Mental Health Of College Students

During this time, laying down and eating all of your quarantine snacks in one day can become a habit. With classes now being online as well, it is hard to get much movement and exercise in to your body. Before this pandemic occurred we had a lot of options available to us to keep our bodies healthy. We need to continue to keep not only our minds but our bodies active to be able to help strengthen our mental health throughout this time. According to Excerisemedicine.org, the more we do moderate to intense physical activity on a daily basis, it is helps us maintain and improve our immune system. It can also help reduce anxiety and stress. Here are some examples of physical activities that you can do while in self isolation.

Indoor Cardio– Getting your hurt pumping and blood flowing is a great way to stay healthy during this time. You can do these workouts right in your own living room. Some exercises you can do include

20 Jumping Jacks, 20 Knee to elbow, 20 High kicks,20 Mountain climbers, 20 Burpees

Ab Workouts– Why not come out of this quarantine with a 6 pack? By the time summer comes around you will be beach ready!

20 Sit-ups, 20 Crunches, 20 Russian Twists, 20 Bicycle Crunches, 20 sec planks, 20 Heel touches

Circuit Workouts– Trying to strengthen and focus on all the muscles in your body? Try some of these workouts

20 Jumping Jacks, 20 lunges on each leg, 20 Squats, 20 Burpees, 20 mountain climbers, 20 push ups, 20 Sit-ups

Whether you are taking a walk around your block or doing workouts right from your living room, maintaining a strong and healthy body during this pandemic will strength your mental health as well. You can do this by watching workout videos on youtube, zoom call your friends and ask them to join in! According to the CDC, exercise helps reduce the risk of depression, lowers the risk of high blood pressure,helps with sleep and so much more. Keep yourself accountable and try to workout as much as you can. We will come out of this Mentally and Physically Stronger. Stay Healthy everyone!

If there is one thing we can all agree on is that this virus completely blindsided us. One day we were all going to our classes not knowing that it would be the last time we would see our professors or classmates. Campuses completely shut down, meaning that students had to move from their dorms and find other places to live. Student clubs and sports were all cancelled. This was not a shut down for just a week, this shutdown is for the rest of the semester. For many seniors, their last games were cut short and unexpectedly, graduation ceremonies and parties are out of the picture for many. A moment of celebration for all their hard work and participation at their schools for the last couple of years all cut short. This time has really made many college students and the world, very scared, anxious and depressed with everyone’s lives being put on hold. Understanding that self isolation in your home is what is best for everyone right now, after awhile it can take a toll on your mental health. Here are some tips to help you get through this tough time.

1. Exercise – It may be very tempting to sit at home and eat all of your quarantine snacks, but what better time to try the at home workouts you’ve been putting off. According to www.cdc.gov, getting your body moving and blood flowing can help lift your spirits and help relieve the anxiety that you may be feeling. Sticking to a workout program can help you get a structured routine going and make you feel both physically and emotionally better. Here’s a link to a workout program that I have been doing, feel free to check it out :)! https://www.chloeting.com/program/2019/hourglass-program.html
2. Read & Journal – Sometimes our lives felt so busy that picking up a book was never really an option for us. Now that we have extra time, reading and Journaling can be a great way to feed your mind and reduce stress. There is no better feeling then letting your mind escape in a book. When things get scary and you feel yourself getting anxious, writing down your thoughts can be very beneficial for you. Try picking up a self help book or bible, whatever can help you get through this tough time and can help you come out of this stronger.
3. Keep in contact with family– You may not be allowed to visit friends and family but that doesn’t mean you can’t stay in contact. With the technology we have today, communicating virtually with loved ones is very simple. Take this time to call a family member or friend and catch up. Maintaining that contact with loved ones can help get you out of the anxious state. Having support and help from others makes you feel less alone.
4. Plan out your day– Now with all this time, it can be very easy to lose track of it. I certainly experienced it, thinking I was only going to watch one episode on Netflix and ending up watching the whole season. As mentioned in https://www.nami.org/covid-19-guide , when you schedule your day and plan things to do it helps you maintain active and your mind from wandering into negative thoughts. This is the perfect time to clean out your closet, paint furniture, start a garden, organize your room, wash your car. Having structure back into your day can give you that routine that you had when you were in school. Giving each day a purpose.

Hopefully with these tips, when quarantine is all over and we have defeated this virus, you can come out a in great shape, smarter, organized and ready to move forward. Remember to also stay positive, with everyone doing their part and with the amazing help of healthcare workers we can get through this! Stay happy and healthy everyone!

Does it sometimes feel like you are drowning? Does it feel like everything is piling up and is going to come crashing down on you?  If you are a college student, then you know this feeling well. Anxiety plays an important role in a college students mental health.  When we feel class and the workload becomes too overwhelming, we want to run and avoid all those things as much as possible. The stress of everything you have to do and deadlines can make you really anxious. It is important to know that you are not alone. You don’t have to deal with the anxiety by yourself, there are so many people and resources you can go to for help. According to Collegestats.org the majority of college students fail to seek some sort of help. We all experience it and it’s important to recognize it and not let it bring you down. Not taking care of your mental health can lead to depression, suicide, eating disorders and addiction. Here are some resources/tips that you can go to when you need help.

