The UPSC Civil Service Exam is one of the toughest and most competitive examinations of India. Nearly five to six lakh applicants appear for the examination every year out of which 1,000 or less gets selected and limit on the number of attempts makes it even more difficult. Keeping an eye on such tough competition, the notion of failure is sure to flash through an aspirant’s mind which may lead to bouts of depression, anxiety and mental stress.
A civil services candidate encounters scores of issues during the course of the preparation of this exam. Many candidates have to leave their homes and migrate to metro cities for the coaching and preparation. They have to desert comfortable life and take up accommodation that gives them little comfort.
Having nutritious and wholesome food is another challenge that most of the students encounter as they do not know how to cook and in order to save time eat at the roadside stalls or depend on “Dubawalas”. Consequently, many aspirants end up having health issues.
In order to bring forth results, the coaching institutes put pressure on the candidates to increase the hours of studies. Many students put in 15 to 18 hours a day and some resort to anti-sleeping pills. Sleep deprivation suppresses the immune system and take a toll on their health.
The only goal of the candidates is to somehow clear the exam ignoring the insurmountable pressure on them. Studying till wee hours, managing expenses, living alone, keeping up with the coaching institutes, fee and health issues are all being compromised. The peer and societal pressure, along with the pressure of competition have a telling impact on the body and mind.
The long drawn out time of preparation leaves a huge impact on the candidates. They are isolated from the outside world, and get emotionally, psychologically, and physically drained out. Due to emotional breakdowns, depression, anxiety many civil services aspirants cannot give due focus on their preparation.
They tend to ignore these symptoms and resort to heavy drinking and smoking, which leads to another set of problems.
So what is the solution?
- It is advised to take corrective steps to stave off such problems during the course of preparation. A well-rounded diet is the first thing to be focused on and overeating and starvation needs to be avoided at all cost. Having comfortable chair and table with sufficient lights is vitally important as aspirants have to spend long hours of sitting.
- You can start the day with a walk in the park and fresh up before sitting on the chair for studying. Unanimously, intermittent breaks relax your muscles and augment your reasoning ability.
- Yoga and meditation have proven efficacy to bring down the stress level. Likewise playing some light games in the evening diverts your mind. Sitting with friends and cracking jokes also relieves the symptoms of stress.
The final word is one should have sound body and mind to get through the examination. Staying calm and composed, cheerful and jolly will undoubtedly help you sail through all the difficulties and come up with flying colors in the exam.
