According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 5 adults in U.S. will experience mental illness every year. Mental illness affects individuals of any race, ethnicity, and age. It can be a hard topic to discuss, but mental health is very important. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I thought this was the perfect time to talk about mental illnesses in college students and ways to handle them.
In order to treat mental health, we first must understand what exactly mental health is. Mental Health is defined as "a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being" and can range from depression, panic disorders (anxiety), obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD) and more serious mental conditions. Many college students experience stress, anxiety, depressions and even thoughts of self-harm and suicide.
College is tough, there's no doubt about that. I have heard my peers say multiple times, "I want to die" or "I'm going to kill myself" when talking about an assignment or class. I have even said those things before. It is played off as a joke, but it is a serious issue. No one should be so stressed with school that they would rather die than complete an essay, joke or not.
Getting help for feeling too stressed, too anxious, or depressed starts by recognizing the source of the problem, whether it is academic pressures, social pressures, or self-image. Almost every college or university has a councilling or therapy program set up to help students through hard times and possibly diagnose a mental illness and get treatment for it. Setting up an appointment can be terrifying for some, especially first-year students or students who are scared of the outcome. A lot of people do not want to know if something is wrong with them and will avoid getting help. Some also feel that if they get help, they will be considered "weak." This is not true at all. Getting help and treatment is one of the strongest things a person can do.
Here are a few of my tips for coping with stress:
1. Remember to take the time to care for yourself. Self-love is very important when it comes to mental health.
2. Take a break from studying and treat yourself to doing something you love to do. For me, that is photography and journaling.
3. Organize your day/week so that you are not just doing school work 24/7 (again, taking time for yourself).
4.Surround yourself with people who love and care about you. Being around people who bring you down will only make things worse in the long run.
5. Eat healthily, drink water, exercise and get plenty of sleep (don't pull all-nighters).
6. Don't isolate yourself from family and friends.
7. Don't use drugs or alcohol as a way to cope with stress.
8. Avoid saying negative things about yourself. Instead of pointing out the flaws about yourself, focus on the things you do like about yourself. That can be from your appearance to the way you are as a person. Making your flaws positive instead of negative can also help.
9. Live like there's no tomorrow and live your life to the fullest.
If you think the situation you are in is not serious or will go away soon and you do not want to go to councilling or therapy, it is okay. When you start having thoughts about wanting to hurt yourself or you feel like the pain you are going though will never end, that is when you need to get help. The first step is always the hardest but is it so worth it. If you or someone you know is not okay, tell someone: a friend, a family member, a professor, etc. You are not alone. Everyone goes through and experiences mental illness at some point in their life. Remember that "this too shall pass."
