badly.

Having things to look forward to after exams (celebrations, holidays, even just guilt-free time in front of the telly) can also help a lot, both before and after exams!
Original post by Des_Lumières
Make yourself some hot chocolate.


We've got a great collection of small wins you can do to help support your mental health, called Ripple Tips, over on the Student Minds website. If you're stuck for things to do and are looking for ways to boost your mood or things to do on revision breaks, check out studentminds.org.uk/Ripple-Tips

P.s. there's some from The Student Room there too!
Original post by johnd45
If you're ever experiencing extreme exam anxiety or stress, I recommend listening to these tracks. They helped me to relax and eventually fall asleep 🌛😴

https://youtu.be/nWnUuosQwZY

https://youtu.be/baKA1B5Ymuo

https://youtu.be/0z2L0Mo8C1s

https://youtu.be/3_MRe3JwFc8


Amazing, really looking forward to using this for work! Music can help people focus, especially if there's no words (or words in a different language!).

This was my jam during 3rd year exams!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9mrvbpx_3E

And here's what's currently playing in the Student Minds office (soundtracks are ace!) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3hFN8UrBPw
Original post by danandphil
Hi,
so i'm sure this site is full of pages on how to relax and keep calm before exams, I'm new and getting used to working my way around the site.
Can i please ask what your best techniques are for staying calm and relaxed? I can feel myself getting worked up already!
Thank you :smile:


We recommend this list from Buzzfeed, lots of tips from them about looking after yourself in the build up to exams.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/rustudentlife/15-ways-to-beat-exam-time-burnout-rg8v

With tip lists like this though, it's often easy to read but a lot harder to actually start doing some of them! I'd recommend to follow a few at a time, and get familiar with healthy ways to study bit by bit. Avoiding Buzzfeed procrastination is always a tricky one though!
Original post by dani t
Hi guys,

I have a psychology exam this Monday at 1:30 in the afternoon.
I can never fall asleep the night before an exam due to extreme anxiety and stress, and this is no exaggeration. This has been a problem for me for the past 2 years, so I've always been forced to do an all nighter which has always left me feeling like death in the actual exam.
Shall I do an all nighter tonight so I can get a good early night's sleep on Sunday?

What are your suggestions?

for me keeping my routine the same a few days before an exam helps. good luck


Quite a few people have left great tips above, we would generally recommend against disruptive changes in sleeping pattern, routine is definitely the safest way for your health/brain!

Always remember that if you have any difficulties which affect your performance in an exam, you can share this with staff/student support teams and most unis can take this into consideration. The earlier you can let examiners know this, the better too :smile:
Original post by Pickles
I have a question.

I for one used to hate exams, but was always awful at remembering everything. Have you got any advice on how to remember a number of things for an exam.

Thanks!


Good question, there's lots of guides out there about different ways to memorise things, we keep coming back to this one:
https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/memory-tricks-exam-success.html. Playing around with different approaches is helpful, but as usual it's helpful to start early to really cement info learned using methods like this.

Mind-maps are particularly good at helping you group information if you're a visual learner! http://www.tonybuzan.com/images/mm_health.jpg
Original post by Horrorscope
Quite often I feel my whole future is about my exams and that I haven't done enough and then I find that feeling crippling and I find it so hard to start revising again.

and then on the day, I get so nervous at the start of the exam I waste minutes reading and re reading questions and losing time.

How can I manage this?


Hi @Horrorscope, we can definitely see what you mean. Particularly during exam time (but during the year too) it can be hard to keep focused against stress and pressure. Keeping things in perspective is really important, and knowing that exam scores don't define you as a person. Think how far you've come already, and what other characteristics and skills make you 'you'. Recognising your wins can help too, so some people find keeping track of successes at the end of each day can help you see how far you've come.
Original post by iEthan
Hey, welcome to TSR! I really hope you guys will be able to help out with exam stress. There might be some posts already in here you can help out with, but here's a question:

It's the night before an exam… I'm panicking and trying to cram everything. What's the best thing to do the night before? Should I cram or relax? :holmes:


Hi @iEthan, I bet there's lots of students thinking about this recently!

This can be really hard to make the call of cram or relax, it's really depend on the person and their usual working routine, but we'd recommend to 1) stick to a regular working and sleep pattern where you can, 2) look at the bigger picture (how much work have you got to do, what is essential, what is extra), and 3) how do you perform best in an exam? Most people work best on 6+ hours of sleep (ideally more), so the benefits of cramming might be outweighed by tiredness.
@Horrorscope @iEthan @Pickles @Queen Cersei @Rhythmical @Des_Lumières @johnd45

This is our guide for dealing with exam stress which might come in useful! http://www.studentminds.org.uk/exam-stress.html

Key things to remember are:
1) Keep it in perspective
2) Find your organised zone
3) Get into some good habits (healthy mind/healthy body)
4) Avoid bad habits (but don't cut everything you enjoy out your life)
5) Get support from family & friends, tell people how you feel
Original post by StudentMinds
@Horrorscope @iEthan @Pickles @Queen Cersei @Rhythmical @Des_Lumières @johnd45

This is our guide for dealing with exam stress which might come in useful! http://www.studentminds.org.uk/exam-stress.html

Key things to remember are:
1) Keep it in perspective
2) Find your organised zone
3) Get into some good habits (healthy mind/healthy body)
4) Avoid bad habits (but don't cut everything you enjoy out your life)
5) Get support from family & friends, tell people how you feel


Hey, these tips are really handy! :yep: Thank you! :excited:
@StudentMinds


Thank you so much for sharing these tips and answering questions! Extremely helpful :smile:
Thanks to everyone who asked questions, hope we've been able to help! There's been loads of helpful answers from you though, so please keep up with exam stress tips if you have any - we'll keep an eye on the thread over the next few days.

Recognising when you're finding things tough can be hard, take time to reflect and talk to people around you. Universities all take students' health (mental and physical) into consideration during the exam period, so if there's any reason you'd need allowances (like more time or a re-sit) it's your right to get support. The earlier you inform examiners about any mental health difficulties you have, the better.

There's some useful links for support around various difficulties here:
studentminds.org.uk/further-support

And finally, good luck! It is a difficult time, but you will get through it, and there's a lot of people out there to help if you need it.
Answer to stress (1).jpg
I'm so stressed! :cry2: I can't believe how overwhelmed I feel.

The years far hasn't gone too badly (thats a lie, the year was terrible but my marks aren't bad so far, sitting on A's and B's) but gosh it's overwhelming, I can't stop obsessing over the fact that things could just take a complete U- turn.

So my question is! How can you keep faith in yourself? :frown:
Reply 39
Avatar for z33
z33
21
OooooOoOoohhh I found mah home :lol:

Yeah i feel like my life is over, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna be homeless and live in a cardboard box down the street and become a halal stripper :cry2:

For real tho I'm ****ing shitting myself :afraid:
Usually I cry to my mum and then I revise for 20 mins then I cry more and then do another 20 mins but today I just felt like complete **** and didnt do anything and now I cant sleep cos the guilt is eating me from the inside and

Ugh D'x

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