Exam time is stressful for students as well as parents. There are two types of students one, who can be easy-breezy, do their revision and appear their exam while the other set of students, fear exam, take a lot of stress, fall ill just before exams.

Let us understand the Psychological Reaction to Stress

• Constant pressure
• Frustration and anger
• Tension
• Unable to concentrate.
• Psychosomatic symptoms like sweating-sweaty palms, headaches, stomach-aches, racing heart, nail-biting, teeth grinding, racing thoughts.

Why do people experience exam stress?

• Fear of failing
• Fear of getting fewer marks
• When not prepared fully
• Want to do really well
• Unable to grasp.
• Don’t have much time to study
• Need to get a certain result
• Parents and societal expectations
• Don’t understand what they are studying.
• Family pressure
• Competition
• Have other issues happening in their life

How can parents help their children before and while their exams are on-going?

1. Keep realistic expectations and don’t push them too hard
2. Be positive
3. Keep motivating your children no matter what.
4. Help the child in boosting his confidence especially when he/she seems discouraged. Do not displace your anxiety on the child.
5. Try to gain your child’s confidence and discuss his problems with him, help him to find a solution
6. Understand that just good schooling and tuition are not substitutes for emotional cushioning.
7. Do bring family conflicts in between studies of the children.
8. Encourage good sleep patterns and eating habits
9. Provide a comfortable space for them to study and prepare
10. Teach them the importance of study breaks
11. Encourage them to ask the teacher/parents questions if they’re unsure
12. Do not remind them of previous failures.
13. Be light and humorous with the child. Crack jokes to make the exam mood light.
14. Help them know what to expect on the day of the exam
15. Help them be on time for the exam or arrive early
16. After the exam, listen to their concerns and avoid criticizing them.
17. Let them know exams are not the end of the world.

We wish all the students “Best Luck”!!

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Exam stress affects most students in varying ways. The stress level in school and college students is so high that they get a lot of physical symptoms due to stress.

Teachers and parents need to teach their children how to manage stress and find ways to manage it. Some students can take exams with ease but for many, it’s a task.

Here are some tips to eliminate or reduce your stress. It’s never too late to set up good study habits. Here are some helpful ideas:

Clear your room and table/desk:

Does your mother remind you to clean your room and study table? It’s scientifically correct. The more clutter you have around your room, the less you’re able to concentrate. Physical clutter overloads your brain and impairs your ability to think, which leads to stress.

Take enough breaks:

Research says it’s good to have a 17-minute break every 52 mins. A psychologist also agrees on this fact. Resting is important so that you remember what you have read. In this time period, you can read a newspaper/book/blog or do whatever you feel like doing to relax.

Time table:

Set up a time table and try to stick to it. But also remember that not to be hard on yourself if one or two items are missed. Right from waking up in the morning to sleeping in the night, get all your activities – like studying, reading a book, listening to music, watching some comedy show, lunch-dinner, exercise-playing and sleep schedule needs to be mentioned in the time-table.

Exercise:

A 15-20 min exercise like a walk, basic stretches, deep breathing exercises will help to soothe your mind. Meditation helps to relax the anxiety.

Diet:

Have a healthy diet, no junk food should be consumed and stay away from caffeine as much as possible. Stay hydrated. Have dark chocolate or hot chocolate while studying. Research has shown that an intake of a small amount of dark chocolate reduces stress hormone levels.

Concentrate on progress and not on perfection:

Do you think that you’ll never be able to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself? Do you feel you are good for nothing? If so, you may be a perfectionist. Being a perfectionist will give you stress. Set realistic goals instead of trying to achieve the impossible.

Know your learning style:

Are you a Visual/Audio/Kinaesthetic Learner? Know your best learning style and study. If you are a Visual learner, read and write your answers on a paper or in the book or on the black-white board; if an audio learner, read them as many times you want to so that grasping becomes easy and if you are a kinaesthetic learner, walk while you read/study. This will help you to remember what you study. We all have one particular learning style and if we use it while studying, it will benefit you.

Convert the negative thoughts into a positive one:

For every negative thought find a positive thought. Ex: I haven’t studied 2 chapters yet; I know I will get questions from those two chapters only. I know I have not studied but I will go through it and try to remember as much I can.

Avoid comparison:

Never compare with other students the amount of study you have revised. There could be chances that are you’re doing just fine, but after listening to other people talk about what they’ve learned, it will only stress you out and may make you feel like you aren’t progressing as well as them. Plus, if they themselves are stressed this can affect you and other people’s stress is not what you need right now. Don’t discuss the answers post-exam as well.

