A couple of weeks ago, a close female friend at Makerere University told me she had developed severe headache after she had buried herself in books for the past three consecutive days. My response was simple; let books not end your life.
While MN (best I use her initials, she is a very private person or rather wants to be taken as such) wanted to pass her forthcoming tests, she was risking her life and, unknowingly, inviting her near-death.
Like her, many university students tend to overly read and/or stress whenever exams come knocking. They give in their all as though their life depended on it; and while we applaud their hardwork, they need to tread carefully.
Cases of students dying during or immediately after exams, and others being at death’s door, have become common nowadays.
And while postmortem reports have suggested that other illnesses were at play, stress and anxiety have been identified as triggers.
Scientists argue that while stress alone may not be fatal, it can trigger fatal complications. A 2021 study proved that physical and mental stressors can lead to sudden cardiac death (SCD), meaning stress can cause sudden death by a heart attack.
Stress and anxiety are synonymous but the latter is a combination of both, and is therefore more life threatening.
It is during examination time that students forgo sleep in the name of burning the midnight candle. However, sleep deprivation can cause serious diseases, such as heart disease and mental illness.
There are also cases where students have missed exams because they spent the whole night reading and slept off hours or minutes to the exam. There has been a meme making rounds on social media of a student asking when they were to write their exam only to be told the exam was done. Such a student may be a victim of immoderate reading.
Wait to castigate your neighbour dozing in the study room (Library), he came to study, didn’t he? But sleep has overpowered him. After a few more hours, you likely will be no different from him unless you take a break.
A good rule of thumb to guide reading is to take as many breaks as possible. Most studies recommend taking breaks every after 30 minutes. This obviously sounds like a joke to someone with a test next day, right?
The human brain is not a machine; the more it is used, the more it wears out. The early you take a break, the better.
There are many guides to proper reading, and I am not here to usurp the duty of those beautiful guides. I am only here to say that in everything you do, it is important that you keep yourself alive. Of what good are good grades to one who is six feet under?
