Why over-studying needs to be stopped

"The key to academic success is burying your head in textbooks"— you may have heard such advice from university seniors or some successful grade earners. 

But what if the relentless pursuit of good grades does more harm than good? Turns out, there's a growing body of research that suggests over-studying can backfire dramatically.

Of course, studying is a crucial responsibility for serious students. However, our generation has largely accepted this pressure without acknowledging the downsides of over-studying. While education is undoubtedly important for building a career and a bright future, it shouldn't be the sole focus.

Young students today face immense pressure to succeed academically and become financial pillars of their families, to maintain a certain social status in a society with unrealistic expectations. They don't only stop at studying; what they are pressured to do is overstudy, which leads them to fight mental depression and physical sickness.

Over-studying results in poor sleep and burnout, increased levels of anxiety, depression, digestive issues, headaches, the list goes on. Pulling an all-nighter or studying for hours without any break can cause unwanted stress. Private tuitions exhaust us both physically and mentally, which generally leads to high blood pressure and heart disease. 

Researchers have acknowledged that too much stress from studying can cause brain inflammation and bring about memory loss and depression. When we get into college, studying becomes harder and requires a longer time, as we meet subjects and topics we are strangers to. 

Who wants to study for hours if they are not aiming to be the next Sir Isaac Newton? Then again, as reported by Huygens, from 1692 to 1693, Newton is known to have suffered a breakdown of nervous functioning or a supposed depression lasting for 18 months. According to his letters to friends, he suffered from insomnia and poor digestion. 

To Samuel Pepys, Newton stated, "Extremely troubled by the embroilment I am in, have neither eaten or slept well in the last twelve months nor have my former consistency of mind." 

We all know that no amount of studying can satisfy our parents or our conscience, and there is that continuous nagging to study and endless complaints about grades, which are the hallmarks of hard work and intelligence. 

Maintaining the topper's position can be a chore sometimes, yet over-studying isn't the solution! A survey says 45 students per month committed suicide in Bangladesh in 2022, showing how vulnerable their mental state was at such a young age. 

According to a study done by Stanford researchers on over studying and its effect on students, they found that those who completed "More than 3.1 hours of homework per night" experienced physical health problems, depression, sleep deprivation, academic stress, and lack of balance in their lives. 

Results show that even studying for more than two hours can be counterproductive. While we are all told that we can never study too much, research shows that those who study for more than 13 hours a day have a bigger risk of death than others. 

Can you imagine getting into Dhaka Medical College, BUET, or Dhaka University, the real battlefields for students, without studying less than this?

Can you avoid the time-killing traffic jam on the Dhaka road on your way to coaching or private tutors? Can you rest when you have so much to study? You can't, because you are always inspired to study more and more and be the best of all. 

But it's time to realise that only a healthy mind and healthy body can get you healthy grades. Your studies will be true wealth, only when you treasure your mental and physical health.