World Mental Health Day

The Mental Health Struggles of Being a Student

Sometimes, it’s not exactly the easiest thing to keep your mental health in check when you’re a full-time student – especially when you have so much on your plate to worry about.

Whether you’re currently a student, a recent graduate, or were a student over a decade ago, we’ve all been there before and know the struggles. Being a student isn’t a walk in the park – exams, assignments, piling rent bills, student loans, tight budgets meaning ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the list just keeps going on and on. All of these factors add to the everyday stress of being a student.

As today is World Mental Health Day, we want you to know that we’re here for you.

The Importance of Your Mental Health

Without a doubt, your mental health is important. Whether you’re 22, 58, or even 87 years old, maintaining good mental health is important for keeping you healthy – both mentally and physically.

Your mental health refers to your emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which is often characterized by alterations in your thinking, mood, and behaviour associated with significant distress and impaired functioning. Since your mental health affects your emotions and how you think, it’s equally as important as your physical health.

Maintaining good mental health allows you to fully enjoy life for what it is and appreciate the people and blessings you have around you. Plus, positively nurturing your mental health can help to fight
and prevent mental health complications that are sometimes associated with chronic physical illness. In some cases, it can even prevent the onset or relapse of a physical and mental illness.

To foster positive mental health, Sprott Shaw students can access the Here2Talk app. In a nutshell, this free and confidential program provides students currently registered with a B.C. post-secondary school with 24/7 mental health support and community referral services via app, phone, and web.

As part of being a student, some of the most common feelings and emotions that students face are stress, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness. Students also struggle to maintain healthy eating, sleeping and exercise routines, and often say they could benefit from some guidance to build healthier habits. To help manage these feelings and promote self-improvement, Here2Talk works with professional counsellors that can help you address common concerns such as:

• Adapting to a new campus culture, learning style or city
• Tensions with family members, friends, or instructors
• Feelings of isolation, loneliness or depression
• General stress and anxiety
• Frustration or uncertainty related to studies or post-grad plans
• Creating balance between personal and academic priorities
• Building better communication and time management skills

Here2Talk connects students with mental health support when they need it. Through this program, all students – domestic or international – currently registered in a B.C. post-secondary institution have access to free, confidential counselling and community referral services.

For your convenience, we provide counselling and support services in various languages upon request. We will try our best to match people to support in their preferred language. However, please note that language-specific counsellors, and third-party translation services are limited and therefore, subject to availability and/or a waiting time.

Want to speak with someone? It is easy – just chat via the app or web, or call toll-free across Canada-at 1-877-857-3397.

Here2Talk App is completely confidential within the limits of the law, so no one – including your friends, family, or instructors – will know you’ve used the program unless you choose to tell them.

And the best part is – it’s all free! Download the Here2Talk App today and try it out for yourself!