Pandemic welfare & self-care for the University student
There’s so much out there about mental health and wellbeing right now. I wanted to draw the key stuff into one place, in case like me you’re a bit overwhelmed and can’t keep up with millions of posts about how to look after yourself and others at the moment. There’s Leeds-specific stuff at the bottom of this article and I’ve made a few graphics to make it a little more colourful!
Any unexpected and/or prolonged enforced absence from campus, especially in a time of such high general anxiety, may have a significant impact on your wellbeing as a University student. You may have left the city, you might feel isolated, cut off from regular sources of information such as direct access to your tutors, social ties and informal support you get from interaction with your fellow students; or you may be mourning the loss of all your “lasts”, like your last society social. On the other hand, some students are unable to leave to a “home home” because of estrangement, having vulnerable family members at home, difficult personal home circumstances, or travel restrictions. Leeds is my home now, so I’m still here.
Social distancing and self-isolation remove us from the habits and actions that structure our daily lives and give us those little “micro-lifts” throughout the day, so it’s good to build a creative set of tools to help manage your mental health. If you already follow a routine for supporting your mental health, it is important to continue this — ensure your medication is stocked up, talk to your therapist/counsellor about how you can continue to meet remotely. In general, mental health charities say accessing nature and sunlight wherever possible, staying connected with others, eating well and staying hydrated, finding ways to be productive, active, and following a routine are all important. However, right now, coping is way more important than being productive. We are in a global health crisis — it’s perfectly valid if you’re not in the mood to learn three new languages and become an expert at a musical instrument on top of studying for any remaining assessments.
It’s also a good idea to step back from the news and social media. It is important to stay informed, but this doesn’t need to heighten your sense of fear. Perhaps designate times of the day for checking updates, and use trusted sources — that’s what I’ve been doing! It’s easy to get sucked into a spiral of getting upset or angry at everything swirling around on social media — give yourself some time off.
Many of you will have work to be getting on with or will feel better for dedicating your time to specific activities or tasks whilst also allowing for downtime(!). Try to stick to a routine (i.e. getting up at a similar time, going on a ‘commute’ round the block…). Have separate places for work and sleep. Check out home work-outs on Youtube. Keep in contact virtually with friends and family. Take a virtual museum tour. Try out new hobbies like art or languages if you find yourself with extra time on top of just getting by — but again, I can’t stress this enough: no pressure. You do not have to emerge out of this as an expert smoothie maker with a new snazzy online business. I’ve been encouraging people to make time for things that make them happy, and I’ve started a new sketchbook, but I’m still sat here with the same pile of unread books and with my yoga mat still firmly rolled up in the corner. Simply put, these things take motivation and energy that aren’t guaranteed right now.
Highly recommended wellbeing apps include Headspace, Calm, and SilverCloud — now is an excellent time to dip into this “meditation” nonsense and see if anything actually sticks! Countless studies show that meditation, a form of mindfulness (that can be as simple as actively remembering to take notice of your surroundings when you’re outside) is highly effective in reducing stress, clearing your mind, and strengthening your ability to self-manage your own emotions. I am LOVING my daily lone walks at the moment, headphones on and at full volume, noticing every tiny little bit of spring as it happens around me, taking time to look at budding leaves and flowers and noticing how the clouds are moving through the sky. It helps.
You can frame a lot of this stuff around the NHS-approved 5 Ways To Wellbeing: give, connect (virtually!), be active (my least fave), take notice (this is just mindfulness in a nutshell!), and keep learning (have you checked out FutureLearn?). I have these 5 things jotted down on a pretty post-it note at my desk so I see them often as a literal reminder to take notice…
Self Care 101
Self-care means making time to do things you enjoy, maintaining a healthy lifestyle to the best of your ability, listening to what your mind and body need — including lots of rest and no pressure to do a million different new hobbies at once — and being kind to yourself. It also means being aware of how you’re thinking and where your limits are. Here are a couple of things to help conceptualise this as I know it’s all a bit wishy-washy.
Concept 1: Now, more than ever, it’s important to recognise any unhealthy habitual thinking patterns. We have ‘distortions’ in the way we think, and these can cause stress (based on survival mechanisms to deal with and learn from “threats”).
It’s important to recognise them as step one in combating them…
➔ One way thinking: polarised, black and white, all or nothing thoughts.
➔ Mind-reading: assumptively attributing an emotion or intention to someone.
➔ Catastrophising: magnifying something, predicting a terrible outcome.
