It’s no coincidence that for the college student, the months of April and May are two of the most stressful and therefore, one of the very best times to keep one’s mental check in focus and remain on task, organized, and balanced.
At WVU Potomac State College, programs, events, and activities are designed throughout the year to support mental health. But as we approach spring and a student’s fancy turns to thoughts of summer vacation, those daydreams are often shattered by the reality of deadlines, overdue assignments, final exams, and upcoming plans.
For students, this time of year means facing end-of-semester pressures, final exams, Commencement activities, and preparing to head back home for the summer. For staff and faculty, it means the last lines of the detailed syllabus, grading final exams, and end-of-semester meetings to plan the Summer and Fall sessions that lie ahead.
Staying on the task at hand can be overwhelming, but there are activities a person can do to seek, maintain, and achieve a healthy work-life-school balance.
Michelle House, behavioral health therapist and MSW at Potomac State College, has some tips for activities that will help keep everyone centered and sane during a time when everything is happening everywhere, all at once.
Five Tips for Decreasing Anxiety
Breath work, breath work, breath work!
“Take 5 minutes each day to practice ‘focused’ breathing (breathe in for three seconds, hold for three seconds, and breathe out for six seconds,” House said. “Exhaling activates our calming mechanisms, so practice exhaling longer than inhaling when you need to calm down.”
Mindfulness
“Observe your thoughts, feelings, and the environment without judgment. Try a mental body scan to practice. Start with your feet and move up the body,” House recommended. “Pay attention to the sensations you feel in each part. When you feel a sensation that is uncomfortable, acknowledge it and your feelings about it. Then bring it back to your breath.”
Progressive muscle relaxation
“Begin by slowly tensing your feet. Hold it and feel the tension for a couple of seconds, and then slowly release. Go back to your breath. And repeat the process moving up the body with legs, hips, glutes, back, arms, shoulders, neck, and head. Always return to breath after each body part.”
Schedule time to worry.
“Have focused worry time. Take 20-30 minutes each day to focus on your worries. Make a list of what is weighing on your mind, prioritize that worry, and then write a plan for tackling that worry if it’s a high priority.”
Cognitive Restructuring
“This means challenging irrational thoughts with rational thoughts. What can you control and what can’t you control?”
House said that we all have buttons that others tend to push. Most of those times, those buttons were installed by others in our past and by past experiences. But many of those bring our past into our present, she said. And those experiences can lead to triggering responses. Those responses are also worth addressing and managing, she added. Often, triggered emotions can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed and could cause panic attacks.
“There are also five tips for managing these triggers and panic attacks,” said House. “Just things we can practice that make us more self-aware.”
Five Tips for Managing Panic Attacks and Triggers
Thinking, Feeling, Doing.
“Write down your thoughts, feelings, behaviors that led up to (if it already happened) or can lead up to the panic attack,” House said. “Look for and recognize those triggers.”
Grounding technique
“Take a moment to ground yourself. Use your five senses. Think about five things you see, four things you hear, three things you smell, two things you taste, and one thing you can touch.”
Again, practice breath work.
“Breath work, breath work, breath work – practicing breathing before the panic escalates is a great way to manage the severity. Practicing breathing after is a great way to rebound more quickly."
Let the attack happen.
“Do not try to distract. Just accept as it’s happening, while breathing and reminding yourself you are breathing and finding calm.”
Avoid caffeine, cigarettes, and alcohol.
“Or at least cut down as much as possible. All of these, as your body processes them, can become triggers for an attack.”
House said that mental health awareness also includes reminding yourself that you have survived each day you have lived so far and that you have the self-esteem and self-confidence needed to address any challenge and succeed in an opportunity presented.
Five Tips for Increasing Your Self-Esteem and Confidence
Write down several of your strengths
“Write down a list of your positive qualities,” said House. “Write how you have used those strengths and how you will use those strengths over the next few days.”
