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Dealing with bettering your mental health as a college student.

My Journey:

Mental health plays a huge role in almost everyone life, especially mine. We all deal with mental health issues it affects how we think, feel, and act. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

As a young girl my parents got divorced, which happens to lots of families. During my parents my family lost our home, we had to move and being a ten-year girl it was the worst thing I can ever hear. We were fortunate enough that our grandmother had a home big enough for not just me and my siblings but my newly divorced parents. I remember packing up the room that once I play dolls and dress up with my sister, to then an empty room with just memories. I was the happiest kid before the age of ten, and it might sound dramatic, but I was little girl who once had it all to losing everything. During that time in my life, I had become depressed. It wasn’t just me it was sibling too; we were young and didn’t know how to feel or act. We all had of moments of weakness and sometimes it felt like the weakness was taking our lives over.

During this time is when my family all decided to put our mental health first. This is when my therapy journey started. I went to therapy with my siblings, my parents, then alone. There is such a stigma on therapy but when you’re truly struggling to be happy therapy can help. You’re talking to someone who genuinely wants you to feel better. When I was twelve, I didn’t appreciate going to therapy but as I got older, I now overly appreciate therapy. Therapy now in my 20 years of life has become threptic, epically now that I’m in college. College students deal with mental health issues every day and talking to a “stranger” once of week or just twice a month is so beneficial to your health. It’s the first time we are own. Being in college is the introduction of adulthood and that can be a crazy time for us students.

Now with that all being said, today I want to talk about the ways to help college students who also deal with mental health issues. Mental health ranges from not just depression but anxiety, personality disorders and psychotic disorders. The goal of this post to help others who are also dealing with any of these issues and want the steps to improve their mental health.

Stress During College:

When entering college, it’s an exciting time for lots of eager students but it also very stressful. The first month or two of college are a fun time but you soon start to realize high school was a place full of structure and with college you need to find the time to fit everything in. Your also in charge of your own schedule which seems awesome in the beginning but as you get more into the flow and you’re working a job or a have internship soon a lots of students start to feel overwhelmed. As we grow older, we need to find ways to get done everything that needs to be done and still make time for ourselves.

As a college student you get this sense of freedom which can be amazing but at the same time you might not be taking the best care of yourself. Stress is just something a lot of us go through, I mean as students were stressed about papers, exams, and even just going to class. Us students have this freedom for our parents but at the same time stress is all about how you are taking care of your body. My semester at FIT I was never more stressed in life, I wasn’t sleeping enough, eating really bad food for your body, or just not eating at all, and well I was on my own, so I most definitely was not kept up with my doctor’s appointment and was finding myself sick twice of month. By the end of my first semester, I was physically and mentally drained and I knew I needed to make a change in my lifestyle to have less of stressful time, so that’s what I did.

Taking charge of your mental health starts with making a day-to-day schedule for yourself. And for all my college friends reading this sleep matter when it comes to stress. Yes, you might have a big exam tomorrow but staying up all night to study isn’t going to help. You’re going to end up going to the exam extremely tired which won’t help you get the grade you wanted. Eating healthy is very important when it comes to stress, as a college student its hard but going on a diet that fuels your body will help so much and help you feel less stress. I never believed that until I started following a healthy diet, I woke up each morning feeling energized and ready for what the day gives me. Something I learned quickly being here is you also need to maintain a healthy balance with schoolwork and play. Were in college yes some of us want to go out and party but you also need to remember you’re not in college to party you’re here to get degree. It might be hard sometimes to say no because you feel as if you’re missing out but trust me you not this is just the start of your life.

Its ok to be stressed, you just want to find ways to make your stress well less stressful. Being a student, it can feel impossible sometimes but there are ways to improve that aspect of your life. Changing simple aspect of life like sleep and diet can help tremendously.

Following different self-help articles or even just following different self-help influencers on social media can help start make the change! This article from Harvard Health is one of my favorite and is more friendly to college students dealing with overwhelming amounts of stress.

Harvard Health

https://www.health.harvard.edu › staying-healthy › top-...

Anxiety as a college student;

Us students deal with tons of anxiety every day. That feeling of fear or unease is probably one of the worst feelings. Simple things give us students anxiety attacks for example having to present Infront of your whole class can give some the worst anxiety attacks. During a recent study at the University of Michigan 37% of students reported to have anxiety disorders. That’s almost half of the student body. Anxiety can come from anything a lot of go through it and its ok.

When dealing with anxiety there are many ways to help get through it. You can manage anxiety but doing relaxation techniques, correct breathing techniques, dietary adjustments, exercise, and learning to be assertive. Prioritizing the mental well-being of yourself helps more than a lot of us even know. It might sound cheesy but your body is your temple, so simples steps like eating healthy or exercising can help reduce your anxiety.

As students we deal with anxiety all the time and it is scary and you are allowed to say it scary. I feel as if sometimes anxiety gets put on the back burner and is simple fix but its serious. With some anxiety makes people feel like they can’t breathe and some even throw up due to high levels of anxiety. Stress management techniques, like exercise, mindfulness and meditation can help reduce your anxiety.

Here an article from the National Institute of Mental Health for anxiety disorders.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (.gov)

https://www.nimh.nih.gov › health › topics › anxiety-dis...

Here is an TikTok for a couple years ago, but here point she made of valid and it’s a go watch. It’s from the creator Mona Vand whose all about giving tips for an healthy lifestyle.

Depression as College students;

College is fun time but a lot of us student of dealing with symptoms of depression. About 44% of college are dealing depression. For some student’s depression can be from being away from their homes for first time or just losing the enjoyment in things. Depression is scary but it is the most common and the most treatable mental health disorders. There are effective treatments for depression and most importantly you need to find a way to remember it’s not just you.

College students can be exposed to many situations that can trigger a depression episode. This could be from academics, athletic or social performance to their friends. With many students the overuse of drugs and alcohol can be triggers. When we as students get to college were experiencing freedom our parents aren’t here to hold our hands anymore which led many to drink and experiment with drugs. This can led to depression for many students, especially if their a history of depression in your family. Coping with depression might feel overwhelming but there are ways.

Therapy is very important and can help tremendously. Therapy is also easily assessable, you can do sessions on zoom, over text, and in person. Like I said before but eating healthy, prioritize sleep, avoiding alcohol and drugs, exercising, and setting a goal can help you overcome your depression. Students who dealing with extreme levels of depression should seriously talk to a mental health specialist, it might seem scary but there is someone in this world who will listen to you. You need to remember as student you are not alone, even addressing it with your roommates can benefit your mental health a lot.

This article from Healthline gives different ways one can overcome their depression if they can’t talk to anyone about it.

Healthline

https://www.healthline.com › how-to-fight-depression

Conclusion

It’s important to take care of your body. When talking about the importance of mental health and how to improve one mental health it all goes back to taking care of your body. Changing your lifestyle might seem crazy to some but to improve your mental health that the start. For me it started with therapy where I learned I needed to take better care of myself, but anyone can improve their mental health with the right steps and resources. With everything being said, I hope some of the ways that I listed can help or improve anyone’s mental health and lastly never be afraid to say you’re not ok, there are people who will listen.