Mental Health | Shum's Shenanigans

My thoughts on student mental health and "burn out"

Alright, so let’s get right into it. More recently, there has been a growing attention being placed on student mental well being in Singapore, especially now during the Covid-19 period where the feelings of stress and anxiety seem to be compounded. More and more frequently, I've read how Singapore’s education system is dubbed the “pressure cooker system” where the highly competitive nature and pressure to secure a good placement in schools or universities has led to a deterioration of students' mental health and “burn out”.

What the statistics show

A study by the Organization for Economics Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that 86% of Singaporean students have experienced anxiety over poor grades, with 82% saying they wanted to be at the top of the class and 76% feeling anxious for a test that they’ve prepared for. On average this is 20% higher than students from other countries, which now looking at it, is actually pretty insane!

Alright but what is “burn out”?

By definition, burning out is to ruin one’s own health and become completely exhausted through overwork. However, to “burn out” is much more than just to feel completely exhausted, as it's often accompanied by loss of motivation, strained relationships and increasing feelings of stress and anxiety over not being able to work productively. Though this may happen to people of all ages since it's a symptom of stress and pressure to perform, it has become more prevalent in youths in Singapore due to the regular examinations and the prospects of national exams such as PSLE and O levels.

My thoughts and experiences

Anecdotally, I’ve also had my fair share of overworking and burning out. Having gone through 3 national exams, PSLE, O levels and International Baccalaureate, some might be forgiven for thinking that I would have been acclimatized to the stress and pressure of our education system now. However in truth, this is not the case, rather I have found out that with each exam, the pressure and fretfulness I've felt to perform seems to grow as I placed higher and higher expectations on myself.

Credits to Jaiden Animations

Coming from a “traditional chinese family” I’ve grown up with the mentality that “A” meant “acceptable”, “B” meant “better improve” and “C” was “Can’t make it”. Mixing around with others who I saw as “high achievers” created what I like to call the “academic arms race” where the mutual peer pressure from seeing others excel and perform would cause me to work harder to try to keep up. It also probably did not help that I was competing against arguably some of the brightest people in Singapore at ACS Independent or that I chose to chuck on more pressure by taking triple science. In retrospect, this did allow me to grow more independent and self-disciplined, but it also further fuelled the academic pressure I had felt.

These experiences cultured an obsessive (and rather unhealthy might I add) work ethic and mentality where I would pressure myself to study for hours after school and still feel unsatisfied as I would look at the 1 or 2 hours which I had spent resting (which now looking back was rather insane, yikes!). This led to several burn outs, the worst of which was during the 2 week study break before the IB exams. I still remember my daily routine back then which may come as a shock to some but relatable to others:

Wake up, drink coffee, study for 3 hours, have lunch and another coffee, study for 5 hours, have dinner with yet another coffee, study for 3 hours, sleep. (yeaaa I was pretty obsessed back then and my liver probably didn't appreciate the 1000mg of caffeine daily). I was obsessed, completely and utterly obsessed with “doing well”. Even before the study break, my desire to perform started taking over and I started unconsciously distancing myself from friends, stopped doing the things I enjoyed and pushed back my bed times (I can get away with sleeping 3 hours right?) This routine, to no one's surprise, was completely unsustainable and I ended up burning out just 2 days before the first paper.

Reflecting on this period, I realize now that having a balanced study routine would have been more beneficial for me, and that I did not have to finish every single worksheet and paper to be ready.

(wow that got a bit gloomy at the end there so here's a picture of a cat to lighten the mood before we proceed :P )

Covid Impact

The next thing I want to talk about is Covid. For what my opinions worth, I don’t believe that Covid has had as much of a negative impact on student mental health as the papers make them out to be.

On one hand, I do realize the increased stress from Home-based learning as students may not be as receptive or attentive at home in online classes which may lead to higher stress for some as they have put in greater effort to learning the syllabus. The lack of social interaction with classmates which they used to see everyday may also lead to an increase in feelings of isolation and depression. However, through online platforms like “houseparty”, “zoom” and “discord” I still believe that students are able to have sufficient amounts of social interaction with their classmates, though it cannot replace the classroom experiences.

