- With less than a week until the Selectivity, psychologists and psychiatrists from the Ribera health group advise avoiding “distracting” elements, such as social networks, because “then it is difficult to focus attention on a more passive activity, such as studying.”
- A calm study environment and “lowering the intensity of a more emotional mind to enter into more rational thinking, which allows learning” is important to achieve a good academic goal.
There is less than a week left for the University entrance exams (EBAU) in most of the autonomous communities and, once again, around 250.000 students these days are facing the last days of review and the nerves and stress that These types of exams usually generate. To overcome these days of study and concentration in the best possible way, Mental Health specialists from the health group RiberaThey recommend organization and planning of the study, a healthy diet, between 7 and 9 hours of sleep daily, physical exercise and techniques for stress control, such as Mindfulness.
Marta Marcos, child psychologist at the Department of Health of Vinalopo (Elche) warns about the negative impact of excessive use of technology. “The brain of young people gets used to receiving quick information and, when moving to a more passive activity like studying, the brain tends to get bored.” And the consequence, he adds, is that the ability to focus and concentrate is lost. For Jorge Pernía, child and adolescent clinical psychologist at the Torrejón University Hospital, “digital culture, represented by mobile phones and entertainment and communication devices, provides an overabundance of information and images that make us prone to adopt easy slogans and reduce critical and reflective capacity.” “This contributes to reducing the pleasure of thinking, atrophying the ability to concentrate that is necessary to focus attention and interest on something complex,” he adds. In his opinion, “solitude and silence are necessary to concentrate and study.”
Marisa Escribano, psychologist at the Mental Health Unit of the Department of Vinalopó, adds as factors that affect the concentration of young people, task competition (trying to do several things at the same time), worries and stress management, fatigue, demotivation and excessive self-demand. “It's good to be responsible, but if we go too far it can lead to a blockage.”
For her part, the child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Torrejón University Hospital, Dr. Cristina Luz, assures that “attention and concentration are very sensitive skills, which are altered by multiple external and internal factors” and highlights the importance of emotional health. “in times of greater academic intensity”, such as the selectivity or final exams for high school or university students. “Learning to regulate ourselves emotionally, lowering the intensity of a more emotional mind, to enter into more rational thinking that allows learning, is essential to achieve a good academic goal.”
Benefits of mindfulness or Mindfluness
Full attention or Mindfulness is a technique based on breathing and concentration, in a state of active and present attention, in which thoughts and feelings are observed without being judged, accepting what arises in our mind and body without trying to change it. .
María Elena Ballester, psychologist at the Ribera hospital Virgin of Charity at the clinic in Los Alcázares (Murcia), explains that the regular practice of mindfulness “helps reduce levels of stress and anxiety, increases productivity and performance, allows us to concentrate better and avoid distractions, improves decision-making and accuracy in tasks and helps make informed decisions.”
For Mónica Villar, child psychologist and clinical neuropsychologist at Ribera Hospital Povisa (Vigo), electronic devices “predispose young people to a state of hyperalertness and expectation, which makes it difficult for them to concentrate on a task,” and for this reason it is necessary to practice exercises that promote full attention since “they help us train our mind for calm and predispose us to optimize our ability to concentrate and learn.”
10 practical tips for exam time
Mental Health specialists from the hospitals of the Ribera health group in the Valencian Community, Murcia, Madrid and Galicia provide some practical advice to help students improve these days of concentration and review and thus achieve the programmed academic objectives. These are his main tips:
- Organized by the syllabus and plan times and topics to study at all times.
- Turn to the study skills that will help you the most:
- Make diagrams about the subject, so that sustained attention is favored and there is less possibility of distraction.
- Use cumulative review to promote learning.
- Always start from the most difficult content to the easiest.
- Periods of full concentration and rest (50 minutes and 5 minutes).
- The day before the exam, do a short review of the subject, without studying new content.
- On the day of the exam, avoid prior review and comments with other classmates at the entrance to the exam.
- Control negative thoughts and do not comment on the results with other classmates after the exam. Generates a high level of anxiety.
- Sleeping between 7 and 9 hours a day.
- Keep a healthy nutrition, balanced and rich in nutrients, such as fruit, nuts and dark chocolate, as well as adequate hydration.
- Practice exercise, because it stimulates neuronal activity and improves brain connectivity.
- Quiet study environment. Always try to study in the same place and at the same time.
- Take care of hygiene: A good shower and following your self-care routines will help you feel better.
- Eliminate distractions and electronic devices from your study area.
- Avoid complex or tense conversations with friends or partners so as not to distract our attention or divert our thoughts from the goal of study and concentration.
Finally, and now off the list of advice, the psychologist at the Vinalopó Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit, Marta Marcos, encourages students to “trust in themselves and the effort made. Surely they will achieve their objectives.” She remembers the importance of family support and evaluating alternatives, emphasizing the effort made rather than the result obtained.
