Coping with exams when you have mental health problems: my tips and tricks.

Coping with exams when you have mental health problems.

So I've just completed my first year at university, YAY!!! (insert applause here) and as part of finishing my first year I had to do one of my worst nightmares: sit an exam, dun dun dunnnn!!!

Now I have never, ever, EVER liked exams and I want to say to those who do enjoy exams, please teach me your ways. Anyway, while others who don't like exams may just feel a little nervous and unprepared when going in, when you have mental health problems the situation can be very different.

In my own personal experience, I can have studied as much as humanly possible, practised as many questions I could get my hands on and watched as many educational youtube videos that I could stay awake for but in the end, my anxiety will provide that nasty little voice in my head telling me that I know nothing and that I've already failed the exam so what is the point of even sitting it.

Then my depression decides to join the party and lower my motivation and my confidence in my knowledge and with all that mixed with being surrounded by others getting ready for the exam asking "do you know the answer to this?" or "have you studied that?" and (in my opinion) the most annoying question of all "have you got a pen I can borrow?" just before we are about to go the exam. I mean, you knew we had an exam, why did it just occur to you that you will need a pen. And no, you cannot "borrow a pen", I happen to be very specific about my stationary and having someone else use it when I cannot see them fills me with dread (but that's for another time...)

Anyway, after declining peoples request for a pen and telling them that I really don't want to talk about the exam I have to remind myself that the thoughts in my head are just that, thoughts and that in the end, I am in charge of exactly how this exam is going to go, but it hasn't been easy getting to this point in my mentality.

It has taken all 20 years of my life to get to this point and over those 20 years I have been able to create a little set of tips and tricks on how to cope with these exams as in the end, it's hard to get through life without having to take an exam, be it in education or in life such as a driving exam. 

Now I'm going to share these tips and tricks with all of you out there in hope that it will help you get through exams, so this is for everyone out there sitting exams, whether or not you have mental health issues or not, everyone needs a little help. 

1) Accept that the exam is going to take place. This makes it easier to come up with a coping strategy and the longer you try and avoid it, the less time you have to put a strategy in place. I would also advise to try and find out as soon as possible exactly when and where the exam is going to take place to give yourself longer to put this strategy into play and that you can feel even more prepared. 

2) See if you can get any help from your place of education. Because of my anxiety, I get a separate room so that I don't have to be in a large crowded room: one of my anxiety triggers and so I don't experience sensory overload (something I struggle with often, you can read about my experience with it here). I also get extra time due to my slight processing dyslexia but it also helps with my anxiety as it gives me a bit of time to calm myself down and time to properly understand the questions I'm being asked.

3) Try and have a good support system around you to help keep stress to an absolute minimum. I personally have a specialist mentor trained in helping students with mental health problems I meet up with once a week to help me plan out my next week of university, how am I going to achieve what I want to, how do I cope with triggers (one of mine is that I don't like change, but she helps me understand that change will happen but also how to cope with it) and most importantly, when to take time off for myself so I don't burn out. It may be worth seeing if you have access to a mentor like this but if you don't then there are others that you can talk to like parents/guardians, other family members, friends, teachers etc.

4) Be realistic with your studying. The instinct will be to just try and cram everything you think you need to know for the exam in as little time as possible, but really, this is just going to make harder to retain the information, so you'll start to panic that nothing is sticking in your head, making you want to study even harder which in the end is going to cause more trouble as you'll end up burning out making mental health problems such as anxiety and depression far worse as your brain and body are unable to cope. The best thing you can do is as soon as you find out that there is an exam and when it is, spend some time planning out what you want to study and when giving more attention to the topics you aren't too sure about rather than the ones you may know inside out. Also, give yourself time to relax and do something for yourself so that you don't get too overwhelmed by studying.

5) Talk to your teacher about your mental health problems and see if there is anything they can help with such as pointing you in the direction of some helpful studying aids like library books or websites. They are may also be able to help you find out how you study best be it visually or by listening to information to help you study effectively. 

6) Sleep well during the fortnight leading up to the exam, not just the night before to give your body and mind plenty of time to relax and get rest. In the weeks leading up you can always try different routines to help you get to sleep such as a relaxing bath or shower, reading a book or anything that makes you feel sleepy. See what works best for you and do it the whole week of the exam to give yourself a fighting chance of being rested.

7) And lastly, understand that whatever happens in this exam realise that you cannot do anymore that your best and if you do end up having to resit the exam, think of it as another opportunity to show your knowledge and to prove not only to others but to yourself that you can succeed.

And that's it for all the tips and tricks I have for coping with exams when you have mental health problems. If you have any others be sure to put them in them in the comments below as well as any questions you may have. Good luck out there to anyone currently sitting exams and also good luck to everyone for any exams you may have in the future. But for now, 

Be happy, be healthy, from Abbie xx