ROSELINE MUTARE
IN a bid to mitigate examination-induced psycho-social challenges, mental health experts have implored final year learners to prioritise their psychological well-being and resist the temptation of drug and substance abuse ahead of the upcoming public examinations.
The call was made by a team of clinicians from Happynest Counselling Chambers (HNCC) and its Strategic Business Unit, Happynest Integrity School (HNIS), during a high-impact mental health workshop held at Gokomere High School on Wednesday. Running under the theme ‘More Than a Grade: Protecting Your Mind Before the Exam,’ the seminar aimed at equipping ‘O ‘ and ‘A’ Level candidates with cognitive coping mechanisms to navigate examination anxiety.
Addressing the learners, the HNCC Senior Consultant Counselling Psychologist, Innocent Mataruse, emphasised the need for a holistic approach to academic assessments, urging candidates to strike a balance between rigorous preparation and mental resilience.
Mataruse, challenged the traditional culture of burnout, asserting that academic sacrifice is entirely worthless without sustainability, and warned learners that they are human beings first and candidates second.
The visiting team of experts unpacked the cognitive and physiological dynamics of stress, warning that poor stress management directly impairs academic performance.
HNCC Programmes Coordinator, Munenyasha Hodzi, critiqued the systemic tendency to value academic output over the psychological state of the learner, noting that if the operator crashes, even the best notes in the world cannot save the student.
This was supported by Associate Counsellor Tariro Chiripasi Sithole, who explained the neurological impact of chronic stress, stating that high anxiety levels effectively shut down the prefrontal cortex the part of the brain responsible for solving equations and analysing literature leaving candidates attempting to write examinations with a virtually sleeping brain.
The clinicians further demystified the crisis by breaking down the differences between external pressure, the physical manifestations of stress, and the cognitive catastrophizing that characterises anxiety.
In a crucial intervention aligned with the national campaign against the drug menace, the Senior Consultant delivered a stern warning against using illicit substances as a coping mechanism for academic pressure. He noted that because the adolescent brain is still undergoing critical neurodevelopment, introducing psychoactive substances permanently impairs impulse control and decision-making.
He reminded the learners that substances do not relieve exam pressure but rather steal the natural capacity to cope, urging those struggling with substance use to seek counselling as an act of wisdom. The Gokomere High School administration and learners expressed profound gratitude for the timely intervention.
