AIIMS expert shares tips with students to deal with stress ahead of board exams

The Delhi government’s directorate of education (DoE) on Tuesday conducted an interactive session for students in classes 10 and 12 with a mental health expert from All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to help students deal with stress ahead of the board exams scheduled to start next week

The Delhi government’s directorate of education (DoE) on Tuesday conducted an interactive session for students in classes 10 and 12 with a mental health expert from All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to help students deal with stress ahead of the board exams scheduled to start next week. The session was live-streamed for students and parents.

The session, titled Exams at Ease, was conducted by Nand Kumar from the department of psychiatry, AIIMS. (HT Archive)

The session, titled Exams at Ease, was conducted by Nand Kumar from the department of psychiatry, AIIMS. During the session, Kumar shared with students ways to tackle stress while preparing for exams.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board examinations for classes 10 and 12 are scheduled to begin on February 15. The class 10 exams for minor subjects will commence with painting while entrepreneurship will be the first subject for students in class 12. For students in class 12, the last exam will be in psychology subject, which is scheduled for April 5 whereas the last exam for class 10 is mathematics, which will take place on March 21.

Kumar said while it was difficult to operate without stress, there was a need to manage stress in a conducive manner. “Day-to-day stress and anxieties are normal phenomena but when the intensity increases to the extent that it harms us, it becomes a cause of concern,” said Kumar. He said good stress was needed for active functioning. “Stress that allows you to perform well is good. However, if stress hampers your functioning, it becomes bad stress,” said Kumar.

He also suggested various activities that students could undertake to reduce stress during exam preparation and in their day-to-day life. “We should do activities such as mindfulness and belly breathing to overcome stress. When we are in stress, the breathing rate increases. This can be reduced through breathing techniques and mindfulness,” said Kumar. He also asked students to follow a healthy diet to avoid restlessness.

Awadhesh Kumar Jha, principal of Sarvodaya Co-ed Vidyalaya, Rohini, sector 8, said, “Students learned various breathing techniques so the session was quite helpful.”