Top Tips for Looking After Your Mental Health at University
Every year on 10th October, World Mental Health Day serves as a global reminder of the importance of mental wellbeing – and for university students, this message couldn’t be more timely. Between lectures, deadlines, social pressures, and the uncertainty of the future, student life can be both exciting and overwhelming at times. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and forget to check in with ourselves.
In this blog, University of Chichester student, Beth, shares how you can take small, meaningful steps to support your mental health during your studies – not just today, but every day. Whether you’re navigating academic stress, feeling isolated, or simply trying to stay balanced, you’re not alone…
More than just lectures.
Living away from home for the first time. Learning what it means to pay bills and having to keep on top of them yourself. Budgeting student finance. Taking regular shifts at your part-time job. Joining societies and going to socials and regular meet-ups. Setting alarms for 9am lectures on a Thursday morning after getting in at 1am from WSIHE. Taking notes, reading books, planning and writing assignments, doing your dissertation, keeping in contact with friends from home, uni, societies, keeping up with social commitments, remembering to text your parents to arrange that next visit home, going back to Tesco because you’ve run out of milk again, checking to see if you’ve got time for that one more night out that everyone else has fit into their schedule…Is it just me, or is being a uni student A LOT?
Everyone struggles with the pressures of life, and something like 1 in 4 people in the UK suffer from one or more mental health conditions. While conversations about opening up about mental health, “World Mental Health Day” and “Movember” are becoming more and more prominent, sometimes it falls to us to accommodate our own, individual mental health needs.
Here are some simple tips to help you make your university experience more accessible for you!
Identify the things that help you process your emotions.
For me personally, I don’t always notice when things are getting more difficult to manage until it has built up into a bigger issue, so I would recommend paying close attention to those moments when you start to have those big feelings that don’t feel like they have an explanation (think things like, that day when your algorithm is full of disheartening political content, or when you’ve got two deadlines in one week and a shift at work the day before, and you just feel rubbish).
Make a note of anything you’re doing at the moment or have done in the past to help you understand how you feel in those moments. These could be anything that works for you! I find that going for long walks by myself can help me regulate complex emotions, particularly in times of high stress. I disconnect my headphones, put my phone in my pocket and stay outside for as long as I feel I need to, in quiet, nature-filled spaces like local parks. It sounds strange, but sometimes I even whisper under my breath whatever thoughts come to mind and often end up explaining to myself exactly how I’m feeling and why.
No matter how much you might want to, do not isolate yourself from your peers.
Especially as we go on towards the winter months, many of us might start to suffer from seasonal affective moods, making it difficult to motivate ourselves to leave our rooms and socialise with other people. A really helpful thing for me at the moment is taking small steps- if I can just get up and go downstairs to have a conversation with my housemates, even if I’m still in my pyjamas, it can help start to shake those low moods.
One of the best tips I’ve ever received in therapy is that, when you have those moments when the idea of spending time with other people feels like the last thing that you want, it’s often a sign that being with others is exactly what you need. It doesn’t have to be a super high-pressure event like a night out or a big meet-up, but just sitting with one or two of your closest friends or family members and watching TV together or having a simple conversation can, even if only temporarily, lighten your mood.
If you are someone who drinks, see if you can have an arrangement with another friend who drinks, to hold each other accountable in those low moments, and to limit those solo drinking sessions and try sober socials and nights out if your drinking is ever concerning you or your friends. Drinking culture at uni can become dangerous, particularly to those prone to depression or low moods, and it’s important to keep your friends close if you are struggling with alcohol.
The most important thing to remember is that there is always someone you can talk to. Whether this means accessing the student support services or wellbeing here at Chichester Uni, contacting local counselling services like the Young People Shop or West Sussex Talking Therapies, or even booking a quick check-in with your registered GP, there will always be someone qualified and ready to help you manage your mental health. No one should ever have to suffer with their mental health alone – you are seen, you are heard, and you are loved.