1. Campus Mental Health Services–  Every student should seek out their campus for counseling centers. This services are typically free for students and provide a range of different counselors you can speak to about your mental health. Knowing that there are people on campus who are available to talk can really help in improving your mental health while being a student.
2. Maintain and build a support system–  Staying close to family members and having people in your life who you can talk to and turn to when in times of trouble is very important in providing support and stability in your academic journey. Making new friends in classes, clubs and other campus activities is a great way to meet other students who understand what you are going through who can help you. Getting involved can make you feel less alone and allow you to find new hobbies to help reduce the stress.
3. Look into getting a tutor or study centers–  One of the most stressful things is not understanding what the professor is saying . Going home and trying to study a confusing topic can be challenging. It at times can feel like you are reading a completely new language. Getting a tutor can give you that one on one help that you can’t get in class sometimes. You will be able to go over all the things you are struggling with and be more prepared when it is time for a test.
4. Maintain healthy habits–  According to nami.org, maintain daily healthy habits can help lower stress and help you be more emotionally resilient. Habits such as exercising more, can help give you more energy. Eating healthier and getting a good night’s sleep can allow you to focus better in class and retain all the information. Being able to feel physically better can allow you to take on more and not feel too overwhelmed.

Maintaining a health mind throughout college can help you succeed and is important to recognize when you are in need of help. When times get rough, don’t panic! You are not alone and there are so many ways to find help.  

I personally have a special bond with my bed, it is comfy, warm and so hard to say goodbye to in the mornings. When it comes to school work, I either spend too much time studying and not enough sleeping or the other way around. In this blog, I will talk about how to maintain a recommended balance of sleep and things to avoid to help to improve your sleeping habits to be able to function at your best in college. Sleep is such an important factor when it comes to our success in college. In the moment, we might not realize how it is affecting our mental health, but over time it can really impact not only how we do in school but in our mental, physical and emotional health.

1. Stop using cell phone right before bed!

– Scrolling through Instagram can seem like it’s not doing any harm. According to Mental Health America.Org exposing your eyes to the bright light right before bed can actually affect your body’s chemicals and rhythms. It is better to set up a dark environment where your body can recognize that it is time to rest, if there are lights everywhere and especially bright lights your body could keep working, making It harder to go to sleep.

2. Don’t eat heavy meals or go to bed hungry!

-Make sure you don’t good to bed right after having heavy meals and make sure not to go to bed without eating anything at all. It is not only important to feed your mind, but feeding your body right can help improve sleep quality. Your body is constantly working, eating too much or too little before bed can interrupt your sleep pattern, because your body is so focused on digesting or needing food.

3.Avoid caffeine

– I know as a college student, coffee can be very important! You can have your cup (or two) of coffee throughout the day, but once it starts getting later into the night try to avoid caffeine. According to American Academy of Sleep Medicine, caffeine can stay in your system for hours. If you are having coffee a couple hours before bed, it will make it harder for you to get some rest.

4.Avoid all- nighters

-Deadlines and exams seem to always creep up on us and force us to try to teach ourselves a lot of information in a short amount of time to make sure we are prepared. The best way to avoid having to pull all- nighters is to try your best to not procrastinate work and leaving things until last minute. I always tend to do this and always feel so much more stressed at the end. Breaking up the work into smaller chunks throughout the week and scheduling a time for each subject can help not only in making sure you cover everything, but also avoid the last minute stressed filled cram session. Once organizing everything it will give you enough time to get a full night’s rest and be able to obtain everything you just studied.

            Do you want to improve your grades, improve your mood and tackle on the duties of college life? Then my recommendation is to sleep! According to affordablecollegesonline.org, it is important to have a have at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night to see better results in your academic and overall performance in life. Part of college is being able to balance out a lot of responsibilities, but in doing that don’t forget, living a healthy life and maintaining a healthy mind is the key to a successful college experience. Goodnight for now!

Deadlines, tuition, student loans, early classes, late night study sessions, maintaining relationships and trying to get some sort of sleep are only a few things on a long list that college students have to worry about. 

Trying to balance life as a college student can be difficult at times. Many people believe that all college students have to do is go to class and it’s that simple. The life of a college student can actually have a huge impact on that student’s mental health.

According to an article on Psychology Today, there has been a substantial increase in rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation and some increase in loneliness. 

The amount of responsibility, expectations and pressure that some college students receive can cause a tremendous amount of stress on students. The stress does not only come from school but when students go home and must live their lives, at times life at home can add on more to the stress they already have. There is no specific characteristic that makes a college student, a college student can be any age, they can have children, be homeless, married, have a full-time job and much more. Stress already plans a huge role in people’s lives, for college students they have different types of stress and most of the time more than one type. These stresses expressed by affordablecollegesonline.org are time stress, anticipatory stress, situational stress, encounter stress, finances, test anxiety and much more. Trying to balance all of that and school can be very overwhelming and can increase the risk of anxieties, depression and other related mental health disorders. 

Throughout this blog there will be different methods that can help college students manage their student life as well as their life outside of school. Helpful techniques to study, time management, organization, the importance of sleep, meditation, healthy quick foods for on the go and balancing relationships are topics that will help students have a sense of control and help them manage their lives so it won’t feel too overwhelming.  Being able to provide this help for students will not only help them and their mental health now in school but also it will help them in the future when they graduate and move on to their careers. In the article published by the NIH called Students benefits and barriers to mental health help-seeking 

“Without treatment, students experiencing mental health disorders are at high risk for lower grade point averages, school dropout, and unemployment.” 

Resources and help must be provided to these students to help them succeed through this part of their lives.  They must know that they aren’t alone and that there are people and other resources available to help them. Applying these tips and tricks and helpful daily habits will help the students be less stressed and more prepared to face challenges and overcoming them, instead of letting the challenges overcome them. Living a healthy life and maintaining a healthy mind is the key to a successful college experience.