Last-minute stress, abnormality worry parents

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

NEET (UG) is one of the toughest exams the students take to pursue careers in medicine.

However, it has come to notice that many parents grieve that the occurrence of abnormalities in their wards either ahead of the test day or on the day of the test due to stress panics them; pushes them to worry and develops a sense of guilt in them.

Around 21,000 students took the NEET through 40 examination centres in the city on Sunday (May 5). The scribe came across a few incidents of abnormalities in the students. However, the parents agreed to air their feelings privately and refused to go on record.

Case I: A lady parent from Sillod underlined, “ My daughter stopped eating food to her capacity for the last 10 days owing to stress and avoid even drinking tea since morning today. We were worried and preferred to accompany her till the centre.”

Case II: Another male parent (from Roshan Gate) added, “ Till Saturday my son was normal, but he became reserved as the day broke (on Sunday). He shrank his movements and became silent after morning tea. He refused breakfast as the time to leave home for the test was approaching closer. When my wife repeatedly insisted and told him that he would have to remain without food till 5.20 pm, he just had a few spoons of ‘poha’ and left the plate saying I do not feel like eating.”

Case III: At one centre, one female student had come with her brother and father (from T V Centre), but at the 11th hour, she changed her mind and was not ready to pass the entry gate. Later on, her brother pushed her inside the entry gate telling just go and take the test as an experience. Then also she was reluctant to go to complete the checking procedure.

Another male parent (from Cidco) claimed that he had a tough time while on the way to the centre.

Case IV: “While we were on the way on the bike, my son insisted I return home in the middle of the way. He even made me stop the vehicle near Osmanpura Circle, but I convinced him to take the test and come out of the centre leaving the test paper blank,” he said.

Come out of society and peer pressures: Expert

Head of the Department of Psychology (BAMU) Dr Aparna Ashtaputre explained, “ The parents should first stop taking stress since the declaration of date of test. This is society's pressure on them. This helps in mounting the stress in the minds of students. This is performance anxiety. His/her defence mechanism gets activated. He relates his results with his image, apart from peer pressure (another silent killer). The cooker whistles when pressure mounts inside the vessel. In human beings, the pressure leads to abnormality (cases of nervousness, pushes to go into denial mode, escapism mode, causing harm to self by not eating or eating less, etc). The longevity of these thoughts is of a few minutes or seconds. Hence on the day of the test or exam, the parents should distract their attention by speaking or discussing topics which are of the students' interest. It will encourage students to proceed further and take the test with a positive mindset.”