Believe it or not, mental health is just as if not more important than physical health. If you were feeling a cold coming on, you’d look for DayQuil or Emergen-C. But if you’re feeling a depressive episode coming on, what exactly do you reach for? It’s the people you love; the people around you who care.
According to the American Psychological Association, over 40% of college students struggle with and report symptoms of anxiety. That means almost half of your friends are currently dealing with anxiety or some form of it. In addition to that, APA reports about 36% of college students experience depression and the same amount deal with intensive relationship problems. It’s more prevalent than ever before, and that means it’s even more important to keep up with yourself.
Yes, of course, it’s important to make sure your friends are in good health, but you should feel comfortable putting yourself first when it comes to mental health. No one knows you better than you do, so if something’s off then take the time to reflect. Take the time to talk to a trusted friend, a counselor on campus, or anyone who makes you feel comfortable enough to share.
What I like to do is a mental checklist:
1. For most of the day, I felt ____.
If you felt anxious for most of the day, then dive into that. Why did you feel anxious? Was it a person, an event, etc? Or if you felt happy, then take the time to appreciate who or what put you in such a good mood?
2. Would I change my mood for the day if I could?
If you were in a bad mood, then try and pinpoint what did that to you. Is it something you can’t control? If so, dive into how you could avoid letting it impact you. Was it something you can’t control? Then find a way to control it for tomorrow; find a way to fix what’s wrong.
3. Regardless of how I felt today, am I ready to start my day tomorrow?
If you aren’t ready for tomorrow and ready to start with a fresh outlook, then tomorrow doesn’t have too much of a chance to be a good day. Anything that happened today is done. Set in stone. There’s no going back to change what happened. But tomorrow is a whole other chance to either keep up your high spirits or change your mood around. Take the chance to do so.
When checking in with your friends, do the exact same thing. If something seems off with them, ask them if they want to talk about it. They’ll feel special that you noticed, and if they want to open up then you’ve given them the outlet to do so. Make sure you move at their pace. Don’t pry or dive deeper than they appear to be comfortable with. If they want to share something with you, then they will.
Trust your instincts, trust yourself, and be aware of yours and your friends’ mental health this fall.