Anxiety and depression before exams

"How do you manage stress before an exam? I study a lot, but I stress too much and I usually forget everything before the exam. I have anxiety and depression because of this." -Asked on Tumblr

Sounds like you need to believe in yourself a little more. You study a lot. There is no reason for you to worry so much! 

You should start your day with positive thoughts. Affirm this to yourself every morning, "Today is a great day to study and be productive." Clap your hands while you do this. It'll flip your mood right around! Before exams, "I have studied enough and I will do well."

Trust yourself, you've got this. You are a medical student. Getting into medical school ain't easy, but you did it.  You can do this too. 

We have different reasons for getting stressed out -

1. We fear we might not score as much as we want.

I think understanding that not everything is under our control is a good way to let go of all the anxiety. "Everything happens for the best" and "Marks don't matter" is what I tell myself to temporarily calm my nerves. 

2. We have not finished studying.
Most of us need a quick review before the exam. And it's not possible to do so in back to back exams we are time restrained. Make a time table to cover up as much as you can. The more you revise, the less you'll stress.

3. What if the exam throws questions at us that we can't answer? What if I blank out?

Well, again, trust yourself. You don't forget everything before the exam. It just gets foggy because you are too tensed. This is how I go about it - "What did you read about this? Okay, good, that's excellent. What else? Awesome. Anything else you remember? This is great. I remember stuff." 

Focus on how much you know rather than focusing on how much you don't know. 

Sometimes you do get depressed and there's nothing you can do about it. You don't feel like doing anything at all. Since you have studied before you can afford to take some time off and get back to studies when you feel better.
The drawback of taking too much time off is you feel guilty for not studying, get anxious and depressed again.

The only way to break the cycle is to shut that inner negative voice and study. *hugs*

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