It can be challenging as a student to be out on your own for the first time, and schoolwork can be stressful. There are many ways that you can help your mental health.

Do what is already working

Amanda Kearns, a psychologist on campus, says that if something is already working to help de-stress, just keep doing it.

”Think back to, ‘OK, I’ve been through stress before. I’ve had something difficult happen before. How have I been able to make it through that time? What were some ways that I had learned to cope through that?’” said Kearns.

Physical Health

Ben Roth is also a therapist on campus. He teaches a workshop about some ways to manage anxiety and stress. Students can learn more information about it on I-Belong.

“One of the things you don’t want to overlook with stress and anxiety management is sleep, diet and exercise,” said Roth in his workshop.

Roth also gave many tips on getting a good amount of sleep: not eating right before bed, journaling worries, not doing homework on bed throughout the day and trying to sleep around seven hours each night.

Roth also went on to talk about some strategies for struggling with falling asleep, including the corridor method. Anyone struggling to find sleep can take their imaginary worries and puts them behind doors in an imaginary corridor. When the doors are closed, the worries are locked away, and they are free to continue walking.

Roth also talked about meditation and breathing exercises being helpful.

Meditation

Roth emphasized meditation when he was going over ways to calm down and get to sleep.

“With meditation, you're training your mind to be less reactive and more stable. You’re making each moment count. You’re taking each moment as it comes,” Roth said.

He said he uses a meditation app called MindShift CBT to help with meditations. He also talked about a breathing technique from Japan called susokukan, where you focus on breathing for 5 breaths, and if your mind wanders after the second breath, you have to start all over at 1.

"The practice helps to bring about an unperturbed state of mind which makes self-healing possible,” according to "A Guide to Susokukan Breath-counting Meditation in Zen."

Resources at BYU-Idaho

There are many free resources to help manage mental health on the BYUI campus. There are some free workshops, like the one that Roth teaches, and other helpful resources that the Counseling Center has.

“BYU-Idaho’s Counseling Center is committed to assisting students in identifying and resolving emotional and psychological problems that interfere with effective physical, spiritual, social, or academic functioning in a safe environment,” according to the Counseling Center’s website. Students can get some counseling for free at the Counseling Center.

There are also online options, such as TAO or Therapy Assistance Online.

“That’s a program that, like anyone who attends BYU-Idaho, who’s a student, they have free access to that,” Kearns said. “There’s lots of different videos and tips there for how to manage stress.”

If students want to learn more, they can look for workshops on I-Belong or check out the Counseling Center’s website.

Note from the editor: If you or someone you know is struggling with serious mental health concerns, seek help from professionals, including the Health and Counseling Center on campus. In emergencies, call 9-1-1.

Features image: BYUI counseling center. Photo credit: Lilly Nelson