What helps you manage stress?
We asked four Jigsaw Youth Advisory Panel members, some facing their Leaving Cert and some finished, to tell us how they manage exam stress. Watch what they said or read a summary below.
We asked four Jigsaw Youth Advisory Panel members, some facing their Leaving Cert and some finished, to tell us how they manage exam stress. Watch what they said or read a summary below.
I think an open conversation about it with someone the same age as you is the best way to cope with exam stress
Jen is in sixth year and says she manages the pressure with some self-compassion, reassuring herself “this is the best I can do and if nobody is OK with that, I’ll be OK with that”.
She also finds she can get out of her head by talking to friends who are also going through exams. They understand what it’s like and it’s good to have a reminder that you’re all going through the same thing.
A way to get the pressure off is doing what I love. For me, it's reading and writing. It really helps and refreshes my brain.
For Katelynn, it is voluntary work that helps her feel grounded and puts her upcoming Leaving Cert exams in perspective. Being in the Order of Malta and doing activities as part of the Jigsaw YAP acts as a reminder that she is capable of other things besides school work, and that exams are only one of the elements that will influence her future. She says doing the things she loves, like reading and writing, helps refresh her brain and leave her energised to return to studying.
Sixth-year student Gráinne says she can get overwhelmed with all the revision she has to do, but instead of panicking and spending every waking hour studying, she forces herself to keep up her extra-curricular activities like GAA and Scouts. After a couple of hours of scouts or training in the evening, she finds that when she returns to her books she’s in a much calmer state and ready to tackle the revision.
>> Watch a Jigsaw Clinician talk explain why stress isn’t always a bad thing.
Anonymously ask any question or query you may have related to your mental health and have it answered by a Jigsaw Clinician.
I’m due to see CAMHs (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) about my anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide, I’m scared they’ll do things like take me away from my parents, what should I do? How do I go about it?
Because of exams I get stressed and because I cant exactly control what marks I get I sometimes turn to food as a thing I can control. Every time I eat something I think is this going to make me fatter or I should run to burn off what I’ve eaten.