On another hand, I believe that the current measures made by the education system has helped students to cope with HBL by shortening or cutting certain syllabus and content. Anecdotally, the first lock down occurred in my second year of IB. Admittedly, it was difficult to suddenly stop seeing my friends and just stay at home, but after the initial shock of circuit breaker and HBL, I felt as though everyone adapted to the new situation and learned to still keep in close contact through nightly Houseparty calls where we would talk and play amongus. Looking back, I’m actually quite grateful for the circuit breaker happening when it did. We my deadlines for EEs, IAs coming up, trying to catch up on the syllabus and prepping for the rugby nationals, I honestly don’t know how I would have coped with the workload.

My advice for youths

I can honestly say that having a balanced lifestyle and work routine is much better in the long run than cramming knowledge everyday. The brain is a muscle, so like any muscle after a workout, you need to give it some time to recuperate and repair. There is a limited amount of learning you can do in a day before your brain basically says enough is enough and zones out. Like a cup of water that's filled to the brim, it's pointless to try to fill it up with more water without having drank some of the water first.

My advice is to take things slow but remain consistent. Study for maybe 1 to 2 hours every sitting but leave enough out for yourself to relax. For me right now, I set a “welfare alarm” for myself every night at 930 as a que to stop studying and relax. Essentially, work hard but relax hard too!

Actually, a really good video from youtube which covers burnout is by JaidenAnimations The Closest Feeling to Death that isn't Death. She covers a lot of the topics I've discussed here but in a much more concise manner than my ramblings while also making it really interesting with her goofy animations! Definitely should give it a watch if you've got the time! :)

coping strategies

For me, I found working out to be a great way to destress. Back then, I tried to workout every day for at least an hour, whether it be going to the gym or running. Its less about the actual workout and more about the post-workout “high” where the body releases endorphins. (at least that's what I think happens.)
Sleep! No matter how busy or stressed you are, always remember to have enough sleep every night!. Not only that, but don’t be afraid to take that occasional afternoon snooze once in a while to recharge. I found that trying to study while sleepy or tired is actually less productive than just taking a quick 1 hour nap and going back at it as I often have to review the content again later on as I realize I forgot to digest the information.
Baby steps! Alright so what I mean by this is you shouldnt be too fixated on the end result as that means you aren’t focussing as much as you should be on the process. Take each day one step at a time. Set for yourself manage “sub goals” every day which you can work towards and reward yourself after completing each one. No one can take Mount Everest in one take, you need to have camps and outposts along your climb to rest and recuperate!
Animals! If you own any furry friends like dogs or cats (mainly dogs :P), then be sure to give them some pets and boop their snoops! I mean come on man, how can you stay stressed after looking at these adorable animals. Fun fact too, dogs have been shown to be one of the only animals to love you more than they love themselves. If that isn’t reason enough to get up and give your pet a good belly rub then I don't know what will!

What is being done to address student mental well-being

Mental health awareness has been brought back into the spotlight after the recent mental health incidents (yea I'm not gonna name any names). Moving forward, the government has just recently announced mental health education lessons will be progressively introduced at all primary, secondary and pre-university levels in 2022 and 2023 which encourage students to seek help when needed.

Another important change is the reconfiguration of the PSLE scoring system, using “achievement levels” which reflect how well students have done relative to learning objectives of the curriculum while the previous “T-score” system reflects how well students have done relative to their peers. This aims to reduce fine differentiation of students examinations results from a young age which I personally believe to be very important. Though this new system may take some getting used to, it's a step in the right direction by showing impressionable youths in Singapore that they aren’t defined by their grades!

What is being done to address student mental well-being

Buy the philips all-in-one cooker HD2238/62 all-in-one cooker. Philips. (2020, August 14). Retrieved January 16, 2022, from https://www.philips.com.sg/c-p/HD2238_62/all-in-one-cooker
Jaiden. (2018, August 5). The closest feeling to death that isn't death. YouTube. Retrieved January 16, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt-YuVhsvpY
Mental health. HealthXchange. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2022, from https://www.healthxchange.sg/wellness/mental-health/anxiety-singapore-stats-types-risk
Sullivan, C. (2021, March 3). 14 cute cat breeds that even dog people would say "AWWW" to. Woman's Day. Retrieved January 16, 2022, from https://www.womansday.com/life/pet-care/g29027429/cute-cat-breeds/