Have you ever sat down in a class and thought “ugh what’s the use…”; or gone home after a long day, knowing you have a pile of papers to write and just not felt the urgency or the importance of those papers? Only to find yourself curled up in bed feeling defeated and numb.
Mental Health,
It’s something very important in today’s day to day life, but yet it’s always the elephant in the room no one wants to address or talk about. When we are asked how we’re handling the stress in our lives, most of us just smile and say we’re okay. Most of us are okay. But there’s that percentage that often finds lying and saying, “I’m okay”, much easier than sitting there and saying, “well no, I’m going through a hard time”.
Why is it that these days it’s so hard to talk about how we feel without being made feel like we should be able to get over it and move on.
As a university student I find it particularly hard to be just okay these days. I know I’m not the only one that feels overwhelmed and lost when I think about what I would like to do with my life and how I would like to do things. Unfortunately, the world is not as black and white as we’d like to make it seem. There are a lot of things that make us wonder and make us uneasy. School is most definitely one of them for me.
But, how can I get through it you ask? How does one integrate healthy practices into their daily lives so that they may feel better about themselves, and in turn improve their mental health?
The answer, like most things in life, is not as black and white and is not always the same for every person. For some people one thing may work, whereas for others another thing might work. But fear not, for I will give you a plentiful of ideas for you to be able to test and try and hopefully find the best option, or method for yourself.
Exercise:
Well the physical kind yes, but not just that. Exercising healthy practices for your body too. Getting out there and being active is one way to keep your body alert and ready to go, and if you enjoy it, it also adds something fun and entertaining for you to do. Setting goals within that can also act like a motivational aspect in your life. When you achieve those goals (like being able to lift more gradually, or seeing your weight lower, or muscle mass raise) makes you feel good and keeps you wanting to push farther, making you most likely to want to push in other aspects in life too.
Going back to the practicing bit, you need to be able to practice healthy things for yourself too. Eat clean, try to keep fatty and junk foods to a minimum. Clean foods make the body feel good, and if the body feels good, well, you feel good.
Get rid of any smoking habits. It might not seem like a big deal but giving your body a fresh and clean slate to start on can make you feel 100x better and more open to staying on a healthy path.
Sleep is a big part too. No one needs to remind you how grumpy you’d feel after only sleeping 3 hours, so getting a good night’s rest will make you feel chipper and ready for the morning. That being said over sleeping can be a big no- no too, over sleeping just puts a downer on your brain, it’s just overly drowsy at this point and it’ll still feel like you’re tired and sluggish.
Get Real with Yourself:
Let’s be honest, there’s nothing more upsetting than realizing you’re never going to step foot on the moon. But that being said, how many of us will actually step foot on the moon? Slim changes are there.
Try to set realistic goals for yourself. Finishing 10 classes in a semester might be a dream, but the realistic goal is that any student can probably handle 6 maximum and do well. So don’t try to make yourself save the world and come home to cook and clean too.
Setting realistic goals for yourself will not only settle your state of mind and make you feel more at peace, but it will also make you feel 100x better when you actually accomplish those tasks and see the end results. That feeling of accomplishment will then push you to want to do more and continue on a path or successes. Win-win!
Tell Me What Company You Keep, and I Will Tell you What Kind of Person you are….
Friends are no doubt a good support system for any situation. Break up? Friends. Road trip? Friends. Work Drama? Friends. Late night paper you didn’t prep for? Friends!
The company you keep is a key aspect of how you are as a person. If you surround yourself around negativity and bad vibes, then you yourself will be a negative person who just gives off bad vibes.
If the company you keep are caring, outgoing, go getting people who will always be there to lend a helping hand, then chances are, you are a happy go-getting person too! What we take for granted are the vibes that we take in and give out. One act of kindness can bright up someone’s day and really make them feel positive, and hopefully they return the favour by paying it forward.
so why are your friends any different? Chances are that if your friends are bright people, then you will feel supported and happy. If your friends are negative and pouty people, then chances are you will see the dark side of the moon most days too.
Surround yourself with love and care. You’ll realize that the difference in your mood is jaw dropping.
Reach Out!
It’s not bad to want help. I’m almost positive Johnny Depp once needed someone to show him how to apply eyeliner before he did it on a regular without thinking about it.
Asking for help is what we as humans do to grow and prosper. Not one person has the answer for everything, we share and grow together so that what I know may be taught to others and what other know can be taught to me. Hello! College and University!?
Reach out to a mental health expert. Be it the school councillor, a psychologist, a teacher, a parent, or a friend. Having a conversation and opening up might be what helps you get to your path of betterment.
Here are some sites that could start that discussion for you:
Works Cited:
“University Health Service.” Ten Things You Can Do for Your Mental Health | University Health Service, http://www.uhs.umich.edu/tenthings.
“How to Look after Your Mental Health.” Mental Health Foundation, 8 Feb. 2018, http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-to-mental-health.
Hintze, Gretchen. “8 Online Alternatives That Are Cheaper Than In-Person Therapy.” The Mighty, themighty.com/2017/08/affordable-online-therapy-cheap/.
Lim et al. (2008). A new population-based measure of the burden of mental illness in Canada. Chronic Diseases in Canada, 28: 92-8.
Bell Canada (2015). Bell Let’s Talk: The first 5 years (2010-2015). Retrieved from http://letstalk.bell.ca/letstalkprogressreport.
The Journey Begins ! 