The Student Room Group

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

Exam Stress
Mental Health Awareness Week 2016


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:

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Exam stress: When it gets too much by furryface12



Do you get stressed by exams? Do you stress-busting tips to share? Get involved in the conversation! Reply below or make a thread about it. Let's get people talking about mental health.

You can post anonymously here.

We're holding various events and writing about lots of different themes throughout the week. Take a look here!

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
Avatar for johnd45
johnd45
10
Original post by bubblegumcat
Ohh i see :frown: could you not sleep during the day so you're not tired at night... I mean i guess you do whatever works for you but if you feel really tired in the exam that could affect your performance....and no I'm doing aqa, are you retaking?


Yeah it's a retake. Thanks anyway, and best of luck :smile:
Reply 2
Avatar for johnd45
johnd45
10
Original post by student2312
A strict sleeping routine for a week or 2 before the exams that ends with you doing something quiet and without a single screen.
Pick an early time, go to the toilet, get your jammies on and lie in bed reading a book until you fall asleep. Reading keeps your brain active enough to not think about stress and worrying but isn't as engaging as a screen or tv so wont prevent you from falling asleep. Just read until you fall sleep.

It may take a while the first night but continue until your falling asleep and waking up at the same time each day then hopefully on the night of your exam you will fall asleep at that time :smile:

One trick my sister swears by is spraying a lavender (or similar spray) on her pillow everynight before or as she's falling asleep then when she sprays it the night before exams or anything exiting/stressful she associates it with sleep and gets sleepy.


Thanks! I think I'll try with the try some sort of spray to help me sleep
Original post by johnd45
Even when I'm tired I can't fall asleep the night before an exam, it's more of an mental thing, so I might just have to do an all nighter tonight to completely drain myself mentally and physically and then get a very early night's sleep on Sunday night and wake up at like 6 in the morning and I still have a few good hours to look over my notes. And yeah haha, wjec as well then?


Ohh i see :frown: could you not sleep during the day so you're not tired at night... I mean i guess you do whatever works for you but if you feel really tired in the exam that could affect your performance....and no I'm doing aqa, are you retaking?
Reply 4
Avatar for dani t
dani t
7
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
Omg i have the same problem, i can't sleep because of anxiety/stress/worry/excitement i don't even know :frown:
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:

Hey, by the way you have an awesome username, the night before you should do something relaxing, take a bath or have a walk. Eat some hearty food and watch a film. If you think you might have trouble sleeping then listen to some relaxing music on youtube. For me the most relaxing sound is rain so that's what I use.
Good luck and don't worry too much
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:
A strict sleeping routine for a week or 2 before the exams that ends with you doing something quiet and without a single screen.
Pick an early time, go to the toilet, get your jammies on and lie in bed reading a book until you fall asleep. Reading keeps your brain active enough to not think about stress and worrying but isn't as engaging as a screen or tv so wont prevent you from falling asleep. Just read until you fall sleep.

It may take a while the first night but continue until your falling asleep and waking up at the same time each day then hopefully on the night of your exam you will fall asleep at that time :smile:

One trick my sister swears by is spraying a lavender (or similar spray) on her pillow everynight before or as she's falling asleep then when she sprays it the night before exams or anything exiting/stressful she associates it with sleep and gets sleepy.
(edited 7 years ago)
I feel your pain! I find it so difficult to sleep before exams, I worry about them so much. If you want my opinion, I think pulling an all nighter will do more damage than it's worth because you may then still have trouble falling asleep which would further cause you to be lacking in sleep. When I know I'm going to have trouble falling asleep, about 3-4 hours before I go to bed I will do some kind of physical activity (I will normally go for a walk with a friend for a few hours; something that will make me tired), when I get home I will then make sure I have everything prepared for the next day so that I'm not then sat in bed worrying about forgetting to do things in the morning, or if I can't prepare my bags the night before I will write a note to myself to remind myself of what I need to do when I wake up. Then about 2 hours before I go to bed I will eat a meal, I know it's not recommended that you eat before going to sleep but honestly, when you combine the feeling of fatigue from exercise with a full stomach it really does help you to sleep. Then about half an hour before going to bed I will go and get my bedroom prepared, I will close the curtains, make sure all my electrical devices are turned off and there's no light to keep me awake and then I will brush my teeth and get into bed. Once I'm comfy in bed I will go on my phone (turn the brightness all the way down and also turn off all my notifications) and I will go onto YouTube and find some kind of educational video/ university lecture of some random subject which I don't understand in the slightest, these normally bore me to death but I will listen to them on a low volume as I lie in bed with my eyes shut, (I will normally search a maths or physics lecture, but anything that you won't understand will do) after a while the talking from the video sort of becomes background noise and it's actually quite relaxing and I find that it really helps me to drop off. Just make sure you have your phone on some kind of timer so that it will turn off after a certain amount of time so you don't wake up to some random video being played that will wake you up, I've often made the mistake of leaving the auto-play on YouTube on and almost having a heart attack when Slipknot have blasted through my headphones as I'm dropping off to sleep!

Anyway, this is what normally works for me so I hope this is somewhat useful for you. Good luck in your exam! :smile:


Posted from TSR Mobile
Thanks for your help guys! But I ended up sleeping at 5am and waking up at 10am, which was very anti-climatic! Haha


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by mellowjoker
How did your exam go? 😊


Posted from TSR Mobile


It went quite well thanks :smile:
My only worry is that if the examiner is able to read my handwriting because I rushed it due to having only 15 minutes per essay :P


Posted from TSR Mobile
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
Make yourself some hot chocolate.
Original post by danandphil
Hi,
thank you :smile: can you guess who i watch on youtube :^_^:
I love the sound of rain too! I find it really soothing.
thank you very much for replying, I really appreciate it :smile:

It's okay and hmmm who do you watch on youtube? I remember being so lost when I first joined so feel free to ask anything you need
Original post by danandphil
I may occasionally watch these two guys called Dan and Phil? Not obsessed or anything though.. ha.. ha.
thank you, thats very kind :smile:

Oh, Dan and Phil, I've heard something about them, whats with the whiskers? XD
How did your exam go? 😊


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Wordnerd2
It's okay and hmmm who do you watch on youtube? I remember being so lost when I first joined so feel free to ask anything you need


I may occasionally watch these two guys called Dan and Phil? Not obsessed or anything though.. ha.. ha.
thank you, thats very kind :smile:
Great idea! :happy2:
How do you stop yourself from obsessing about an exam once it's done?

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