Oct
How To: Prioritise Your Mental Health at Uni
Last week marked World Mental Health Day, so we wanted to share a blog about prioritising your mental health at university alongside the resources we shared last week. It is difficult when you are busy, working hard, away from home, or socialising a lot to keep on top of your mental health and to incorporate good self care and wellness practices into your routine.
Find activities that make you feel productive and interested
Finding activities like sports clubs, societies, part time work or other extra-curricular activities is so important. Knowing you are interested in something and have a goal or ambition within that area that keeps you feeling motivated or inspired is really good for helping you to feel empowered and comfortable. Find something that sparks interest and engages you, it’s great for your mind.
Get out of the house
Spending all day in bed or sat in the living room watching Netflix and eating pasta, although tempting, is one of the worst things you can do for your mental health. Getting out of the house for a walk, coffee with a friend, a training session, rehearsals or anything else covid-safe is vital for your mental wellbeing and making sure that you do that often will help to maintain a good level of mental wellbeing.
If you drink or use drugs, think about when you do these things and how your mental health is before and after
Many university students drink alcohol and some do use drugs. It may be that you find yourself drinking or using drugs as a way to cope with your mental health, or that your mental health is being negatively affected by your substance use. Drinking and drugs won’t be the answer to feeling better – if you do find yourself relying on them to have a good time, or even to feel better about yourself, please consider getting some support.
You can get help for drug or alcohol use and addiction via these links:
- YoungMinds (drugs, alcohol and mental health support)
- The Mix (drink and drug support for under 25’s)
- FRANK (drugs, alcohol, dealing with emergencies, helpline)
Make sure your little habits are keeping you happy and healthy
Making sure you are sleeping, eating, drinking water, getting fresh air and keeping on top of your personal hygiene can be integral to making sure your mind is happy and taken care of. Eat a vegetable every once in a while, take a walk, take an hour or so to wash your clothes and change your sheets; mental wellbeing is not just about the big steps, it is about keeping on top of the little things.
It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed and lonely at university, no matter how big your social circle or how busy your life is. There are lots of little things you can do at uni to make sure you are prioritising your mental wellbeing as much as you would your physical wellbeing.
If you feel you need some extra support make sure to contact Enabling Services or The Advice Centre.
Tags: advice, Mental Health, support, wellbeing