Carrying the Weight of the Exam: Stress, Coping, and Help-Seeking Among Civil Services Aspirants in Thiruvananthapuram

Preparing for the Civil Services Examination is long, costly, and uncertain, yet little research has listened to aspirants in India's Tier 2 cities. This descriptive survey asked 523 aspirants enrolled in coaching in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, about their stress, coping, attitudes to professional mental-health support, and the support their institutions offer. More than half (55.8%) called the past month very or extremely stressful, and financial strain, family expectations, and fear of judgement were prominent. Aspirants coped through peers, breaks, and planning, yet 84.3% felt they had not found a strategy that worked. Most (90.6%) thought professional help reasonable, but only 23.9% had used it, mainly held back by fear of peer judgement, cost, and confidentiality worries. Most (84.1%) rated stress-related support from their institutions as inadequate or absent. The findings are descriptive, not causal, and suggest support should change the conditions of preparation as well as strengthen individual coping.