Create an environment:

Instrumental music, deep concentration music is available online, light up your room, burn aroma agarbatti/essential oils to have a nice environment to study.

Hope this will help you to study and concentrate better. Team Mentriq wishes you All the best!!!!

To know more about Team Mentriq, click here

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Read More “Obligatory Exercise or Anorexia Athletica”

It is a fascinating fact about addiction that, the person who is abusing a drug more often than not knows the health hazards of the substance they are using well; Nevertheless they continue using it. Your story of Tobacco addiction might have just started like many others who needed a casual high and were in denial about addiction till you started experiencing the terrible withdrawal symptoms.

Do you know that the number of deaths associated with tobacco abuse is much more than deaths due to road accidents,murders,alchohol and illicit drug abuse together? Data shows that 70% tobacco want to quit but are unable to.

The biggest problem with your smoke stick is the easy availability and acceptability,without any reduction in the harm that it can cause to your health. You might be someone who smokes only with friends or you might be someone who continues smoking thinking that you can quit anytime. But,unfortunately the time will not come any soon if you do not get out of your denial and think of it as a real Addiction like other drugs.

Here are some of the warning signs of addiction:

• You crave more and more of Smoke to feel satisfaction
• You have severe withdrawal symptoms when you skip your dose of cigarettes
• End up using more than you thought you would
• You want to quit,but you fail every time
• Inabilty to any work done before you get your dose
• Intense and sustained cravings

Physiological Symptoms

The Physiological symptoms of Nicotine withdrawal is caused by the inability of the brain of an addict to trigger dopamine naturally.You can experience physical withdrawal symptoms of Smoking withing two hours to two days  of quitting tobacco.

Some of the symptoms are:

• You are unable to concentrate
• You suffer from panic or anxiety attacks
• Hopelessness or depression
• Inability to fall asleep
• You are irritable and frustrated
• Increased hunger and weight gain

Smoking is Hazardous to your health as well as your Family’s. Take steps before it can sabotage your brain Completely; Consult an Expert Psychologist or Counselor if youur have tried and failed Multiple times with your addiction.

Learn more About Dr Prerna Kohli

 ” Marriage is a long term-commitment where both the partners are willing to give whatever it takes to reach their goal of a Happy Marriage. Happy marriages do not happen by fluke but take a lot of effort”. 

Here are a few steps you can take to reach towards your goal of a Happy Marriage:

Remind yourself and your partner that you appreciate them.

Every Relationship is going to fade out ultimately in time if a little effort is not put into it. The first step is to appreciate each other for even small things that remain unnoticed otherwise.

Most of the marriages that don’t last are because of emotional dissatisfaction and not just physical relationships. When you don’t feel connected, there are high chances that you would be lured into lustful glances from another women/ Man and vice- versa.

Practice “Thank You “

In a long-term relationship usually, couples start taking each other for granted and that is one of the reasons they lose respect for each other. There is a certain expectation that is set and you need to abide by it. Sometimes you don’t care even if your partner goes beyond his/her comfort to do something special.

There is a need to express gratitude for even smaller things. I think it is a great way to keep that spark in your marriage. Do not keep scores of whatever both of you do for each other or the family. It is not a mature way to handle. These kinds of behaviors eventually reduce the trust and connection that you have built.

Honesty is the best policy…

Its okay if you have maxed out a credit card or two, but hiding that from your wife/husband is not the right thing to do. Overspending can be a problem and many times the financial crisis can come back to bite you. It is always good to talk to each other and cut down on your expenses for that period.

If you are planning a trip you can always communicate that it is not gonna work because you have already so many liabilities. It just does not apply for money, it also does for other important things in life.

Don’t  let go on the appearance

In the long run, usually people let their appearances slide, and that could unknowingly impact your marriage as well. Always think about your first date with her and think whether you would feel okay to meet her in your jammies and sweatshirt? Try to be presentable. Pay courtesy to your spouse by making yourself look good like you do for your friends.

You should also try to compliment each other once in a while in a marriage, It boosts confidence and improves intimacy.

 Know Dr. Prerna Kohli

Acting without thinking, getting fidgety, daydreaming is normal for kids. They may blurt out things randomly and may not follow instructions. But when such actions continue, it might be a matter of concern. Parents may even label their kid as notorious, lazy or troublemakers.

