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Preparation for UMAT: Stress ManagementStress ManagementPsychological states like chronic stress, depression, anxiety and fear and our social context produce profound effects upon the body. Over time negative mental and emotional states take a heavy toll on the body and are a significant risk factor for illness. The lack of time available to students is one of the main causes of short-term stress, which some students may develop during Yr 12. However a degree of stress is beneficial for the student to have as it motivates them into studying. It is important for the student to be able to manage their stress levels to ensure optimum performance without causing the student emotional distress. The student will experience the ‘fight or flight' response (a release of hormones in the body which increase heart rate and blood pressure, delivering more oxygen and blood sugar to power important muscles, in response to a physical threat) which can be experienced at any time he/she comes across something unexpected or that which frustrates his/her goals. In this state the student is anxious, irritable and is unable to focus his/her attention. It reduces his/her ability to work properly, to execute precise skills and to make fine judgments. It becomes easy for the student to make simple mistakes and difficult to carry out important decisions. Hence this ‘fight or flight' response must be kept under control to avoid unnecessary anxiety and irritation.To manage the stress levels, the student can confront the cause of the stress, changing the circumstances or the situation, he/she can change the attitude with which the stress is perceives, or just accept the stress and seek to endure it for the duration of time it exists. One helpful method for coping with stress is imagery. If the student is powerless to change the circumstances which are causing him stress, such as the number of assessments that are due at one particular time or the amount of time he has to study per night, then this is a useful technique to help him relax and make the most of the time he has available to him and work effectively. The student can try to mentally remove himself from the stressful or irritating environment by picturing a serene scene which recreates an environment that is soothing. The more effort the student places into this meditation, the more rewarding the exercise will be. Similarly, if the student imagines an environment or a situation which is frustration or worrying, the student will begin to experience these emotions. Thus it is helpful for the student to adjust their attitude to view their timetable, exam schedule and assignment due dates positively, with a can-do attitude. Visualising handing in a completed assignment or receiving great results in an exam will motivate the student into actualizing the goal and will increase the positiveness of the student's present state. How to do this: the student can picture a surrounding they have experienced in the past which was peaceful or joyful to them at the time. They can also create a place where they would like to be. The more details the student pictures, the more effective the meditation will be. For example, you can imagine a scene at the beach with the waves crashing against the rocks, smelling the sea weed, and feeling the cool evening breeze on the skin. The images are individual to each person – what works for someone may not work for anyone else. Other imagery techniques involve picturing stress as an object which you can manipulate and discard from your body. For example, you can visualize breathing in the peace and serenity through your nose as a bright stream of light, and breathing out the stress and anxiety through your mouth as black smoke and pollution. The student may also use imagery to plan out their performance in an exam, such as the UMAT. For example, the student can visualize their goal – for example, to aim for 95+ in each section of the UMAT. He can then imagine how he will prepare for the UMAT in the available time. Finally he can picture entering the UMAT centre, beginning the test and how positive and relaxed he will feel during the exam. He can picture the speed and efficiency with which he will complete the test. If the student spends enough time visualizing how this will occur, he will eventually begin to believe it and soon enough this will become the only possible way in which the event could unfold. The student can also prepare himself for unpredictable elements in the UMAT through imagery. For example, the student can predict a different shape to be introduced in Section Three of the UMAT, or for Section Two of the UMAT to examine interpersonal skills in a form other than short scenarios and dialogues. This will minimize stress and frustration on the day of the UMAT if something similar and unexpected occurs. Imagery can be used to allow UMAT candidates to pre-experience their UMAT success, for an additional boost of self-confidence. Another method which the UMAT candidate can use to limit the amount of stress during Yr 12 studies as well as on the day of the UMAT is through physical relaxation techniques. For best results, the student can combine these with the mental relaxation techniques. A physical stress management technique includes taking deep breaths. This helps to minimize the ‘fight-flight' response and helps calm the body so that the student can think and act effectively. Deep breathing is not very complicated – it involves the student taking a few deep breaths and loosening the body more and more with each breath. Another method of physically relaxing the body is tensing a group of muscles until they are as tight as they can be, holding this tension in the muscles for a few seconds, then releasing all the tension and relaxing the muscles as much as possible. This can be combined with deep breathing to relax the whole of your body. For about 20 minutes, the student can relax each part of his body, working from the bottom up, combined with taking deep breaths in between. The mind has the key role in eliciting the stress response through its functions of perception, cognition, interpretation and conditioning. Learned patterns of coping and personality styles are possibly more important than a situation itself and so it's evident how important techniques such as meditation and relaxation are in helping to reverse the effects of this inappropriate stress by attacking it at its cause – thought. This places a responsibility on the individual for their own psychological health by empowering them to understand themselves better and take charge of the responses to stress. Any response to stress which only places blame to the environment will be of very limited success as it ignores the most important element in the process – the person responding to the environment. In summary, here are some tips on how to combat stress:
A person can modify the way he perceives himself and his situation through thought awareness, where he observes his stream of consciousness regarding a particular situation which is causing him grief. Another method is to write down the thoughts and feelings as they take place – such as anxiety, worry, difficult memories and negative situations. Afterwards, these negative thoughts and feelings can be analysed and the destructive pattern of thinking can be dealt with. One way of dealing with this negative thinking pattern is to criticize every unpleasant idea that was written down and ask if it is reasonable. The person can then use positive thinking and affirmations to counteract the negative thoughts. Affirmations will also help boost self-confidence by undoing the damage that was previously done by the destructive thinking pattern.
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