Fear before exams can develop due to several reasons both emotional and physical. Examination fear can occur in a child due to plenty of causes - a child who is under prepared for the exams or in children with a nervous tendency or even in a child who is physically unwell and this brings on the fear. hard work, intelligence and perfect fitness, both mental and physical helps the student totally to overcome examination fear and perform at his best. To do well in an examination, fitness is most essential.

PRECAUTION

It is in the student’s best interest to start taking care of his health at least two months before the exams. No outside food should be eaten. Those students who live in a hostel should try to eat steaming hot food (so that bacterias are destroyed), drink hot liquids like tea instead of cold milkshakes, juices, etc and boil their drinking water.

DIET DONT'S

If you are a non-vegetarian please minimise your non-vegetarian food intake, stop eating chocolates and cakes, minimise fried food, decrease your coffee intake, go slow on sweets. Because these foods have a high level of toxic waste products like urea, uric acid, cholestrol and triglycerides which move about in the blood and thus bring down the sharpness of brain power.

DIET

10-12 glasses of water at regular intervals, lots of vegetables, seasonal fruits, grams, peanuts, a few almonds, oats (porridge) in the morning, skimmed milk 1-2 glasses -- this should be the diet of one appearing for an exam. Please eat small quantities at short intervals. Don’t fill up your stomach completely because then in order to digest the food, blood supply to the stomach has to increase. This results in a feeling of drowsiness and lethargy.

EXERCISES

One may not have enough time for this but a few stretches and calisthenics, like push-ups, sit-ups, will invigorate the lax muscles and make you feel fit.

MENTAL FITNESS

When you are physically fit you feel mentally fit as well, but to add little sharpness to your mental power here are few homoeopathic mind chargers

1. PHYSICAL FATIGUE :

ARNICA MONTANNA 200C, 5 pills four times a day is extremely useful for a child who really works very hard and need some help for "fitness" and removal of mental and physical tiredness.

2. BRAIN FAG :

Continuous study causes burning along the spine with dull throbbing headache. Headaches start from the base of the head, going along the spine after every mental effort. The slightest excitement or mental exertion brings on a headache. Burning along the spine, and weakness in the legs and back, soreness of the muscles and joints.... these could result from continuous studying.

PICRIC ACID has proved one of the best remedies for Brain fag. 200C, 5 pills four times a day is the dosage.

3. DULL-CHILDREN :

These are generally dwarfish children whose mind and body are weak. These children don’t seem to grow both ways. The defective growth is both mental and physical. The weakness of the mind may amount almost to idiocy or imbecility.

Children who have a low level of intelligence with mental weakness are greatly helped by BARYTA CARB along with a nutritious diet.

BARYTA CARB 200, 5 pills four times a day is the dosage.

4. NERVOUSNESS DUE TO FEAR :

The thought of exams brings on nervous trembling, dullness, drowsiness and dizziness accompanied by headache. The student complaints of extreme sleepness with excruciating headache everytime he wants to study. This person also suffers from anticipatory fear, which might lead to diarrhoea and headaches.

GELSEMIUM 200C, 5 pills every two hours makes you fit to study and concentrate.

5. KEEP COOL :

KALI PHOS is a great nerve tonic and nerve relaxant. When you are unusually excited, overworked and worried, KALI PHOS 6X, 5 pills four times a day will help you relax.

Readers are advised that the medical advice offered in this column pertains to generalised treatment of conditions. Kindly consult your doctor before self medication.