New Delhi/ Alive News: As the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examination for Class X and XII begin today, Mirinda announced its association with the Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare to help provide practical solutions for students to overcome exam-related stress. The collaboration comes as a part of Mirinda’s ‘Release the Pressure’ campaign, which addresses the issue of parental pressure as well as fear, stress and anxiety among students during exams.
At the heart of this association is the fact that students are under extreme exam stress and it is important to release them off this pressure. #Release the pressure focusses on the philosophy of 45/15, one which encourages them to take a break of 15 minutes after every 45 minutes of studying. This philosophy counters the common belief that studying for long stretches helps retain more.
In addition to raising awareness about 45/15 philosophy, the two entities have set up a 24×7 helpline number, +91 83768 04102, for parents and students to gain instant access to expert psychologists. Through this helpline number, which is also printed on all Mirinda bottle labels, trained counsellors are interacting and counselling parents and students to help them deal better with exam stress. The helpline has been receiving over 500 calls per day from over 70 cities in India, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Chennai, Latur, Jammu, Faizabad, Jalandhar, Moradabad, Kanpur, Pune, and Varanasi. The trained experts will also help callers learn constructive ways to study better, retain what they have learnt and manage their stress.
Dr. Samir Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare said, ‘‘Exam stress is a far more prevalent problem in our nation than we realize. Society as a whole needs to acknowledge the intensity of the problem and take effective measures to help students cope with the pressure. Through Fortis and Mirinda’s partnership, we want to encourage students to incorporate effective study habits, especially those that include following the 45/15 minutes schedule. Following the 45/15 philosophy will help students not only maximize their attention and concentration span, but also optimize retention. We are proud to be a part of an initiative such as ‘Release The Pressure’, which acknowledges an increasingly dominant problem and aims to bring about a change through its initiatives.”
Speaking about the partnership, Gaurav Verma, Associate Director, Flavors Marketing, PepsiCo India said, “With the second edition of Mirinda’s ‘Release the Pressure’ campaign, we want to take a solution driven approach. With a credible partner like Fortis, our aim is to provide a holistic solution to the problem of exam pressure. Seasoned psychologists at Fortis are available 24*7 to speak to both, parents and students, and provide them with real-time solutions for constructive learning. We are glad that people are seeking help and reaching out to experts to provide them with solutions to beat the exam stress, and are hopeful that in years to come people will be more equipped to manage the exam stress.”
Over the course of the association, Dr. Parikh will regularly conduct training programs and webinars to help students learn the requisite skills to study efficiently, answer their queries and develop a positive outlook.
