{"id":381,"date":"2022-11-23T11:38:20","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T11:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/?p=381"},"modified":"2022-11-23T11:38:20","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T11:38:20","slug":"how-to-take-care-of-your-mental-health-during-your-time-at-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/2022\/11\/23\/how-to-take-care-of-your-mental-health-during-your-time-at-university\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Take Care Of Your Mental Health During Your Time At University"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by<\/em> <\/em>Dustin Belt<\/em><\/a> on<\/em> <\/em>Unsplash<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

University is a stressful time. You\u2019re in a new place where you don\u2019t know anyone. You have no money, no time, no energy, and yet are expected to thrive. It\u2019s a lot for one mind to take on before even addressing the coursework. Take a look at our tips to make sure your mind stays healthy during the simultaneous worst and best years of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make an effort to make friends<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an increasingly isolated world, it can actually be pretty hard to make friends. You\u2019ve likely left high school behind and a lot of friends with it. And in the age of social media, it\u2019s harder to start over. That\u2019s right: it\u2019s now an active requirement of mental health to go looking for friends \u2013 offline!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As cliche as it\u2019s going to sound, you might need to get out there. The foundation of a great friendship is things in common, so join a club and get chatting. Think about what you love and see if there is some way to share it with someone. If there isn\u2019t, start one. Now you\u2019ve got something to be passionate about that isn\u2019t coursework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find an athletic pastime<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are thinking of looking for or starting a club, you might want to make it something that gets you moving. Even better, if it gets you moving off campus, it\u2019s best. You\u2019ll get the comradery, yes, but you\u2019ll also get the double benefit of the endorphins of exercising and the healing power of nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But take time for yourself when you need to<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you are making moves to get out there, make sure to take time to yourself if you have to. You don\u2019t need an excuse. If you don\u2019t feel like it today, say that, and tell whoever you\u2019re canceling on that you will set another day to see them. If they\u2019re a decent friend they\u2019ll understand\/will probably be grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider online therapy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re really worried about the state of your mind, you can look into online therapy. You can get online therapy with insurance<\/a> and it will be more affordable than the traditional face-to-face sessions. Not to mention it will slot nicely in between classes and study without the need for a commute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are also a lot of resources available to you at your university. There\u2019s no harm in asking what is available and if you can get some support. And don\u2019t go thinking \u201cIt\u2019s not gotten to that yet\u201d. You should act as quickly as possible to avoid worsening symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoid burnout<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burnout is a very real issue at university. You will be working harder than you ever have. You thought high school was tough? You\u2019ll wish you could sum up your thoughts on a book in only a page or two. And you\u2019ll curse whoever came up with the Harvard citing system. Every lecturer thinks the grammar is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s enough for some to need a chat with a therapist. Take it seriously. If you feel you\u2019re struggling, you can talk to someone. Notice if you\u2019re not sleeping<\/a>, you\u2019re constantly worrying about your coursework, or anything else in your life feels like a weight that makes you avoid your coursework. You\u2019re on the road to burnout and you need a break.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by Dustin Belt on Unsplash University is a stressful time. You\u2019re in a new place where you don\u2019t know anyone. You have no money, no time, no energy, and yet are expected to thrive. It\u2019s a lot for one mind to take on before even addressing the coursework. Take a look at our tips […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12908,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":382,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions\/382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/piperde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}