A psychiatrist, addressing students of Classes X and XII ahead of the start of their board examinations, said it was “normal to feel anxious and be a little nervous”.
Jai Ranjan Ram said while speaking to students of South Point school said the anxiousness helped to keep oneself motivated for working hard and not become overconfident.
If the anxiety is too “overwhelming” one needs to reach out and talk to friends, parents or maybe their favourite teacher, he said.
Psychiatrist Ram is a South Point old boy from the class of 1983.
He was speaking on “how to tackle the fear of examination” at an online session organised in collaboration with the South Point Ex-students’ Association.
“You have to feel anxious, you have to feel a little nervous in order to motivate yourself, in order to make yourself work a little harder so that you are not overconfident or don’t to do as well as you meant to do,” Ram said during the online programme on Friday.
“Don’t feel awkward or upset that you are facing anxiety, some amount of nervousness, palpitations, that you are unable to sleep at night... that is absolutely normal before major exams,” said Ram.
The CBSE Class X and XII semester 2 board examinations begin on April 26.
The students wrote the semester 1 board examination in November-December.
The other advice from the psychiatrist was reaching out for help if needed, rather than keeping it to oneself.
“If you feel anxious, nervous, or depressed, if you feel it is too overwhelming, you are feeling very panicky...unable to manage, some of you might think of not sitting for the board exams and dropping a year. Please don’t keep it to yourself. Talk to your teachers, parents and seek help,” said Ram.
Before the start of the online session as well as during the programme several students had sent in their questions on how to avoid distraction before exams.
He said that the phone was a source of distraction and it was important to keep it away.
“If the phone is required for studying only then it should be used and not to browse social media or any other app,” he said.
The advice from the doctor was also to reduce screen time.
“The breaks in between studies should not be about going back to screen, but socially interacting by talking to family, relatives over phone, taking a walk with the pet or maybe meeting friends,” he said.
Ram also suggested how students could help each other. He asked them to raise the red flag if they felt a friend needed help.
“Talk to the friend and, with their permission, speak to their parents or speak to a teacher you trust. Because often when we ourselves are depressed, anxious, feeling sad...many negative thoughts come and we shut ourselves. We don’t reach out to people. Often it is our friends who pick it up. If you feel that you know someone like that do reach out to them,” he said.