A senior psychiatrist has called on parents and teachers to give school children all support and reassurance to cope with the increased pressure of examinations these days. \"There is too much distress and anxiety among school children due to huge competition and expectations from parents,\" said Dr Padmaraju Varrey, senior psychiatrist at NMC Speciality Hospital. He said school children also put themselves under intense pressure during the examinations to get good grades and to get into the right colleges. The psychiatrist said there is usually a surge of patients at his clinic before the examinations and soon after, when school children are brought in suffering from depression. \"Parents should show compassion, not demoralise the child [if she/he has not done well],\" he said. At this stage a child needs counselling. \"You don\'t need to take her/him to a mental health expert. An elderly person [in the family], a teacher, or a person the child knows very well, should talk to her/him,\" he said. A child should be made to understand that life is not just about marks in examinations and there are always ups and downs in our journey through life, said the psychiatrist. The doctor said children have their own ways of studying. Some have regular schedules and study every day. Others sit and cram on a 16 to 20-hour stretch. The psychiatrist did not decry this method, but advises that at least eight hours of sleep is essential very night before the exams. \"If not, it will affect your productivity,\" he said. Lack of sleep will increase anxiety, make it difficult to focus or to read and remember, give you hand tremors, he said. The doctor said energy drinks do not help in studies. Many school children reportedly drink these to keep awake or get an energy boost. The doctor warned that it will give a surge of energy, but then it brings you down also, he said. Children should not be allowed to drink some of the energy drinks on sale today, because of the harmful effects on children, said one internal medicine specialist. The drinks have three times as much caffeine as in a can of cola and many youngsters drink several cans a day. Doctors said these drinks which are marketed towards teens are understudied and unregulated. From / Gulf News