Do a mental inventory
“Then write down a time when you were proud of yourself. Remember how you felt, what you experienced, who was there, what was going on in your surroundings, etc. Then anchor yourself to that moment.”
Visualize the Best Possible Outcome
“Practice visualization exercise. Put yourself in the best possible outcome. Imagine what could go right,” said House, who indicated that some students and staff come to the counseling center for additional work on how to best practice this activity.
Ask for affirmations.
“Interview your friends and family, and even your coworkers. Ask them what they love about you. Ask them what you are doing well in your job. Write it down. Post those notes on your mirror, or on what they mean to you. Look at those affirmations every day.”
Journal your successes
“Write down something you did well, felt good about, and felt accomplished.”
House said that for those dealing with authentic episodes of depression or experiencing manic depressive episodes, this time of year can be a rollercoaster of stress, triggers, and emotional overload. There are ways to manage here as well.
Five Tips for Managing Depression
30 minutes of physical activity every day
“Start small by simply taking a walk. Walk around campus or go for a walk around town,” House recommended.
Think about the three good things
“Write about three positive experiences from your day. These experiences can be small, like, ‘the weather was perfect when I walked to work," or big, like, ‘I got a promotion at work.’” She suggested choosing one of the following questions to answer about each of the three good things: 1. Why did this happen? 2. Why was this good thing meaningful? 3. How can I experience more of this good thing? Then repeat this exercise every day for one week.
Keep a Gratitude journal.
“Gratitude improves mood,” House said. “Here are some journaling prompts... who makes me laugh, what is something that gives me hope, where is some place that makes me feel calm, what I something fun I enjoy? Make a list of moments where you showed kindness and where kindness was shown to you.”
Remember, ‘Self Care’ isn’t selfish
“Self-care could be as simple as taking a mindful shower where you actively focus on listening to the sound of the water, feeling the water on your skin, watching the process of it draining, smelling your soap, or shampoo. And how it feels overall,” said House.
Eat, Sleep, Repeat
“Eating and sleeping are important components of self-care, so make a conscious effort to eat at least one nutritious meal each day, and nap less during the day so you can sleep at night.”
House said to remember that during this time of year, it can be a default setting to allow stress to become overwhelming. It’s the end of a semester and the light at the end of the tunnel keeps getting brighter. But how to get there without losing your mind? House has tips specifically for academic stress.
Practice self-care.
Eat at least one healthy meal per day.
Get your rest.
Go to class on time: “There is a direct correlation to class attendance and academic success,” House said.
Change your study habits: “Your bed is not where you should study. Study with friends who understand what's happening in the course and can help. Break down studying into 25-minute sessions, then break for 5-10 minutes, then 25 minutes again.”
Find a tutor: “Seek help through the tutoring center. If a tutor is not available for your subject, try a number of free online academic supports.”
Note summarization: “Take five minutes after each class to summarize what you just learned. Write down any questions you have and ask those questions in the next class session.”
Plan and Organize: “It’s not too late to take your syllabi and record all deadline dates in a planner. Then, use those dates to stay organized. If you have a paper due on April 29th, write ‘paper brainstorm’ in for one hour each day for three days, then ‘paper development’ one hour each day for the next three days, then paper review and rewrite one hour each day, then works cited page one hour each day for three days, leading up to the deadline. Work your deadline into doable chunks.”
House said students should remember that "you will get through it. And you are not alone. Help is available through tutoring, counseling, and even by scheduling on-campus therapy.
“The entire spring season is stressful,” House said. “But there are ways to make it through and be mindful without all the added stress and anxiety.”
The Mental Health and Counseling Services Center offers individual and group therapy as well as across-campus programs, activities, and initiatives that seek to promote mental health awareness and destigmatize mental illness. WVU Potomac State College also has trained counselors available 24 hours a day if things feel urgent. Those counselors can be reached by texting WVU to 741741 or by calling 304-788-6977. Michelle House, behavioral health therapist, MSW, can be reached directly at mahouse@mail.wvu.edu or by calling 304-788-6976.