It's no mystery that the coronavirus has affected everyone in a myriad of different ways. In student communities especially there’s been an additional strain placed in the lives of those of you studying, taking exams and living in isolation. It is now reported through the Mind Coronavirus Survey that people aged between 18 and 24 have reported worsening mental health and during the current lockdown, almost 3/4 of all students said that their mental well-being was now worse than before.
In addition to studying full time, the impact on students anxiety and stress can be heightened by the lack of a family network, the disruption to learning and various financial issues. As it all compounds the mental health pressure can get worse and worse, and if you’re keeping to all the rules it can be incredibly frustrating to see fellow students breaking lockdown guidelines.
One thing to always bear in mind is that the current lockdown won’t last forever, despite all the doom-mongering. The Sun will still rise and the birds will keep singing, new relationships will emerge, families will be started, people will keep getting married, and nights out will be once more enjoyed by all. However, to keep our minds firmly in the best place, here’s some practical tips and useful links to look at:
Get chatting:
Talk to someone you trust whether it's a family member, a therapist or a mental health service that your university gives you access to. Whatever the outlet be, make sure there is someone who you consider to be a good source of advice, someone you respect who won't make you feel worse with negativity.
Make sure you take advantage of online support, you can take part anonymously. Student Minds has a student-specific peer support service you should take advantage of. Mind runs a service for over 18s called Side by Side and Togetherall runs a 24/7 online community for anyone over 16. Check them out when you get a free 20 mins.
Take your thumb off the Social Media pedal:
One sobering thought about social media is the success negative headlines and clickbait have in spreading a particular message. Whether it's fake news on Twitter, or a vaccine conspiracy theory on YouTube, negative media like mould, can spread uncontrollably. Whether through a bias news agency or a keyboard anarchist make no mistake, negativity is a force of nature and can be wielded with notable results. Like salt, social media should only ever be applied to our daily lives with caution and severe moderation.
Your body:
It's very easy when we become board to turn to stimulants to help give us that much-needed dopamine hit. For some people it's as simple as chocolate and fatty snacks, and for some it becomes darker with excessive alcohol or drugs. However you'd be surprised just how much dopamine you can glean from healthier alternative like running, walking and lifting weights. None of them require a gym, and almost all of them only require just half an hour here and there. Seize the day and take the opportunity whilst your life has been put on hold to form new habits around health and eating.
Let go:
How often during the last year have you had the feeling that life seems to be veering off course in to the unknown? When we loose the feeling of control or minds ready themselves in defence mode and our danger detectors switch on, causing us to worry. Ironically, so many things in the world really are out of our control but as human beings we worry anyway. So with that in mind, why not experiment with some meditation and learn the art of letting go. Meditation is a great way to become at ease with both the positive and negative things in our lives and can really help you to get things in perspective.
Judge not
Lastly, take a different attitude to yourself and the judgements that you pronounce on your own actions. Ask yourself, 'would I ever speak to a friend the way I just spoke to myself just now? When you screw up a project how badly to you lambast yourself? When you miss manage your money, forget to check in with family when you said you would, or just generally mess things up, how do reward your own failure?
Unreasonable self judgment can have a direct effect on how we view ourselves, the more negative the internal monologue we have with our own mind the lower our self-esteem becomes. Once our self-esteem has reached a that critical point, anxiety kicks in and our mind over compensates, turning our brain in to a factory for negative thoughts and actions. Anxiety is the mind's way of telling us there's something that need's fixing so when it flares up, talk to someone and address the chink in your mental armour. Always be compassionate to yourself, and make sure that you judge yourself in the same way that you would judge an old friend.
