How to Cope with Stress of Civil Services Exam
The UPSC Civil Service Exam is one of the toughest and the longest exam system in the country. With the limited number of attempts and nearly five to six lakh applicants each year, of which only 1,000 or less gets selected, there is huge pressure on the candidates to crack the exam and it may lead to bouts of depression, anxiety and mental stress.
A civil services candidate faces many issues during the course of the preparation of this exam. Many candidates leave their homes and move to metro cities for the coaching and preparation. They take up accommodation that gives them little comfort.
Most of the aspirants do not know to cook, and some in order to save time eat at the road side stalls or depend on "Dubawalas." Having improper food and uncomfortable living, many aspirants end up having health issues.
The coaching institutes in order to produce results put pressure on the candidates to increase the hours of studies. Students are asked to put in 15 to18 hours a day and some resort to anti sleeping pills. Loss of sleep has impact on the body and the aspirants get totally exhausted.
For an exam like UPSC, where there is cut-throat competition, the only goal of the aspirants is to somehow clear the exam and they ignore the insurmountable pressure on them.
Living alone, studying till wee hours, little sleep, managing expenses, keeping up with the coaching institutes, fee and health issues are all being compromised. The societal and peer pressure, along with the pressure of competition have a telling impact on the mind and the body.
The long drawn out time of preparation leaves a huge impact on the aspirants. They are disconnected from the outside world, and get physically, emotionally, and psychologically drained out.
Many civil services aspirants report cases of depression emotional breakdown and anxiety and are unable to concentrate on their preparation.
They are totally at loss how to overcome these symptoms. In order to cope up with the pressure, they resort to heavy drinking and smoking, which leads to another set of problems.
So during the course of preparation, it is advised to take corrective steps to avoid such problems. The first and foremost thing is to have correct food and starving or overeating be avoided. The second is to have comfortable chair and table with sufficient lights to spend long hours of sitting.
One can start the day with a walk in the park and fresh up before sitting on the chair for studying. There should intermittent breaks given to relax your muscles.
In order to get de stressed yoga and meditation is highly recommended. One can also play some light games in the evenings to divert the mind. One can also sit with friends and lighten up some laughs and jokes.
The final word is one should have sound body and mind for the preparation of the preparation of the Civil Services exam and for this to remain calm, composed, cheerful and jolly is very essential.
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