➔ Generalisation: e.g. getting negative feedback on one essay and assuming this means you will always do badly (a shortcut learning mechanism to remember “threats” and avoid them, but inappropriately applied!).
➔ Emotional reasoning: false connections between thoughts and emotions, even if the emotion (negative) is not well-informed or representative of a situation in reality.
➔ Perfectionism: obsession with performance and correctness.
➔ Fortune-telling: predicting the future, being certain of outcomes and assuming the worst without a real idea of how something will go.
➔ Personalising: assuming blame, thinking things are about you or down to you.
Want to know more about thinking patterns? Check out this article:
Or this article from psychology today.
Concept 2: You can also try to look after yourself by keeping track of your workable range…
Working/studying gives you a sense of competence and activity, but it can also contribute to stress. The workable range is the range in which you are able to work effectively: it’s different for everyone and can change depending on the circumstance. You can leave your workable range to become either ‘wired’ or ‘tired’ if you become too stressed. You can look at these as an extension of our fear system, which reacts to “threats” (anything stressful) with “fight, flight or freeze”.
→ ‘Hyper’: wired, agitated, panicky, hot-headed, intense emotion, anger, impulsivity, chaotic thoughts, frazzled, erratic
→ Workable: flexible, open to learning, informed by emotions not dominated by them
→ ‘Hypo’: tired, negative thoughts, closed-off, passive, rigid, blunted reactions, low energy, sluggishness, low mood, dulled feelings, sadness, hopelessness, clouded/blank mind
You might have an increased tolerance for being nearer either side — a ‘hyper’ state can bring energy and motivation, and a ‘hypo’ state can be good for slowing down and taking time to reflect. However, knowing where you are is helpful for knowing what will help you return to your workable range.
★ Up-regulate your emotions in ‘hypo’: do something physical and stimulating such as exercising or listening to your favourite upbeat music.
★ Down-regulate your emotions in ‘hyper’: have some alone time, take a break to read a book or listen to relaxing music, do some yoga, or some breathing exercises.
Looking after others’ wellbeing 101
Be an active listener (skills outlined above!) and check out the following resources about helping someone else:
- Leeds Uni’s guide
- Student Minds’ guide
- Rethink Mental Illness provide loads of practical tips, information and advice on their ‘worried about someone else’ webpage
- Mind’s extensive ‘helping someone else’ resource, with information on a huge range of mental health difficulties
- Mindwell have ‘I am concerned about someone else’ webpages
- Papyrus provide a useful ‘worried about someone?’ webpage
- Samaritans has a ‘what to do if someone is suicidal‘ webpage
What else would I recommend reading?
- Mind’s dedicated page
- Student Minds’ dedicated page
- Independent — how to manage mental health when self-isolating
- 5 ways to wellbeing during the pandemic
- Please Don’t Be Guilted Into Being More Productive During The Coronavirus
- NHS Every Mind Matters resource
Where can Leeds students stay updated with information?
→ The University’s website (including extensive FAQs)
→ Leeds University Union’s page
Seeking support:
Part of self-care is recognising when you need outside help and support. Info and wellbeing support for students is still available at Leeds. Here’s a list I encourage you to scan and can come back to (and here’s the portal to all this info):
- LUU student community group — the way into finding out about what’s still going on virtually and how to stay updated/connected
- Help and Support at LUU can help with all general queries. Email helpandsupport@luu.leeds.ac.uk
- The LUU Student Advice team is offering welfare support (i.e. finances) and drop-ins with advisers and Wellbeing Practitioners from the Counselling Centre. advice@luu.leeds.ac.uk
- LUU online advice service: browse speedy self-help articles
- Student Counselling and Wellbeing: remote support update
- The International Student Office is still there for you and there are FAQs relating to international study here
- Disability Services: you can still contact Disability Services and School Disability Coordinators remotely
- The Chaplaincy: you can still email chaplaincy@leeds.ac.uk, leave a voicemail on 01133435071, or phone the out of hours chaplain on 07780613862.
- Leeds Student Medical Practice updates
- Halls: University residence Wardens and Subwardens can provide on-site help with wellbeing concerns. To find yours, go to ‘Residence Contacts’ at www.accommodation.leeds.ac.uk
- There is always someone to talk to. You can see a full list of Leeds and national helplines like Samaritans and SHOUT here
- Online mental health community with free membership for UoL students: Big White Wall
Thanks for reading — take care and please, please be kind to yourselves.
