With the season of exams fast approaching, invisible anxiety and stress associated with it is inevitable.
Experts in the city urge parents not to dragoon their children as they point out that consulting a therapist itself is still a taboo.
While every parent wants their ward to excel or supersede other students, the children are subjected to immense pressure taking a toll on their state of mind. Psychologists state that diagnosis and acceptance of the problem is another problem in itself.
Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children (ICH&HC) Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Professor and Head, Dr M S Jagadeesan, said, “Exam anxiety and depression are common among children appearing for class 10 and 12 exams. Teachers and parents portray the board exam as a ‘game-changer’: that pressurises them further.”
He added, “Despite students passing out from school, if not diagnosed, it can manifest in behavioural changes. S/he may not be outgoing, refrain from getting along with a group and exhibit strange characteristics. Though the institutions help in equipping a candidate with knowledge, they fail to groom the self, develop a good personality and maintain good inter-personal relationships. Parents and teachers are required to take active measures to address the key areas.”
Jagadeesan suggested that schools go the extra mile and organise sensitisation programme to help students handle their mental stress.
Chennai-based independent psychologist, Mini Rao, stated that every parent wants their children to be an engineering or a doctor and points to lapses in the education system.
“With minimal or no knowledge about computer programming, they are enrolled in an engineering college. The students, sadly, have to fulfil their parents’ aspira tions of becoming doctors or engineers although their interests lie elsewhere,” said the psychologist.
She further asserted that the emergence of alternative streams of education such as fashion designing, interior decoration, journalism and the like must be considered as career choice instead of depending on the go-to courses. Explaining about a case that Jagadeesan received at the government-run institution, he said, “The patient was the classmate of a topper who committed suicide right after completing class 12 physics exam as she did not know two answers. Alarmed by the incident, the parents immediately assessed their ward and brought her due to similar symptoms.”
Weighing the awareness level, he said, “It is not up to the mark among underprivileged classes and even in the rest of the population, literate parents fail to understand the severity of the condition that it can lead to.”
Echoing a similar thought, Mini Rao asserted that lack of awareness was the primary reason for high dropout rates in the city. Though there have been altruistic services offered by people to change the way mental issues are looked at, the doctor said he receives a minimum of five patients at ICH during exam times.
| WHEN TO SEEK A THERAPIST |
| Experts emphasise that mental problems could manifest through physical pain and both are connected. “If the children have heart-related ailments, s/he is at high risk of developing depression. In the same way, when exams approach, students’ minds go out of gear; they lose their appetite, have sleep disturbances, develop all kinds of aches and pains whether real or imaginary. The students not having a proper diet, exercise can spoil their concentration, attention, focus, causing further problems in studying for the exams. The competitiveness and negativity all around does not help,” said psychologist Mini Rao. |