Pandemic: Student Mental Health, Struggles and Advice

Our mind is very powerful. When we think of something, be it good or bad; whatever it is, we would be immediately influenced as if our thought had a life of its own. We act and materialize them. They said that we all have two wolves living inside us, the good one and the bad one. And our perception of reality depends on what else we are feeding. When we are jealous, depressed, stressed, frustrated, and fighting anxiety, we are feeding the bad guy. But when we are loved, happy, grateful and hopeful, and we think of something positive, we are actually feeding the good. Everything depends on us, on our perception of reality. Our ultimate defense in times like this is through positive thinking and managing our mental health.

There has been an increase in suicide cases of students struggling to cope with and embrace this “sudden and major change” in academic learning. Common reasons include: financial problems, lack of devices for the online class, poor and unstable internet connection, and pressure to participate in the online class.

Recently, a 21-year-old student from Sta. Elena, Iriga, Camarines Sur committed suicide due to economic problems and pressure to participate in online classes. According to the investigation, the victim’s parents are unaware of any personal issues other than her trouble participating in an online class due to unstable network connection in her area and lack of technology resources. This is the third case of suicide related to education. The first was on June 16, from Sto. Sunday and the other was on August 15 from the same place. This 19-year-old high school student hanged himself to death on June 16, after worrying that her family would not be able to afford the electronic equipment needed for her to study online in the next academic year. This anonymous student told her parents how sorry he was for causing “additional expense” to her family who were already struggling in Albay province, south of Manila.

“Depressions and emotional crises are likely to occur among students and parents amid this ongoing health crisis, because many students in public schools are from poor families,” Gilbert T. Sadsad, director of the Local Education Department office. . Furthermore, despite all the complaints and frustrations from students and educational institutions, the DepEd secretary, Leonor Briones, urged students to be resilient in order to avoid education-related deaths.

Similarly, studies indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with distress, anxiety, fear of contagion, depression, and insomnia in the general population and among health professionals. Ahmed et al. conducted an online survey of 1,074 Chinese and found elevated rates of anxiety, depression, harmful use of alcohol, and decreased mental well-being. Rates of anxiety and depression were higher among 21-40 year olds compared to other age groups.

All of this stems from our most commonly overlooked aspect of our health, making consulting a psychologist and other mental health experts unlikely and costly. Those suicide cases reported in the news were not about the problem itself, but how we deal with it is the main issue of whether it is healthy or not; acceptable or not.

Here are 10 tips to help you manage your mental health in this pandemic, especially for students struggling to adjust to their current situation.

1. Be open to others

Your family, relatives, friends or that special someone is always there for you. Everyone loves you more than you think. When you have problems and you felt that you were already giving up. Talk to them. Don’t be afraid to share your load.

2. Surround yourself with people who are good for your growth

They said, “birds with the same feathers came together.” So be careful who you choose to be friends with. Choose upbeat people who can lift your spirits when you’re down. Choose people with the same interests as yours. Accomplish things together.

3. Do healthy activities and minimize the use of your phone

In your spare time, try healthy activities like painting, writing poems, playing musical instruments, reading books, etc. It will lead you to discover more of yourself. Cultivate and develop talents. You do not have to update all the events of your life on social networks and listen and be influenced by the superficiality and opinions of people.

4. Spend more time on yourself

Talk to yourself about those important things that happened in your life. Acknowledge your mistakes. Evaluate yourself through SWOT analysis or knowing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in a given situation. To be more productive, we must first know ourselves and what we can do.

5. If possible, do some meditation

Meditation has been shown to have many health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, relieving confusion, managing depression and anxiety. It will help you see the problem and how to fix it. When a person meditates, his mind will have a reset button pressed that will help him see more clearly and solve the problem efficiently.

6. Choose positive music

Positive music will make you feel powerful whatever the genre. When you listen to music that talks about overcoming struggles and the inspiring stories behind the lyrics, you will feel empowered. Studies show that people are influenced by the music they listen to and we can say that a person chooses their music.

7. Exercise

Not only to our physical body, but when we exercise it we create a positive vibe. Your body releases stress-relieving, mood-boosting endorphins before and after you exercise, which is why exercise is a powerful antidote to stress, anxiety, and depression

8. Help someone

Helping someone with their problem and their struggles and seeing them after you have helped them is one of the priceless expressions you can see. You will feel lighter.

9. Having or knowing your purpose

No matter how bad the situation is, as long as you know where you are going and what you are in, nothing can stop you. Fall down 10 times but get up 20 times.

10. Take a break

If it seems that you are drowning with your problems. Take a break. Take a walk on the beach. Sleep well. Treat yourself to your favorite dish. buy yourself something And after that, get up and fight again.

Here is a wisdom for you: never let yourself be defeated without even trying to fight.

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