However, you must give it a thought that the child might have some hyperactivity issues.

ADHD: Meaning, Types, Symptoms

ADHD is a neurological disorder. Lacks of attention, impulsivity or hyperactivity are signs of ADHD.

It has three subcategories- Inattentive, Hyperactive-Impulsive and combination. A child with the disorder may show the following symptoms:

• Fleeting attention
• Absent-mindedness
• Not willing to sit in one place while eating, doing work or watching TV
• Easily distracted
• Forgets and loses things
• Interrupts while others talk
• Can’t wait for their turn
• Need repeated reminders
• Extremely verbal
• Unorganized
• Fidgety and restless

First, ADD or now called the Inattentive type ADHD, has symptoms where the child would be lack focus, forgetful and is unorganized. In turn, they make careless mistakes, are unable to complete tasks under given deadlines, would avoid tasks that involve excess mental efforts and are very easily distracted. Such kids, as they further grow, may face self-esteem issues.

Second, Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD, has symptoms where the child is very fidgety. For this reason, he may not sit in one place, runs a lot, talks a lot. He may have problems waiting for his turn and may interrupt others while talking. There could be situations where he couldn’t even wait for a question to finish and just jabber the answer.

Third, Combination type ADHD has at least 6-7 symptoms of inattentive and 6-7 symptoms of a hyperactive-impulsive type of ADHD.

ADHD is a condition which is actually caused because of the wiring of the brain system and it cannot be cured. But there are treatment options available. Some of them are:

Medication

The medications are helpful in reducing the hyperactivity, impulsive behaviour and improve cognition. Furthermore, they also enable better motor coordination. For instance, the most common are the stimulants that help to produce dopamine and norepinephrine that help with attention and cognition. Apart from that, there are antihypertensive drugs or medicines to improve cognition.

Family Therapy

A support from the family always makes a great influence on the child. It is important for the family to accept the child for all what he got. A positive and understanding attitude from the parents and siblings can really reduce the levels of frustration and self-criticism the child develops over the time.

Behavioural Therapies

This is a kind of psychotherapy which helps the child to alter his behaviour. The child will be able to monitor his behaviour. And every time for the appropriate reaction instead of an impulsive one, the child gets a reward that further encourages him. The people around like family members or teachers should also praise them for every improvement. There are set rules and routines that the child follows.

Social Skills Training

The child is provided with social skills training. This helps him in improved friendships and interpersonal skills, helping them further to develop a healthy social life.

Psycho-educating Families

It is very important for the families to understand the functioning of brain and behaviour of the child. A proper professional explanation would give the family more insight to them about the child. This will help them understand and support their child better.

Quick Tips

Besides the above treatment options available, some quick tips to handle a hyperactive child:

• Monitor sugar intake
• Consult for a diet plan
• Make schedules to be followed
• Follow performance-reward technique
• Help them keep organized
• Make them note down tasks

Does your child have the symptoms of hyperactivity? Or is it just his tantrums? Do you need guidance?

Call us at +91-9069069069.

When we say the term ‘bullying’, we often picture a child at school getting picked on. But it could be a child in the kindergarten or in the college to a person working in an MNC or hospital, who is facing it, inflicting it or witnessing it. An adult may be able to handle the situation and come out of it, but when it is a child in the similar scenario, he might have a great psychological impact. This can further affect the development of his personality as an adult in turn affecting the parents and the community.

The popular Netflix series ’13 Reasons why”, the latest “Insatiable”, etc., and movies like ‘Mean Girls’, “A Girl Like Her’, “Hope Floats”, have one thing in common which is the concept of bullying. These show how popular or physically attractive kids torment other kids and get away with it most of the times.
Bullying impacts, not just the kid who gets bullied, but also the one who bullies and the others who see it happening. Let’s see how that happens.

THE VICTIM

Affects the ability to trust

Bullying creates a strong sense of distrust in the child. It might not come to notice initially, but as the child matures and socializes, this profoundly developed mistrust emerges strongly. It becomes one of the major reasons for failed relationships and friendships in the person’s life.

Affects the ability to learn

The child constantly worries about being bullied. He thinks that where, when, why and how he could be targeted next. This leads to lack of concentration and increased levels of stress, distracting him and negatively affecting his brain receptors.

