School is a time of learning, having fun, and growing. From school, you gain knowledge for a better future while enjoying time with your classmates and exploring adulthood. Growth comes with pain since you pass through different stages of life during and after school life. It’s pretty normal for a person to face mental health struggles. These can be depression, anxiety, or one of many more diagnoses. Moreover, the stress of study and isolation from family especially for students who are far from their homes can cause duress. No matter what situation compromised your mental health, you can always improve it. Fortunately, there are some effective ways/tips which can assist you in getting your positive mental health back.
1. Always Have “Me” Time
Self-care is very important as it ensures your mental health is in a balanced state. So, have “me” time and do whatever your heart loves to do. It can be drawing, creating arts and crafts, reading a book, watching a movie, going for a ride, buying your favorite food and clothes, spending time in the park, etc. It’s not about spending time thinking about the workload, assignments, presentations, or course work. It’s something that is totally different from your routine activity.
Even if it’s merely 30 minutes, remember every single minute you spend on your self-care matters and helps in attaining strong mental health.
2. Talk About the Things You Think the Most
If you are stressed over anything, be expressive about it since a problem shared is a problem halved. Sometimes, you are under a lot of pressure from study and exams, and in such a situation it’s normal to feel anxious.
However, keeping all the matters to yourself is not good. You need to find a person and talk to them. Whether it’s your mother, father, sibling, friend, or tutor, just talk to them and seek their guidance. They can probably guide you with better ways to feel better about the situation or how to help.
3. Don’t Compromise Your Sleep
Getting excessive sleep is the easiest way to deal with depression and anxious feelings. Sometimes such feelings arise when you are skipping a healthy sleep pattern and staying up all night. Try to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep in a day to keep your mind fresh and working. Even science has validated that a regular sleeping pattern is more advantageous than taking more sleep. This means you need to set a bedtime and try to sleep and get up at a similar time every day.
If listening to calm music can help you sleep, then listen to it. Some night lights are available for adults as well, so try to get one for you since these are effective in making a calm sleeping environment.
4. Eat Healthy Food
Diet is also a key player in good mental health. For students it might be difficult to eat healthy as they are more exposed to parties, drinking alcohol, and hanging out more often. This way it’s quite easy to fall into the trap of pizza, burgers, and other unhealthy junk food every day. Such highly processed food has detrimental effects on your physical health as well as mental health if consumed regularly.
So, have a proper balance of vegetables and fruits in your meals to stay healthy physically and mentally.
5. Never Lose Track of Your Life Goals
This practice is different for everyone. To summarize, engage in work that feels comfortable and useful to you. Decide what you want from your life academically, professionally, and personally. Make a flow chart and try to make a clear path to achieve your most wanted life goals.
Make sure you set realistic goals which can be achievable. So, aim high and don’t overburden yourself trying to reach your goals in a single day. You will reach your goals slowly but surely. In all that path, you will find tremendous success and self-worth.
6. Have Positive People Around
Be in touch with people who matter to you. People who have a strong family background and social connections are usually healthier than those who have a small support network. Surround yourself with people who are supportive, positive, encouraging, and see good in you.
Student life is an excellent part of youth. However, sometimes a wrong lifestyle and bad habits can take a toll on your mental health. This situation gets worse with time if you don’t work on it. Giving yourself the utmost care and time is the most you can do for your better mental wellbeing. On the other hand, it’s completely natural to feel overwhelmed sometimes. It’s the time of life when we experience a lot of mixed feelings. Just make sure such feelings don’t affect your way of living life to its fullest.
