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Your wellbeing is important to us! On these pages, you will find materials and exercises to support your wellbeing. If you need additional assistance, don’t hesitate to contact student wellbeing services.

Please note that content is currently being developed.

Mental wellbeing

Stress

Stress is a familiar thing to all of us. It is part of normal life and tells of a person’s innate ability to react to and adapt to changing circumstances. However, if prolonged and intense, stress can become a threat to health and well-being. So it can’t be completely eliminated from life, but it’s good to learn to regulate excessive stress.

Positive stress

A small amount of stress is part of life and can also help with accomplishment and motivation for tasks. If you find it difficult to take on tasks and need a positive kick to your studies, positive stress can help. Positive study stress can be increased, for example:

  • Reflecting on one’s own strengths and making better use of them in studies
  • By reflecting on things that are important to you and setting goals
  • By talking to others and collaborating
  • Developing time management skills
  • Stress recognition

Stress recognition

Stress is caused by a reaction caused by an involuntary nervous system that prepares the body to fight, flee, or paralyze in a threatening situation. This can result in, for example, increased respiration and faster heartbeat. Many identify their own state of stress precisely from physical symptoms.

In addition to physical symptoms, stress can also manifest as thoughts such as worries and worries. When stressed, it can be difficult to focus on the essential and the moment.

QUESTIONS TO HELP IDENTIFY STRESS:

  • Does my life seem to be in balance?
  • Is my time enough for the essentials?
  • Are there feelings of tension or restlessness in my body?
  • Do worries interfere with my concentration?
  • Can i sleep

Stress management

Practicing relaxation techniques can prevent and relieve physical stress. The natural environment also has many of the stress-relieving effects found.

You can try to prevent study stress yourself by using good time and taking care of a healthy lifestyle.

Support and help

If your own resources are not enough, you can also get support for stress management. Support for study-related stress and coping problems can be obtained from the services of a study psychologist. Support can be, for example, structuring a stressful study situation and finding new ways to manage stress.

If the situation is particularly stressful, stress is present in several areas of life and help is needed quickly, you should turn to health services.

Materials

Social anxiety

Social anxiety is somewhat familiar to all of us. For some, it is mild and manageable, while for some, it can become a cumbersome, life-limiting thing.

Many people have anxiety

Social anxiety is common and natural: more than 70% get social anxiety sometimes and according to some studies, up to 30% of students struggle with performance anxiety.

Social anxiety is also not always seen from the outside. Anyone can be anxious, be it outgoing and enjoyable or shy and self-indulgent in nature.  

Sometimes tension can be alleviated by knowing that tension is common and that others have it too. You can read more about the social anxiety on the FSHS website.

Identifying and encountering social anxiety

Social anxiety often manifests itself as physical symptoms: the sound trembles, the breath feels blocked, the face is red. Physical symptoms are a stress response caused by the involuntary nervous system. Some have been helped by relaxation methods such as diaphragmatic breathing and progressive relaxation.

In addition to physical symptoms, tension can also include various thoughts, such as fear of tension appearing outward, uncertainty about ourselves, or the assumption that others will judge us negatively. As a result, there may be a desire to avoid situations in which these perceived negative feelings and thoughts occur.

Support and help

If your own means are not enough, it is a good idea to seek help for social anxiety before it begins to limit your life too much. Anxiety that hinders learning can be discussed with a study psychologist. Support can be obtained both face-to-face and online.

Social anxiety can sometimes affect the ability to learn, which may require special teaching arrangements.

For difficult, multidisciplinary anxiety, you should seek help from health services.

Crisis

A crisis means an event that, in one way or another, derails life. It can be a life change such as the end of a relationship or a sudden event like an accident. So there are many types of crises. Some may need immediate support and the opportunity to discuss the event. Some of the crises encountered may only begin to reflect on the mind after a long time.

Immediate support

Immediate crisis support can be provided by local emergency services and a national crisis hotline: 09 2525 0111 (open 24h)

After crisis

Crises and difficult experiences can start to bother the mind and you may need treatment even later when the event is no longer acute.

It may be helpful to discuss the event with a professional such as a nurse, study psychologist, or university chaplain.

Social wellbeing

Studying often involves changes in human relationships and the economy. We may also need new skills in these areas of life.

“Try to understand others yourself first, and only then can you ask others to understand yourself” (Stephen Covey, 1992)

We do not live in a vacuum! Other people influence us through our actions and we have an impact on others. Learning is also a social process, and studies require a wide range of interaction skills from the outset.

Health and lifestyle

Exercise, rest and varied nutrition form the basis of well-being and learning ability. It is therefore worth striving to ensure that these basics are implemented in a balanced way in everyday life. It is worth making changes in lifestyles in small steps and remember that even a small increase in exercise, for example, is significant for health.

Study skills and learning

Studying at a university requires an interest in learning and a willingness to acquire new study skills.