Hatred towards School and Teachers

The child does not feel accepted in the school and feels unsafe. He might start showing great resistance to going to school. A lot of kids drop out of schools and colleges because of the issue. Or even if they continue, the school incidents affect their academic performances. They even tend to develop a strong disliking towards the teachers and the whole school system as they feel helpless and victimized.

Vengeful Behavior

The child feels like nobody cares enough for him. He reaches a point where his anger overtakes his sanity. The child might often act out. He may plan to take revenge from the people around whether they are responsible or not. We have come across many incidents in the news of school shooting and the attacker had a history of being bullied.

Mental Health Issues

Such situations could be emotionally taxing for the child. He constantly faces criticism for looks, clothes, any disability (if there), etc., leads to a low sense of self-worth and creates major self-esteem issues. The child is constantly stressed out. This, if prevails for long, further leads to anxiety issues, depression, PTSD, etc. The child could even become suicidal.

Few symptoms a child might show that indicate bullying at school:
• Change in eating patterns
• Remains aloof
• Change in sleeping patterns
• Avoids socializing
• Exhausted most of the times
• Ignores going to school
• Nightmares
• No play dates

THE ATTACKER

The attacker here would be the one who bullies others. They are likely to:

• Engage in violent behaviour
• Use drugs and alcohol
• Engage in sexual activities early or offensive of nature
• Engage in criminal activities
• Be abusive towards the partner or children
• Develop a sense of entitlement
• Involved in damaging public or private property

THE WITNESS

The kids around witnessing bullying also bear its effects. They are likely to:

• Develop a fear of the bullies
• Skip school
• Involves in drug and alcohol abuse
• Develop mental health problems

Even after making strict laws and rules, we often come across cases of suicides in colleges and schools due to this reason. Such incidents affect the lives of the people around and the families of the children involved. There is an increase in the number of suicide cases because of bullying. People discriminate the victim on the basis of colour, race, nationality, the type of clothes they wear, body structure, etc. And when nobody comes to their rescue, family or friends, it increases the issues they are already going through, affecting their mental well-being.

Do you happen to know a child in such situation? Do you think he needs help? Call us at +91-9069069069.

How you manage your emotions and stay calm in stressful situations has a direct link to your performance. Research has found that 90% of good performers are extremely skilled at managing emotions.
Stress is very detrimental to your mental health. When you expose yourself to prolonged stress, the cells in your brain that are responsible for self-control get damaged.

The most important point here to keep in mind is that anxiety and stress are necessary emotions as you will never take action under zero stress. Hence, when you are under moderate levels of stress, you perform best; but if you prolong that it could be fatal for you. Studies have shown that intermittent stress makes your brain more alert and results in the development of new cells.

Prolonged stress can lead to heart disease, depression, obesity to name a few. If you sit back and think about it you will notice the majority of the stress that you experience is subjective and under your control. You just have to manage it well.

Here are a few things what you can do to manage stressful situations:

Appreciate whatever you have:

Take time to appreciate whatever good things you have in your life, it will reduce your stress hormone cortisol in the body. If you cultivate an attitude of gratitude you will experience an improvement in your mood, energy levels, and physical well being.

Don’t ask yourself ” what if “

Throwing yourself with questions like ‘what if’ will only fuel your worry. Everything in your life can go in numerous different directions hence focus on taking necessary action in all situations rather than worrying about what could go wrong.’ What if ‘questions will only make you anxious and that is not the place where you want to be.

Try to stay positive

Focus your attention on something that is completely stress-free, which will make your stress intermittent. Help your monkey brain to focus on something that is positive by selecting productive thoughts. This will help refocus your attention. Although when things go wrong it is difficult as the mind is busy processing negative thoughts. Identify one positive thought that happened during the day, yesterday, or last week and focus on it. You can also focus on some exciting event that you have planned for yourself. It is important to shift your attention.

Disconnect for a while

Technology has made our life easier but also made disconnecting a challenging task. Notifications, messages and Whatsapp will follow you even during your vacations. It is difficult to ignore messages from work on weekdays but you can start with weekends. Keep blocks of time when you cut all connections and go offline. Start with timings when you are unlikely to be contacted and gradually expand the amount of time.

Limit your caffeine intake

Caffeine triggers the release of ‘Adrenaline’ which is a source of “flight or fight” response. It forces you to stand up and take action when there is a threat. When you are on a “flight or fight”, your rationality goes for a toss in order to give a faster response. This is not a response that you need when you have to answer your boss’s email. When You take caffeine, your emotions overpower your actions. The life of caffeine in your body is long and hence it is far from the intermittent stress that we are talking about.

