Dealing with GCSE exam stress

[Meadowfinch]

My ds is 15, his GCSEs have just started, and his stress levels are off the scale.

He's only had two so far and he's slamming doors and getting upset, although once he's actually in there, he seems to manage OK.

What can I do to help? If I suggest getting some fresh air, I just get yelled at and told I don't understand. It's difficult to persuade him to go to bed and get some sleep. What else can I offer?

He’s letting off steam. Don’t get on at him too much (as long as he isn’t being disrespectful etc)
The exams will soon be over and he will have the summer to look forward to. No one likes exams- we all hate it. This is his way of dealing with it.

I have been through it. All you can do is be extra sensitive, give him space, make sure he eats and drinks well and gets decent sleep (big lie-in at the weekend, if it helps). It's hard going for them.

I'll stock up on hot chocolate and biscuits.

He gets so upset 🙁 I feel useless not being more help.

He's slamming doors and speaking to the app rudely, he needs to calm the fuck down. Most definitely rude!

I wouldn't be offering biscuits to someone slamming my doors. The little shit.

"He's slamming doors and speaking to the app rudely, he needs to calm the fuck down. Most definitely rude!

I wouldn't be offering biscuits to someone slamming my doors. The little shit."

He's stressed. Meeting his stress with anger will only escalate the situation and cause a row. We're the adults here, it's our job to decrease the stress.

It is completely out of character, which is why I asked for suggestions. Usually he's cheerful, generally polite and quite philosophical.

The only time he's laughed in the last few weeks is when I almost had to wrestle him into having a shower.

Stick a post it on his bedroom door saying ‘love you’

make him a deluxe surprise breakfast on a tray in bed one morning

if he says something mean, tell him that you heard him but are going to ignore it for now as you know he is under a lot of stress

if he really pushes it, ask him to sit down at the kitchen table and have a chat about how handling stress is an important life skill and you think he needs some help as his reaction is not ok

breathe and do a lot of uhuh, wow, that must be tough…no solutions, just listening

I think you need to take your own advice to calm down.

Your comment is fair enough for how you would deal with this situation but calling someone's else child a "little shit" is totally out of line.

Sit down and talk. We told DD that we do understand the stress and are ok with a certain level of behaviour but being rude and not engaging with us is not ok.

We tried to ensure she does stick with some of her activities so she was able to concentrate on something else and also ensured she had a decent diet so the extra chocolate was not the only food group she ate.