It is hardly news that students nowadays have more problems with mental health than ever. Arguably, the increased number of cases of mental health problems among students may be because people feel more free to address doctors and college counselors for help. We leave these arguments to statisticians and focus on what we can do here — try to find a viable link between student lifestyle and mental health. We will try to give some adequate, not medical tips, but, of course, when it comes to any health you should first of all focus on tips from doctors and your own understanding of your mind and body. So, consider this article to be an informational piece you can use for a basic self-help, and nothing more.
How Lifestyle Affects Students’ Mental Help
Of course, there are lots of events in the world that may affect your moral state and mental health, but today we want to focus on things that are mostly inherent to your educational process and situations you may face in college and around it. Again it is important to note, that there is no way you can avoid stress in life and even if there are some additional stress factors it is better to learn how to deal with them than to avoid having such experience. You cannot hide from life, what you can do is spot the situations in which you feel the best and the worst, and manage them to your benefit.
College is a top competitive environment
Studies show that no matter how competitive your job is, it won’t be as stressful as high school and college, as the competitiveness between teenagers is very toxic. We bet, there are many more toxic environments at work, but we cannot estimate the struggle you will have to face in college. Competitiveness makes you strongly dependent on external factors for success. Small failures start looking as some major tragedies, putting you in the anxiety loop. There is nothing worse for mental health than to be totally dependent morally on how successful your current life is according to the general success story norms.
Excessive social media presence burns self-esteem
Social media is normally seen as the way to express yourself, to make friends, to find the platform for sharing and promoting your ideas, etc. Many people find work and study projects there and later use social media for self promo. Unfortunately, social media also can cause anxiety issues and problems with self-esteem. You cannot run away from seeing other people’s lives so perfect and interesting, celebrities your age traveling all over the place, people buying new things, finding new relationships, etc. It is difficult to ignore, and it makes people feel like they are always lacking something. Students are much more vulnerable in this case, they strongly focus on how their life looks compared to others. It can cause mental health problems, and, unfortunately, is very difficult to fight. We offer not to fight these feelings, but to fight what causes it. Ignore social media for a while, go through digital detox, and you will soon feel much better about your life.
High assignment load triggers anxiety
Education is not supposed to be easy. If it was very easy to get a diploma, specialists wouldn’t be in demand, there wouldn’t be any expertise. So we get it, it is normal that professors give students many assignments they should deal with no matter what. Submission dates are often a little unreasonable compared to the complexity of the tasks, and students struggle a lot with finishing all the necessary writing in time. Again, education not being an easy task is more than normal, but often assignment load gets unbearable and borderlines on insanity. One of the best options in such situations is to address reliable custom writing companies, such as SmartWritingService.com essay writing services. This way you can delegate some of your assignments, feel like the pressure lifts off and enjoy life for a while. Thousands of students make this choice daily. Of course, it should not become your overall strategy, but it can be seen as an optimal plan B.
How to Become More Resilient
First of all, if you manage to minimize triggers we have listed before, you will definitely feel much better, feel much less pressure on your mental health. Second, you should choose the so-called self-help methods that are suited specifically to your liking, to your personality. For example, meditation is considered to be one of the best ways to release stress and maintain a balanced mental state. It is proven by many studies as well. Still, meditation can be just an annoying experience if you are not ready for it. Maybe, some drawing classes or basic jogging would suit you much for the same purposes.
To make your mental health stronger and minimize risks related to them, you need to learn how to deal with your body. First, you need enough rest. Without enough night sleep and just rest during the day, you will break. Second, you need to maintain at least basically healthy nutrition. Elevated levels of sugar make you agitated, you lose concentration and later get in a bad mood, feel sluggish. In that state, you again need some sugar to come back to normal. Getting into this vicious cycle is not a good idea. Try adding some greens to your plate and forget about energy drinks forever.
Mental health is a complex issue, and you need to learn how to deal with it on your own. You always have access to doctors or counselors or just friends, but your first line of defense is you. You should be your biggest support. Learn to take care of yourself, minimize the triggers that influence your self-esteem, and soon you will feel much better in almost any environment. Pay attention to small stress and anxiety signs, not to miss some serious development.
