With exam season approaching, everyone is feeling a bit of pressure. The attitude around campus starts to become more tense as people scramble to get ready for the end of the semester rush. It can be easy to become swept up in the action, but it gets dangerous when it starts to affect your mental health.
No exam is worth your life. Final exams are important, but so is your mental health. Suicide rates on college campuses are no joke and they are not talked about enough despite it being a very real problem.
It’s important to remember that you are worth it. You are worth everything and if you need to take a mental health day, it’s okay! Don’t let anyone guilt you for needing to take a day to yourself if that’s what will keep you from going over the edge. Don’t be afraid to talk to someone, either. Reach out to your professors, counselors, friends and parents, whomever you need to. Don’t feel embarrassed to do so either.
As someone who has been suicidal I can tell you that you are not alone. You are far from alone. Talking to fellow students you’ll find that you are not the only one who has felt suicidal. And it’s important you form a support system.
If while studying for these exams you start to feel hopeless, worthless, and like you simply can’t do it, then I want you to stop studying. Put your books down and start yourself a bath, wrap yourself in a blanket, watch Netflix, do whatever puts you in your happy space. Do this until you feel mentally ready again. Do not let it get too far, because no life is worth an exam and your mental health is something you cannot just put on the back burner.
During this high-pressure time, repeat to yourself that your mental health is important, and that no exam is worth your life. Repeat it as many times as you need to. You’ll even start to feel more refreshed to study for exams, take it from someone who has been there.
Suicide on college campuses can’t stay silent any longer and we need to address it, because a lot of us have been there. Whether it is thoughts we had to attempts we’ve actually made, the mental illness stigma needs to change. It is very real and the second we start paying attention to it and treating it like the problem it is, is the second we start saving lives. So please, pay attention to how you are feeling and take care of yourself, because no exam is worth your life.