By Madihah M, Dentistry student

As an aspiring Dentist, I constantly put myself under pressure to excel in all my subjects, always determined to achieve high grades. For A-levels, I chose Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics as these were subjects I quite enjoyed which I felt were most appropriate for my desired field of study. However, during my years in Sixth Form, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, the last thing any student wanted to hear especially at this crucial point in time. The causes for my mental health problems were not education-related but nonetheless had serious implications on my learning.

 

Inability To Focus

I found it very difficult to concentrate in lessons for a long period of time which was especially frustrating when there was a great deal of content being covered as my mind would almost zone out, reducing the amount of information I could take in. During tests and exams, my thoughts often tended to wander onto other issues that were causing me stress and I struggled to bring myself back into focus.

 

Fatigue and disturbed sleep

As students, we know that balancing your studies with a good night’s sleep is essential. However, someone suffering from depression is susceptible to oversleeping or not sleeping enough. This resulted in me feeling incredibly lethargic which meant that doing normal daily activities were very stressful and tiring.

I was never vocal about my depression and anxiety, so few people knew what I was enduring. For those of you who prefer to keep issues like this to themselves, I strongly recommend confiding in someone you trust who you think can support you when things become stressful. For me, I talked to close friends and, towards my A-level exams, I decided to open up to my Physics teacher who was very understanding and tried his best to make my remaining time at school as easy as possible.

He also recommended that I seek medical assistance as a doctor would be able to guide me appropriately. After doing so, I was strongly advised to start cognitive and behavioural therapy (CBT). I was very reluctant to do so at first because the idea of exposing my thoughts and feelings to a complete stranger was rather daunting. However, the therapist was determined on forming a comfortable relationship with me, so much so that I was able to open up to him, allowing him to recommend activities to improve my mental wellbeing.

With first-hand experience in managing my mental health problems and exams at the same time, I’d like to share with you the ways in which I coped during this challenging time.

Know your limit

Even though we all want to maximise the efficiency of our time by cramming in as much revision in as possible, you must be ready to tell yourself to stop as soon as you feel like your brain cannot handle any more. This is vital because any information revised beyond this point will not be taken in so it is better to use that time to properly rest and clear your mind then come back to your revision later if you can.

 

Make your revision fun

Although some teachers tell you that making colourful notes is futile, at the end of the day only you know what helps you learn. For me, I wrote my notes on an array of coloured post-it notes and placed them on my wall so I was able to look at them for reference while I was working or even memorise them when I was getting dressed in the morning.

 

Reward yourself

It helps to work towards something in your breaks when revising. This way, you’ll be more motivated to complete your task and even be able to do more work in a particular space of time. This could be watching 10 or 15 minutes of a TV series or even painting your nails, which is what I liked to do!

 

Planning

Being forgetful, I found it extremely useful to make lists, especially of homework I needed to do or particular topics I thought I should review. On weekdays after school, I’d find it better to finish my homework before doing revision. On weekends, I would designate different parts of the day to different subjects, making notes and completing lots of past paper questions.

 

Ask for help

I was able to enough to have teachers that allowed us to email them with queries and they would try to respond promptly. Even if the uncertainties you have may be deemed as minor, do not be afraid to double check the facts with your subject teacher as they can help you understand and it’s better to be sure about something rather than walking into an exam with doubts.