How to Take Care of Your Mental Health in College

College is supposed to be 4 of the most exciting and eventful years of your life, but like everything in life it affects each of us differently. You’re going to go through many ups and downs during your college experience and that’s ok, but for some people it’s harder on them than it is for others. This is why you need to take care of yourself and your mental health because it is really important, especially during COVID which has made times harder on all of us. 

The first thing you could do is have a circle of people you can rely on. It does not matter how big this circle is and it can be family, friends, teachers, etc. Everybody needs somebody and by having people to lean on and people to go to for advice and support when you’re down, you’ll preserve your mental health. While there are a lot of people who can be by themselves for a while and genuinely enjoy it, myself included, it is not healthy to be alone 100% of the time. Human beings are social creatures and we need some form of human interaction every once in a while. 

The second thing you could do is find some time to exercise or go outside. Because of COVID it is harder to have constant access to a gym, and some people just might not have a gym in general, but it is important to get some form of exercise and get fresh air. This doesn’t mean you need an intense cardio session or lift most days of the week, even a simple walk can have benefits for you and your body. 

The third thing you could do is to manage your classes and assignments well. By that I mean, remember your due dates, don’t push everything off until the last minute, and make sure you’re doing the best you can in your classes. For a lot of kids, they burn out when they get to college because it’s so different from high school and they don’t know how to adjust to this new lifestyle. Making that transition isn’t going to be easy for everyone and that’s ok, it might take longer for you than it does for someone else. So, don’t freak out about this it’s normal, take it one day at a time and you’re probably not going to be perfect in school all the time and that’s fine, we all experience this and you shouldn’t let one bad moment isn’t define 4 years of school. 

Mental health is a major thing that influences how we live our life and it is very important that we preserve it and make sure we are in a good mental state as much as possible. Nobody is happy all the time, and if someone says or looks like they are then they’re lying. We all have our moments but it is important to overcome those bad times and focus on improving ourselves on a daily basis.