Anxiety, stress, fatigue:exams put your nerves to the test. From long hours of revisions to final exams, stress management goes through a healthy lifestyle and adequate nutrition. Some natural remedies are effective against stress. Homeopathy, aromatherapy and herbal medicine can help you.
Exams remain a trying time, both physically and psychologically. Stress management begins with appropriate nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.
Confinement, isolation, cramming and intensive work are the harsh conditions that revisions and exams inflict on you. The neural circuits responsible for memory and thinking are particularly stressed. In addition, concentration is increased during long hours, and fatigue accumulates. Challenges and doubts often end up winning over students.
Some characteristic symptoms of exam periods can quickly make themselves felt:
Translation of this malaise, some people embrace dangerous behaviors of school doping. INPES has also issued recommendations on doping during exams in order to warn of the risks involved. According to an OFDT study among 18-year-olds, 38.3% of girls and 22.3% of boys have already consumed products to increase their intellectual performance. These results take into account the use of vitamins and trace elements, caffeine, but also anabolic or exciting drugs.
Stress management during exam periods means improving your lifestyle in the first place. There is no question of working sleepless nights in order to swallow as much data as possible! Real cement of memory, sleep must be sufficiently recuperative. It allows the consolidation of the learning achieved during the day, physical and neuronal recovery. Lack of sleep leads to a decrease:
Stress and sleep are also intimately linked:the stress generated by exams can disturb your nights, and lack of sleep can accentuate stress. It's a vicious circle that needs to be broken (see our natural solutions below).
During revision days, a regular break time must be respected. Have you ever had the impression of reading the same sentence several times without really understanding it? It is a sign of saturation. Working more becomes counterproductive, you need a break! Sports activity, practiced at least 30 minutes a day, is an excellent option. It promotes the integration of data, reduces stress, stimulates awakening, and in the evening, promotes falling asleep. Do not hesitate to consult the advice of mangerbouger.fr to practice a sport.
Eating well during exams optimizes learning and combats stress. No meal should be skipped, especially not breakfast. To keep your nutritional intake balanced, you can read the WHO advice for healthy nutrition.
The brain is a big consumer of sugar (glucose), however calorie bombs such as sodas, candies, cakes, and candy bars are false friends. They don't make it possible to hold up over time. This is also the case for energy drinks based on guarana, taurine, or high-dose caffeine. In the moment, they seem to give a boost, but the backlash that quickly follows tires you more. These drinks also promote excitement.
Alcohol should be banned:short-term stimulant, it quickly slows down learning abilities and can cause daytime sleepiness. Tobacco also participates in a pernicious circle of consumption and must be avoided. It's tempting to smoke when you're stressed, while tobacco promotes arousal and stress symptoms.
It is interesting to eat certain foods during exams:
Foods containing B vitamins such as legumes, peas, spinach, pork, poultry and fish, eggs, and dairy products. Vitamins B1, B6, B9 and B12 in particular play a major role in memorization.
Foods containing iron. This element is responsible for cerebral oxygenation, but it also facilitates the production of neuroregulators such as serotonin or dopamine. Mood, sleep and learning are therefore indirectly linked to its consumption. Red meats, green vegetables, legumes and whole grains contain it.
Hygieno-dietary measures are not always enough to manage anxiety and sleep disorders generated by revisions and exams. On the advice of your pharmacist or doctor, natural remedies can be an interesting and effective anti-stress solution.
To manage resistance to stress over time and fight against exhaustion, you can lean towards so-called adaptogenic plants. They are traditionally used to increase concentration and performance in times of overwork, while decreasing stress. The EMA, European Medicines Agency, lists the monographs of all these plants. We find for example:
Other plants are traditionally used for their relaxing and sedative properties. Devoid of tonic properties, they target anxieties and sleep disorders. We find in particular:
Derived from plants and very concentrated, essential oils can also help you to fight against the stress of exams. Some of them are traditionally used for their relaxing properties and improving the quality of sleep. This is the case of:
Citrus essential oils are traditionally recommended to promote relaxation:
You can find monographs for each of these oils on the EMA website. By diffusion, massage or oral intake, your pharmacist will be able to advise you. Some complexes, available in pharmacies, combine different oils in synergy.
The small homeopathic granules are also appreciated to regulate stress during exams. Strains that target stage fright and stress more like Gelsemium sempervirens, Ignatia amara, Kalium phosphoricum, or Argentum nitricum.
Associations of three strains in low homeopathic dilution also exist to fight against sleep disorders, allowing an easy and practical intake.
