Millions of university candidates are hours away from the YKS exam. In this process, in which families are as excited as the candidates, experts warn parents not to reflect the exam anxiety to their children and not to make the exam a matter of life and death.
Expert Clinical Psychologist Esma Uygun from Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center made important evaluations about the exam anxiety of candidates and families before the YKS.
The exam should not be a matter of life and death
"Anxiety is contagious and families should be careful not to infect their children with their own anxiety," warned Esma Uygun, Clinical Psychologist:
"Families should be aware of their limits. They should reassure and give positive feedback. They should be attentive in conversations about the exam, be realistic, and avoid comparisons with their peers.
- They should not make the exam a matter of life and death, they should be encouraging.
- Children should be loved unconditionally and should not be success-oriented."
Rehearse the exam
Esma Uygun, an Expert Clinical Psychologist from Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center, made the following suggestions for candidates to reduce exam anxiety:
- "Stop talking about the exam with friends and family,
- Stop comparing test results with friends,
- Postpone anxiety-inducing thoughts such as which schools I can get into, which school I can get into if I get how many grades, etc. until after the exam,
- Organize sleep-wake rhythms. Plan when to go to sleep and when to get up before the exam day,
- Until the exam, rehearse the exam by practicing at the exam time,
- Learn breathing and relaxation exercises and practice them every day until the test day."
Stop worrying about "what if I make a mistake"
Clinical Psychologist Esma Uygun from Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center concluded her words as follows:
"Thoughts that increase anxiety such as 'what if there is noise in the classroom, if I make an attention error, if I forget what I know, if I am late for the exam, if I embarrass my family, if my friends score higher than me, if I cannot get the university I want, if there are very difficult questions in the exam' are not helpful. Remember that you exaggerate small possibilities. Focus only on the exam and postpone them to think about after the exam."
