On May 30 nationwide examswhich are one of the most critical and decisive moments in the student course of children. Preparation for these exams is often accompanied by severe anxiety, not only for students, but also for parents and teachers.

“Pressure becomes multifaceted and anxiety, if we do not recognize it and manage it, it is in danger of paralyzing us.”

Psychologist Akis Makrigiannis, a collaborator of the Skimaka Agency, gives helpful tips on management of stress, recognition of symptoms and converting it into driving force.

“Expectations, anxiety, fatigue, anxiety, emotion. The Panhellenic period carries quite a few loads. Many times the phrase “gives Panhellenic” acts as a key phrase so that the interlocutor automatically enters a house where everything revolves around the exams and co-feels the intensity of this process, “Mr Makrigiannis told RES-EIA.

The pressure of the nationwide exams is multifaceted, he notes. “At the heart of course are students who carry performance pressure and exhaustive preparation. But parents also give their own “exams”, with the need to look as supportive as their child as supportive. “

The multi -evolving stress of exams and symptoms

Stress before and during exams can occur in a variety of ways: insomnia, reduced or increased appetite for food, irritation, outbursts, anxiety or panic attacks, fear of failure.

“The trap of the Panhellenic is that they place the candidate in front of a misleading dilemma of” white – black “:” Either I will make it or the end of the world will come. ” This dipole creates an unfair pressure, which is often reinforced by comparison with peers, family pressure, and by the establishment of “success” as an end in itself, “Mr. Makrigiannis explains.

The denaturation / management of stress

And yet, this stress can be turned into a driving force, the psychologist Akis Makrigiannis tells RES-EIA. “If recognized and treated, it can be transformed into creativity, appetite. It can be shifted from disorganizing to functionality.

Stress carries a mental energy, which has the ability to paralyze us. But if we manage it appropriately, we can “turn” this energy to something useful and channel it where we want. “

Tips for students:

– Organization with reality: All students would like to read “a little more”. To make their preparation “a little better”. The acceptance that they are not robots but people is decisive. A flexible program, with realistic goals, pauses and breaks, helps in stability and reduces the sense of chaotic preparation.

– Resting breaks: It is preferable to read for a few hours but concentrated rather than sitting over the books for hours, without focusing on what he reads. The better the breaks are, the more chances of reading quality. Walks in a pleasant environment, physical activity, short contact with friends, work in this direction.

– Personalized approach: Every person has his own personality and his own “buttons”. A student can read better while listening to a mild melody, while the same scenario for another student can be catastrophic. One can better gather in the afternoons, another in the evenings. Knowing ourselves, and respecting – adapting our environment to our “routines”, is important.

– Self-care: Like a car cannot move without gasoline, so no human can work effectively- especially in periods of pressure- without good sleep, proper nutrition, sufficient hydration.

– Expression of thoughts and emotions: either to parents, to friends, to a specialist, or even to themselves with a personal diary, it can act as a discharge.

– Focus on the present: I have my goal in my mind, but at the same time focus on here and now. In the next reading, in the next special I have, the next day.

– Replacement of the dipole success – Failure: Let’s try as much as possible to change the logic of “I will succeed / fail” with “I will give my best”. This is the real success. And this must help the family environment.

Tips for his parents:

– Supporting and available: The question “How are you?” Or the statement “if you want to express feelings or thoughts, we are available”, are of great value and give the student space to express themselves whenever they want it, without pressure. Parents can also become more flexible at this time with their rules and exceptions: “Yes, you can do this today exceptional, but it’s not the rule.” This keeps the delimitation, while at the same time giving discharge space.

– Acceptance regardless of the result: The child needs to know that he is dear and acceptable anyway. He does not take exams for anyone else beyond himself and his performance will not change anything in the relationship he has with parents, neither for the better, nor for the worse.

“The most important message of this period is that life does not end in the Panhellenic and the value of a teenager is not determined by a score. These exams are not the terminal because the career is not determined by one success or a failure.

Behind the writing there is a young man with dreams. Dreams have solid foundations, they do not crumble. And they are not going to be demolished, whatever the exams, “concludes psychologist Akis Makrigiannis.

Good luck to candidates. Good power to those who stand outside the rooms waiting for them.