May Is Mental Health Awareness Month!
College is a transformative time in a person’s life—a time of new experiences, people, and a new environment. With so many changes happening all at once it may be hard to cope and may cause feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression. If you’re feeling like this, you’re not alone. This Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re highlighting ways to cope with these feelings. Here are 5 Mental Health Tips for College Students!
Set A Routine
Having a routine creates the consistency needed to stay grounded in your everyday life, especially during stressful times. It may also help you to learn self-discipline and give you a sense of control when life feels overwhelming. As college students, it may be hard to keep a routine as days can often be unpredictable, but it has been shown to lower people’s stress levels and help them feel more productive and focused. Try to wake up, eat, study, and exercise around the same times every day to make things easier. You can also implement other healthy habits or things that make you happy in your routine, like skincare, meditation, or reading a book. Whatever you choose implement into your routine, stick to it, and see how much the results benefit you.
Find Your Tribe: Join Clubs or Find People with Similar Interests
Loneliness is a common feeling among many college students. The good thing is there’s a whole campus out there just waiting to meet and connect with you. One of the best ways to meet people with similar interests is by joining a club or organization on campus. Getting involved on campus by joining a group can help you forge friendships as you work toward a common goal and creates a sense of belonging. Also, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and talk to people in your classes, dorm halls, or at campus events.
Set Goals
Setting goals is so important for college students as it helps them clearly identify what they want in life and the steps needed to get there. Having goals allows you to hold yourself accountable and take control of your life, and can even help you gain a sense of self-confidence as you successfully achieve those goals. Your goals can be anything from waking up earlier, maintaining a certain GPA, or getting more involved on campus. It’s important to note that not all goals don’t have to be academic-related—you can also set fun goals like visiting places in your college town, attending social and sports events, and making memories with friends. Just remember to be diligent in approaching your goals but give yourself grace as well.
Practice Mindfulness
College can be an exceedingly stressful environment for college students, and that’s why practicing mindfulness is so important. Mindfulness is defined as “maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens.” Practicing mindfulness promotes living in the present and extracting all distractions. This helps to reduce stress and anxiety and boosts levels of well-being, attention, and productivity. Meditation is the most common tool used to practice mindfulness, but there are many other forms as well. In addition to meditation, college students can practice mindfulness by doing breathwork, keeping gratitude journals, spending time in nature, intentively listening to music, and visualizing their best selves to help them increase their confidence.
Ask For Help
Don’t be afraid to ask for help from a licensed professional. Taking on all the stresses of college by yourself is a strenuous task—know that you don’t have to do it alone and consider therapy or counseling. Nearly every college offers on-campus counseling that provides services and resources for anxiety, depression, sexual assault, eating disorders, and other mental health concerns. There’s also nothing wrong with seeking help outside of university resources and finding a professional psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist on your own.
