It turns out that the stress of assessment season doesn’t just disappear the moment you hand in your last paper. We spoke to Dr Ravi Lukha, Bupa UK Insurance’s Medical Director, to unpack what’s happening in your body and mind after exam season and what students can do to recover, reset, and genuinely feel better. Dr Lukha offers science-backed insights that are both reassuring and actionable.
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What’s the science behind the “post-exam crash”? why do some students feel worse after it’s all over?
The pressure that you feel during exam season can put your body into ‘fight or flight’ mode. Fight or flight mode kicks in when your body perceives a physical or mental threat. To tackle the threat, your body releases hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline, that increase your heart rate and blood pressure.
This gives you the best chance of being alert and ready to tackle any challenges your threat may present. These hormones can be of great benefit in the short-term, increasing your focus and ability to finish tasks, like revision and exams.
Even when your exams finish, the stress hormones can linger in your body for a while. This can leave you feeling exhausted, lost or sad. These feelings are normal after a stressful period as your body adjusts to a life without exams.
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Is there a way to tell the difference between normal exam stress recovery and something more serious like burnout or anxiety?
The biggest indicator between normal exam stress recovery and something more serious is the length of time you feel your symptoms for, and how much the symptoms affect your day-to-day life. Generally, short-term stress, like you get during exams, tends to go away shortly once exam season ends. For example, you might still struggle sleeping, feel fatigued, irritable, overwhelmed or tense, but after resting, socialising and changing your routine, you’ll start to feel more like yourself.
When your body produces stress hormones over a prolonged period, it can change your mentality and quality of life. You’ll experience similar symptoms of short-term stress, regardless of whether there’s anything in your environment that’s deemed a physical or mental threat to you. Over time, prolonged stress, burnout and anxiety can increase your risk of developing conditions like high blood pressure and mental health issues, like anxiety.
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What role does physical activity play in post-exam recovery, and how can it be incorporated into everyday life without feeling like a chore?
Physical activity is an excellent way to help manage stress. Everyone should aim to have at least 150 minutes of physical activity, each week. This means getting your heart beating faster, your breath heavier and your body feeling warmer.
Along with giving you more energy, exercise helps boost your endorphin levels. Endorphins are the chemical messengers in the brain that help put you in a good mood. When you’re stressed, exercise can help counterbalance the negative feelings and processes your body goes through. Your heart, blood vessels, digestive system and immune system can all be impacted when you’re stressed – exercise can help to keep your bodily functions working as they should.
One of the easiest ways to make sure you’re moving enough each week is to choose activities that naturally fall within your routine, and to choose activities that you enjoy doing. For example, a brisk ten-minute walk five days a week is achievable for most to incorporate, for example, before breakfast with the dog, or with a friend for a catch-up. Exercising with others can help establish it within your routine, and make you accountable for your physical wellbeing. If you’re lucky enough to have found a way to move that you love already, make sure you make time for it, each week. Experiment with exercise classes, jogging, weight-lifting and cycling to see what brings you the most enjoyment and something that you look forward to.
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What are some unexpected signs that your body is still holding onto stress? and how can we respond to them?
Stress can show up in ways you may not immediately recognise as stress, affecting your mood, behaviour and bodily functions.
Mood changes:
- Feeling more irritable than usual
- Snapping at others
You might not notice these changes yourself, it may take someone you know to point them out
Behaviour changes:
- Procrastinating, even when you have tasks to complete, and instead prioritising things that feel like more fun
- Not making time for activities that can help reduce stress because you feel like you don’t have time for them
- Worrying more than usual
- Eating more or less than you would usually, or indulging in harmful habits like drinking too much or smoking
Physical changes:
- Struggling to recover from a cold or you are getting unwell more often than usual
- Struggling to sleep
- Feeling tired, even if you’re sleeping enough
- Experiencing muscle tension or headaches
These changes are all signals that you need to slow down, take time for yourself and make sure you’re opening up to others about how you’re feeling. Like exercise, stress relief is something that can be unique to you – again, it’s about finding what works for you so you’re likely to lean on it again in the future. Here are some ideas to help you let go of stress:
- Making time for exercise, remember, 150 minutes minimum, each week!
- Preparing a delicious and nutritious meal for yourself
- Meditation
- Have a nap
- Catching up with friends
- Reading a book or watching a film
- Spending time with a pet
- Have a pamper session
- Don’t take on more than you can realistically manage and make practical changes to your lifestyle and routine to help spread the load
Whether you’re bouncing back quickly or still feeling the weight of the past few months, remember that recovery looks different for everyone, and it doesn’t have to be rushed. If you’re struggling, talk to someone. King's counselling services, your GP, or platforms like Bupa’s mental health support can help guide you back to feeling like yourself again. Your wellbeing matters after exams just as much as it does during them!