UC CANTA MAG ISSUE THREE- Anxiety

The feeling of anxiety can vary across people – trembling hands and wobbly knees, inability to look people in the eye, avoidance of certain people or situations, increased heartbeat, the flutter in your stomach, or perhaps a ‘buzzy’ and heightened elevation in energy.

The university environment and student lifestyle can raise some rather anxiety-provoking feels for us. It’s all around us and is often inescapable – looming tests and deadlines for assignments, paying for rent… on top of food, petrol, and fun-money, work and study commitments piling on, feeling alone or struggling to find your place within the uni and the classes you take. These alone can leave us struggling, but mix all of them together and you can feel like you are on the brink of a breakdown or feel like your anxious state won’t ever end.

So, I’ve jotted down some quick tips and tricks to help you out of those states, and to manage any anxiety you do feel:

1. Realise that it is okay to feel anxious – it does not make you a weak person, it is a part of being human

2. Get active – I don’t care if you don’t feel like you have time; you sitting at your desk trying to write an essay while being in an anxious state will not produce the result you want and are capable of. Go for a walk with a friend, attend a class at the Rec Centre, spend time at doing some laps at the pool, or smash out a leg day at the gym. Those endorphins you get from moving your body, along with the time away from whatever is getting you anxious or nervous, will help you settle your mind and body and be in a better state to face the rest of your day

3. Focus on your breathing, even try some meditative activities – this does not mean you have to sit on a yoga mat, surrounded by crystals, legs folded, and chanting “kumbaya”. It’s about taking a second on your walk to the next lecture, before your test, or before that meeting, and focusing on your breath. Deep, long, and slow breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system and brings your anxiety (and physical symptoms of it) down.

4. Utilise some brill apps on your phone, both of which are free by the way! Two of the popular meditation/breathing exercise apps are “Headspace” and “Insight Timer”. They each offer you an array of guided exercises and activities, so whether you have 2 or 20 minutes free there is guaranteed to be something for you

5. Talk about what you are going through and how you are feeling – be it your friends, family member, healthcare professional, or the flat cat; talking this out loud gets it out of your head which can be incredibly relieving for starters. Not to mention, depending on who you tell, you can end up with realising others are in the same place (or have been), and can even offer some good (or potentially shit) advice to help you manage the feels

6. Take a look at your lifestyle – as much as you don’t want to hear it, those nights out that you can’t remember, late nights studying until 3am every night, or taking those pills you really shouldn’t be really aren’t helping your case. On a lesser extreme scale, there could be a friend or flatmate that really isn’t sending out a positive vibe or message, your work may be giving you more crap than its worth, or turning up to lectures five minutes late isn’t contributing to your life in the best way

Before I go, a quick note on terminology – learn not to use the names of diagnosed mental illnesses when describing an action or personality trait you have if you are not diagnosed with that mental illness.

Let’s re-frame from describing your need to have your notes colour co-ordinated as being “so OCD”, a mini-freak out about sending that text to the wrong person is not a “panic attack”, and preferring to stay in rather than go to out to town or to a gig does not mean you have a “social phobia”. This is not belittling your anxieties or behaviours – they are valid and they can make you feel uncomfortable; but those disorders are so much more than a little behaviour or personality quirk.

I hope you enjoyed this post in the #UCCANTA series on the blog. I am very appreciative of the space that the UC Student Society and local rag give me - providing such a great and highly accessible and utilised platform to raise issues around mental illness, wellbeing, and fitness. People can often be unaware of where to start when wanting to take active steps in improving their mental head-space, and having it handed to them in something that contains any other topics - comedic, visual, and other - is one of the best ways and places to start.

Have a smashing week, take care of yourself and others around you, and hold tight for the next post on the blog... all about insert topic here

Your friend,

Rawing Meg,xx

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