In this video I offer some brief guidance on reducing exam related stress by identifying, evaluating and addressing negative patterns of thinking (known as cognitive distortions) that can make your exams seem like much more of an ordeal than they need to be! Although the focus of this video is exam related stress, the advice given is applicable to reducing stress generally.
Please note that if you have concerns about your mental health during your time at university, you should seek professional help from a qualified mental health professional immediately. Watching YouTube videos is not a substitute for such consultation. Your University of General Practitioner can direct you to suitable professional help. If you wish to contact a mental health professional directly, please ensure they are fully qualified and accredited.
The best way of finding appropriately qualified and accredited professionals is to locate the applicable representative body in your country. For example, in the UK the representative body for Psychologists is the British Psychological Society (BPS). For Counsellors and Psychotherapists it is the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Both the BPS and BACP keep registers of qualified and accredited professionals that the general public can consult via their websites, listed below https://www.bps.org.uk/ https://www.bacp.co.uk/
References:
Beck, A. T. (1963). Thinking and depression: I. Idiosyncratic content and cognitive distortions. Archives of general psychiatry, 9(4), 324-333.
Beck, A. T., Emery, G., & Greenberg, R. L. (1985). Anxiety disorders and phobias: A cognitive perspective. Basic Books.
Clark, D. A. (2013). Cognitive restructuring. The Wiley handbook of cognitive behavioral therapy, 1-22.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer publishing company.
Merton, R. K. (1948). The self-fulfilling prophecy. The antioch review, 8(2), 193-210.