Good mental health for students

Good mental health is what enables students to study and meet the challenges of university life. As part of World Mental Health Awareness Day, Kirstie Adamson of the UWE Bristol Wellbeing Service explains the importance of self-care in staying resilient.

Imagine you are going on a car journey. What will you pack? What will you need along the way? Have you filled the car with petrol? Have you checked the oil and water? It is important that you take care of your car so that you can complete the journey. Now imagine your brain is like a car. It needs good self care in order to function well.

University is a journey, a journey of many steps towards achieving the next stage in your life. How much do you look after your own body engine during your university journey? You wouldn’t expect your car to go without petrol so why would you expect your body to keep going without self care?

Four Basics

Food, water, sleep, exercise. A body and brain cannot function well without these four basics and yet how often will students be cutting out one or all of these? Good mental health means making sure all these basics are in place. If any one of these four basics is not in place, it is time to take action. We have some self help sheet in our wellbeing resources.

Talking and resilience skills

It can be hard to ask for help. It can seem easier to ignore it or keep on trying.

Human beings are made with chemicals in our brains and body which light up when we have support from others. So seeking someone to talk to whether it is a friend, a family member, the Wellbeing Service or the Samaritans helps you light up inside and fire on all cylinders. Being listened to helps you make changes and can support you in self caring.

And resilience skills — these are what help you to manage difficult issues. They are learnable and can be found in the Wellbeing Service section of the website.

Emotional resilience also features in our series of animations about coping with anxiety on our YouTube channel.