A Student's Guide to Exam Stress

　　As exam fever heats up, keep your cool with tips from our healthcorrespondent Dr Barry Lynch.

　　Stress is difficult to define but most of us know it when we experience it.

　　We may have mental symptoms: panic, feeling trapped or overwhelmed. Or theremay be physical symptoms: sweating palms, butterflies, headaches,breathlessness or sleeplessness.

　　Stress can cause us to feel overwhelmed and powerless to tackle the verythings that are causing the stress in the first place. So make a carefullywritten plan and the problems will seem less overwhelming. Ticking off eachthing as you do it will help you feel there is light at the end of thetunnel.

　　When you're writing your revision plan, make sure you include some time off— exactly an hour or whatever — before you go back to work. Look forwardto your time off and do something pleasant in it. Work out little treats andrewards for yourself as you tick off each thing on your plan. The treats canbe simple: an ice cream, half an hour listening to your personal stereo, orwalking the dog.

　　Easier said than done, I know, but exercise is one of the best ways ofrelaxing: it's the natural way to deal with adrenaline and similar hormonesthat are rushing around your body. A walk will help; a quick swim or half anhour of tennis or another game is even better.

　　Don't drink endless cups of tea or coffee: although caffeine is a stimulantit will eventually only make you tenser and nervous.

　　Don't try to go without sleep — sleep is a natural way of relieving stress.

　　Don't be tempted to use alcohol or other drugs to relieve stress. Theycreate more problems than they solve.

　　correspondent 记者

　　symptom 症状

　　overwhelmed 紧张不安

　　butterfly 神经质发抖

　　adrenaline 肾上腺素

　　hormone 激素

　　学生如何缓解考试压力

　　当考试的热潮一浪高过一浪时，你必须保持冷静，下面就听听我们的健康记者巴里?林奇博士的建议吧。

　　压力很难定义，但是当我们遇到压力时就知道了什么叫压力。我们可能会有精神上的症状：惊慌，感到无助或不知所措。或许还有生理上的症状：手出汗，胃不舒服，头痛，喘不过气来或失眠。

　　压力能使我们感到不安和无力处理那些最初导致压力产生的事情。所以制定一份详细的书面计划可以使麻烦易于解决。每做完一件事后你就勾掉它，这样，你就会感到希望就在前头。

　　当你制定计划时，千万留出一些休息时间——在你重新回去工作前——要有一小时左右的时间。盼望着休息时间快来，到时候做些令人愉快的事情。当你在计划上勾掉一件事时，就给自己一点小小的奖赏。奖赏可以非常简单：一个冰激凌，听半小时音乐或溜溜狗。

　　我知道说起来容易做起来难，其实运动是最好的放松方法之一：它能很自然地消除由于紧张不安而导致的内分泌激增。

　　散步就有所帮助，快速游泳或打半小时的网球或其他运动将更有好处。

　　不要不停地喝茶或咖啡：虽然咖啡因有刺激作用，但它最终只会让你越来越紧张不安。

　　不要熬夜——睡眠是减轻压力的自然方法。

　　不要为了减轻压力而经受不住酒精或其他药品的诱惑。它们制造的麻烦会比它们解决的问题更多。