5 Tips to Look After Your Mental Health at University
Did you know that October 10th is World Mental Health Day?
Uni life is amazing, filled with new people, super cool classes and often your first taste of life away from home. But, looking after your mental health and wellbeing can often take a back seat to exams, essays, and friendships. At iQ, we know how important it is to prioritise your mental health, so we caught up with some of our residents to give you five ways to take a breather during your studies.
Going outside
It might sound simple, but a walk outside can be a great way to step back from your uni work - even if it’s just a walk around your accommodation building! Lots of our buildings are located near green spaces, and we’ve even got some great wellbeing walks up on our Instagram for you to check out for yourselves.
Trying out journalling
Writing about your day-to-day life is such a good way to immortalise your time at uni for years to come and help you process your experience. There are loads of different types of journalling (we are obsessed with the junk journalling trend) but starting by writing down just 3 things you did each day can help you de-stress.
Hanging out with friends
According to the BBC, nearly 1 in 4 uni students are lonely – so it is super important to catch up with mates whenever you can. We know finding time around deadlines, classes and clubs is tricky. Hanging out and talking to friends, either in an iQ social space or around your town can provide a different perspective, and remind you that deadlines aren’t the end of the world. iQ's Clubs are great way to meet new people too.
Doing exercise
Exercise is a great way to release endorphins, but it doesn't need to be high intensity, or even super long. Many iQ sites have gyms you can use to walk on a treadmill for 15 minutes, or you could even do a 10-minute Pilates circuit in your room. Taking time away from the work you’re doing to refocus your mind often leads to the best results, too!
Practising self-care
What does self-care look like to you? For some people it’s going for a walk, for others it’s a pamper session, or talking to family. Figuring out what works for you means you can carve out time between classes and assignments to take care of yourself. Not sure what works best? Don’t be afraid to try new things until you work it out.
If you need extra support for your mental health, iQ has a partnership with Shout to offer crisis support, which you can check out here: Shout: The UK's free, confidential, 24/7 mental health text service | Shout 85258). For more general mental health advice, you can also check out Student Minds here: Mental Health Support – For UK University Students | Student Minds).
We host iQ Feel Good events throughout the year across our iQ sites, focused on showing you new ways to look after your wellbeing - so keep an eye out on your noticeboard for more info and chat to your Feel Good Ambassadors if you need a little more guidance.
