Exam anxiety/ depression

[Tatapie]

My son has been really sad the last few weeks. GCSE year.
He's said tonight he's stuck in a cycle of being scared of failure and then demotivated. He's doing the normal amount of work in the evenings for him, no more and kicked off at the weekend about doing revision.
I don't know how to help. I've suggested looking at his mocks, timetabling etc but he's negative.
His teacher has noticed his mood too he said.
He did fine in his mocks btw. He is a bright boy. School are piling on the pressure I think and he said he was work shamed by some kids for going away at Easter!! He's a bit lazy and a worrier so usually does denial / panic with exams but then does ok.
Any tips?
I hate to seem him angry and sad and want him to do some work!!

He should have him exam timetable by now he needs to make a plan backwards from each exam so he knows what he should be revising when. Schedule in clubs, holidays and breaks.

Agree schedule is the best way to feel in control and achieve something.
Unsure whether to discuss with school or just have a firm word?!

I don't know if this applies to you but my dd also sitting this year told me yesterday one of her friends had to have a day of school because of the pressure, the atmosphere is tense in their year group. Everyone is feeling the pressure.
Last year I had a conversation with dd where she told me she felt pressure from me to do well in her exams, I was shocked as didn't think we had ever said anything to make her feel this way. I told her I do not care what her results are, as long as she puts the effort in and does her best, I cannot ask any more from her. Obviously the talk wasn't that simple, lots of examples of successful people who don't have great results, discussions about how to achiever her career goal if the exams don't go to plan. And also revision plans and stress coping mechanisms for her to try.
She achieved 6-8s in her mocks and has said she feels almost no pressure because of our conversation.

For me and my DD1 the way to alleviate pressure was to have a plan.

So for DD1's GCSEs we agreed up front what a reasonable workload was. We agreed that if she did revision as planned then she would have worked hard and at that point what would be, would be. This included 4 days away over Easter, and every afternoon off.

Tangible progress helps. So not just 'revise Physics' but 'revise speed, distance, time, acceleration'.

Don't discuss work with others if it is going to make you feel more stressed.

I also had to remove stress from school on occasions. e.g. Saying No to doing Physics paper 2 practice questions over Easter when it was the very final exam, or saying ignore predicted grade for Maths as it was too 'ambitious'.

All of the above. Also stuff to help with organising revision. Highlighters, sticky notes, index cards, big planner on the wall.

this is the lowest point in the year for Vitamin D deficiency, please make sure he is taking a multivitamin if you think he didn't get much sunshine last year in the Vitamin D months (11-3 April May June July August. My son was Vitamin d deficient, and perked up enormously after supplementation but I only discovered this in Year 12 March.... Other parents have told me their children with anxiety turned out to be folate deficient, and/or Vitamin B12. Your son should have a blood test, just in case. Ask for B vits, iron, and Vitamin D. You can get supplements of 1000iu over the counter if you are in doubt and don't want to go to doctor, government recommend we all take 500iu minimum in winter, you ccan google it.

symptoms are low mood, tired, lethargic, irritability, and anxiety caused by above affecting work/school success. I've been vit D deficient (my reading was 30, ds1's was 25) and you feel "rubbish". HTH

Thanks for all your replies and sharing your experiences.
I'll have conversation with him about a reasonable workload and work back from exams to a subject / topic plan.
I'll also get a multi vitamin - good shout!
I'm hoping the Easter (school!) trip will be a distraction and provide some light relief as well as sun then he can crack on when he gets back. Fingers crossed!