Did you know that Thursday 14 March 2024 is University Mental Health Day? A day, created by the UK’s Student Mental Health Charity – Student Minds and the University Mental Health Advisors Network (UMHAN), that brings together the university community to raise awareness of student mental health, reduce stigma and create ongoing change.
Work to raise awareness of mental health problems and reduce the stigma is ongoing, but still half of those affected say that the isolation and shame is worse than the condition itself. This has to stop.
How can you keep mentally well?
Diet
Eat a healthy, well-balanced, diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables. Eat at regular times and drink plenty of water. Limit high caffeine or sugary drinks and avoid too much alcohol consumption. Mind have put together a very helpful video on how to manage your mood with food.
Sleep
Sleep is really important. A lack of sleep can cause us to feel depressed, anxious and less able to think rationally and cope with everyday things. Below are some tips for getting a good night’s sleep:
- Set a bedtime routine – try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day
- Relax before bedtime – listen to relaxing music, have a bath, meditate
- Get comfy – usually dark, quiet and cool is best but this depends on the individual
- Give yourself some tech free time
Physical activity
Studies show that there’s approximately a 20% – 30% lower risk of depression for adults participating in daily physical activity1. Physical activity can help in a number of ways: it releases endorphins (feel good hormones) that can help calm anxiety and lift your mood, can help you to sleep better, can produce a sense of calm, and can increase your self esteem and give you a sense of achievement.
Relationships
Having positive, supportive relationships with people raises our self-esteem, makes us feel more confident and helps us to cope with any difficulties we may face. It also gives us someone to talk things through with, but also lets us help others which makes us feel good about ourselves.
Hobbies and interests
It is really important that we do things that we enjoy such as walking, cooking, amateur dramatics etc. Doing these things can improve our confidence, give us things to talk about and can help us meet people and make friends. Learning something new can also give us a sense of achievement. Sometimes moving away from home to university can make this difficult as we may have moved away from a club or group that we used to be part of; if this is the case take some time to look up groups in your new area – either the internet or local social media pages are good sources of information on groups you can join and activities you can partake in.
Set yourself a challenge
Setting yourself a challenge and achieving your goals can help you feel accomplished and boost your self-confidence and self-esteem. It doesn’t matter if your challenge is to walk around the block or to climb a mountain; what matters is that it stretches you and you achieve something out of the ordinary.
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a type of meditation where we focus our attention on the present moment; becoming aware of our thoughts and feelings and the world around us. As we learn to be aware of our thoughts we can start to identify when they are not being helpful and can begin to challenge them and take back control.
Download the FIKA App
If you are a student at The College of Animal Welfare, you will get free access to the FIKA app, so make sure you have downloaded it. FIKA provides mental skills courses, daily videos and a vibrant online community to boost your resilience and increase your mental fitness.
If you are a student at The College of Animal Welfare – don’t forget to visit the living well page on the VLE for more help and advice.
What should you do if you are struggling?
If you are struggling, please do not suffer in silence, help is available and the sooner you address your feelings the quicker you can get back to a better place. For some of us, we may be feeling a little low and with a few adjustments (based on the suggestions above for keeping mentally well) we can quickly start to see improvements. For others, our struggles may be more severe and professional help may be needed; speaking to your GP is always a good start as they can refer you to sources of help as needed. Other suggestions can be found below.
Coping strategies
Sometimes we may find ourselves in an acute state of anxiety or feeling very low in mood. In these situations it is helpful to have a few key coping strategies that can help keep you safe and get you through the peak of the situation. What works for one person may not work for another so it is important to know what is best for you – it is helpful to write a list down to you have it to hand if needed. Examples of coping/soothing strategies that can help include having a long bath, wrapping yourself in a fluffy or weighted blanket, watch your favourite film or TV series, listen to a podcast, colouring in an adult colouring book, practice mindfulness and meditation, go for a walk.
Help available at The College of Animal Welfare
If you are a student at the College, there are several sources of support internally. We offer a free counselling service for students, and have a dedicated Mental Health Lead and Safeguarding team who you can turn to for help and support; details of these can be found on the Living Well/Mental Wellbeing section of the VLE.
Help in a crisis
The Samaritans are open 245 hours a day, 365 days per year, you can call them on 116123. If you are worried about the imminent safety of yourself or someone else you should call 999 for help.
Useful links
There are many organisations and charities that provide information, help and advice; a selection can be found below.
- Student Minds– The UK’s student mental health charity
- Staying Safe– a potentially life-saving resource to keep people safe from thoughts of harm and suicide.
- Anxiety UK– a charity providing support for those with an anxiety condition.
- CALM– Campaign Against Living Miserably, for men aged 15 – 35.
- Papyrus– young suicide prevention society.
- BEAT Eating disorders– support and advice for those living with an eating disorder.
What to do if you are concerned about a fellow student?
If you are worried about a fellow student you should contact the College’s Mental Health Lead or, in their absence, a member of the learning support team or a safeguarding officer. Details of these can be found on the College’s VLE.
Signs you may notice in a classmate that may indicate they might be struggling or unsafe include anything that is out of character, such as being withdrawn, irritable, not responding to messages, missing lessons or deadlines, or someone who seems particularly agitated and wired.
Together we are stronger, together we can make a difference this #UniMentalHealthDay.
- Department of Health PA, Health Improvement and Protection (2011). Start Active, Stay Active: A report on physical activity from the four home countries’ Chief Medical Officers. London: Department of Health.