Mojza Blog
Balancing Mental Health with Academics
by Wania imran | 10 December 2023
Academics already go hand in hand with pre- and post-exam stress, anticipation, anxiety for results, and competition with peers; there is barely any room for external means of mental disturbance. However, life tends to have ups and downs quite often, so how exactly should one cope with any additional source of stress? Be it a loss of a friend or a loved one, or familial issues, one is bound to be affected as emotions tend to mess up our concentration and productivity.
Consequences of a disturbed state of mind
The consequences of a disturbed state of mind stretch beyond our imagination; whatever the cause may be, a disturbed state of mind is likely to result in not only intrapersonal, but also interpersonal issues. As we lose our nighttime sleep due to stress, we might also end up straining the relationships we share with our loved ones; I can vouch that you all too, just like me, tend to snap at people when going through a rough patch. It’s all a chain reaction; the stress causes us to overthink about whatever is disturbing us at night, which ruins our sleep schedule, thus making us never get our needed sleep time and leading to an irritable behaviour.
As students, additional stress barely has any room, as we are already so preoccupied with academic stress. Not getting enough sleep, losing appetite, self-confidence issues, or even our communication skills going down the drain because of the stress are all very likely outcomes, and all of them are equally capable of ruining our student lives, and making our academic stress worse, because, after all, all these outcomes do affect our productivity and thus our education.
Coping With The Consequences
The aforementioned consequences are to turn worse if left unattended, therefore they need to be tackled in different ways.
Working on Physical Health
Our mental health is closely related to our physical health; studies prove that exercise is an apt way to deal with stress. Thus, to keep our stress levels under control, exercise should be an integral part of our routines. A walk with a friend or family member around the block is surely one of the ways we can incorporate some sort of physical activity into our routines; it also doubles as socializing!
Maintaining a Sleep Schedule and Sleep Hygiene
It is proven that stress and sleep are correlated, and having a good nighttime sleep helps regulate our stress. For a peaceful sleep, maintaining sleep hygiene is of immense importance.
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Similarly, Ben Greenfield’s sleep rule guides us as to how we can manage to fall asleep with ease at night, by avoiding and limiting certain activities of ours that may cause hindrance for us while falling asleep. The 10-3-2-1-0 rule is indeed very helpful!
Seeking Help
Talking to a trustworthy friend, or a professional who can help you figure out your problems is a great way to cope with any issue that is mingling with your thoughts. It will help you with your catharsis. However, there are ways you can cathart on your own too. Personally, I prefer writing whatever is disturbing me on a page, or pages, spilling all of it onto the paper, and then burning or flushing the paper; it really helps to sort out your enigma.
Dealing With Procrastination
Procrastination is undoubtedly the worst of a student’s problems. While there are many ways to tackle it, one way is by managing your emotions.
When feeling overwhelmed, try breaking down the task into smaller and manageable steps; focus on one step at a time.
If you are feeling anxious, try practicing deep breathing and dedicate a time later in the week to complete that task; this will reassure you that you will get it done eventually, not just now.
In case you are facing a wave of self-doubt, remind yourself that actions build confidence. Try enjoying the learning part, embracing your mistakes and owning them, and realizing that fixing them will help you learn even more. Firmly believe that you will keep improving with time and making mistakes.
Managing Screen Time
An excessive intake of social media can also lead to a disturbed state of mind, as it may instill a sense of insecurity within oneself. This is because the images portrayed on the social media are merely facades; social media never shows us the real-life problems; rather, it just shows the society’s happy life, which is, of course, very different from reality which is nowhere near perfect. This makes us feel insecure about our bodies, lifestyles, and whatnot, pushing away our gratitude for what we are blessed with.
Similarly, it can also develop a fear of missing out; how often do we see our friends going on a Hunza trip and realizing other people are having the times of their lives while we are rotting in our room. This is an unhealthy comparison.
Likewise, excessive use of social media distracts us and makes us lose focus on things that are actually important; we tend to neglect studies, family, and friends just to spend more time on social media. We even risk our sleep, just because we are too busy with mindless scrolling.
Therefore, it is vital that we reduce our screen time. Managing it and overcoming it may be tackled with the help of tracking how long we surf on social media and slowly cutting down on it. Similarly, turning off our devices for a period of time twice or thrice a day, as in no screen time might also help us with this addiction.
Mental health is usually overlooked, or sometimes even looked down upon, but that does not change its significance. Try breaking the stigma of mental health, and take adequate steps to deal with yours and your loved one’s mental health because it affects our well- being as a society.
Acknowledgements
Author: Wania Imran
Proofreaders: Maryam Farhan and Kanza Ahsan
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Published: DD Month 2023
Last Updated: DD Month 2023
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