Sleep well

Take your sleep time seriously. When you sleep your brain recharges and you wake up alert and clear in thoughts. When you deprive yourself of sleep the stress hormone levels in your body increase even without a stressor.

Prevent negative self-talk

The more you talk negatively to yourself the more power you give to them. Most of the thoughts that go through your head throughout the day are just thoughts, not facts. Beat thoughts that consist of “always”,” never”, “ever” etc. When you are thinking negative just write them down literally and retrain your brain with a more rational alternative.

Breathe

The best way to make your stress intermittent is by breathing. Focus on “breathing in” and “breathing out” to stay in the moment. This will prevent your Mind from wandering. Count each breath till you reach 50. Don’t worry if you get lost in the middle but always try to come back.

Last, of all take support from your family friends colleagues and offload your work.

A recent poll for Human Resource Management found that “Burnout from the current job” was the top reason for people to quit their job. Burnout can make your life tough, even when you are passionate about your work.

If you are unable to create a balance in life by an alignment of input and output; you will have burnout. When you perceive that you are giving more to your job than you’re receiving out of the job you burn out. The important factor here is not that the job is not rewarding but often because you are not taking care of yourself.

How do you fight it?

• Disconnect:  Do not be available 24/7; it will reduce your exposure to constant stressors and help you refocus and recharge. This is the most important strategy for burnout because if you do not disconnect yourself electronically you will always be working. Do not spend the entire weekend answering emails or voicemails instead keep a designated time. Schedule short blocks of time which alleviate stress without you having to sacrifice your availability.
• Schedule your relaxation: Plan your relaxation like you plan your work. Read a book for half an hour or bicycle. If you schedule your relaxation activities, it is more certain that they happen and you have something that you look forward to also.
• Understand the signals of your body: If you pay attention to your body, you will understand the signals. This can help you diagnose burnout in the early stages. All stomach ache is not a result of something bad that you ate. Similarly, an aching neck is not always an indicator of sleeping wrong but the accumulation of stress over time.
• Organize yourself: most of the pressure that you experience is not due to overwork but because you are disorganized in handling the schedule. Organize yourself better to beat burnout.
• Strengthen your support system: You would be tempted to withdraw from other people when you are stressed. But it should be the other way round. Family and friends are capable of supporting you. Spend some time with your loved ones and remove yourself from the stressors at work and have a little fun.

If the above strategies do not work, then the problem is with the job and you might contemplate changing it or visit a Therapist who can help you find out the root of the problem.

This disorder commonly known and abbreviated as ADHD is a disorder that is common in children. According to the Diagnostic and statistical manual of disorders; 99 percent of ADHD cases are below age 16. Let us look into this disorder in detail to diagnose it at the early stages. The problem with all mental disorders is that the symptoms are also a part of normal behavior and hence it becomes difficult to draw the line when it becomes a disorder. It is more so if it is in children.

By definition, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with daily functioning and development. This could lead to unstable relationships, poor work performance, and low self –esteem.

The most important words here are Inattention, Impulsivity, and Hyperactivity.

Inattention;

It means that the child might be lost from the task at hand, hence is not able to persist for long at one task. Is not able to focus for long and is unorganized. While these problems are not due to the child’s failure of comprehension or disobedience.

Impulsivity;

They are not able to delay gratification. So, they Do not think before they take actions and often lands in risky situations because of the same.

Hyperactivity;

Restlessness, over talkative, fidgety and tends to move a lot. Is in constant activity.

Inattention symptoms that can help you diagnose the disorder Include:

1) Procrastinates: does not complete his tasks and moves from an activity to another and leaving all of them incomplete.

2) You may find the child to be disorganized and is not able to focus on the task at his hand.

3) They work without paying attention to details and hence make silly mistakes.

4) Cannot stay on one topic during conversations, do not follow instructions.

5)They forget things easily

Hyperactivity/Impulsivity may often demonstrate in ways like

1) Fidget with toys or articles on the desk

2) Are restless most of the time i.e., climb s or runs around at add times

3) Unable to remain quiet or engage in silent hobbies

4) Is constantly moving, talks non-stop.

5) Interrupt the conversation without waiting for their turn.

These are signs that should raise a concern in your mind; Hence, only a mental health practitioner can diagnose the symptoms of the disorder with accuracy.