College students are the most prone to mental illness, which makes sense, considering this is the time when many big life changes are made. There is a lot of pressure and stress when trying to balance a heavy workload, college expectations, internships, jobs, family, romantic relationships, friendships -- all while trying to figure out what to do for the rest of your life.

Figuring yourself out is hard. Many people still don’t have their lives figured out. It isn’t guaranteed that we will in college.

I’ve learned a lot about my mental health in college. One important thing I realized when I got to college was that mental illness was always prevalent in my life; I just hadn’t realized it until I got to college. All of the stressors in my life were bringing it out, and it just made everything more clear to me. I had reached my breaking point, where it had become unbearable and so intrusive to my everyday living that I started trying to figure out what it was. This is when I realized that I was dealing with mental illness. Looking back at my past, I realized it had always been there. Many times mental illness already exists but is amplified in our adolescent years, college years and early 20’s.

Considering all of this, college can be extra hard to manage when living with mental illness. Ultimately, your health is what’s most important. Do whatever you can to keep yourself healthy, even if that means making some big changes. We have one life to live! I’ll share with you the top 3 things I’ve learned:

1. Don’t be afraid to take a semester off.

This is one of the most important things I’ve learned in college. I was so focused on graduating on time in my 4-year degree track and keeping up in a fast-paced, demanding environment. This is difficult to keep up with when you’re dealing with mental illness such as anxiety, depression, and so on. I always was a student with a strong work-ethic, always over-achieving and wanting to learn more. Ever since I was 2 years old, I was reading advanced books and doing math homework pages for fun before I was even in school. Regardless of this, depression makes it hard for you to be who you truly are. It hides all of your wonderful qualities that make you YOU. Your drive, motivation, focus, attention-span, cognitive thinking, problem solving, and even creativity are hindered and you come off as a different person. I definitely feel like a different person, so it makes my studies more challenging. Because of this, it’ll take you longer to get to where you want to be, which is OK. What’s the rush? You’ve got the rest of your life to learn. You’ve got the rest of your life to make changes. We’re all life-long students in some way-- we’re always learning new things. It’s alright if I have to take an extra year to graduate if that means that I take some time off to get myself to a better place mentally. Take that time to explore and find yourself. You won't be losing anything. Your education will always be there waiting for you. Try a new activity. Meet new people. Do some volunteer work for a cause you are passionate about. Get a part-time job doing something fun. Create art. Travel. Try some yoga or take a class at the gym. Make some goals for yourself. Do the things you love and never usually have time to do. Give yourself some reflection time and help yourself become more self-aware. That’s where you’ll start to find happiness and grow into a better you. This time is for YOU and for you only. It’s good to switch up your routine from time to time. Be a little spontaneous.

2. Ask questions. Communicate with your professors.

Many of us don’t want help and want to figure things out on our own. Some people get anxious about asking questions or feedback. As a designer, I’ve learned that the more feedback you ask for, the better your work will become. Ask ask ask. You will learn so much and grow so much. Being stuck on an assignment or a project will waste so much of your time and energy. It can be draining and causes so much unnecessary anxiety. Communicating often with your professors will help you to have this constant awareness of where you stand in their class and will make it easier to ask them for help. They’ll be able to help you better because they’ll know where you struggle in their class. You are actually at an advantage by asking for help because many people don’t. You will get your work done faster, understand it better, and grow your relationship with your professor, who can eventually become a great network connection for you, and could even become a mentor to you. You really could learn a lot just by reaching out. Don’t let your anxiety keep you from asking questions. You will lessen your anxiety by asking those questions. It's one of the best things you can do when it comes to anything, not just in school.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask for extensions.

Talk to your professors if you have something going on. If you are dealing with a lot and are in a bad place mentally, or physically, whatever it is-- it can be hard to get work done. From a designer's standpoint, if you are dealing with depression, your mind can become completely fogged and it can be very difficult to be creative. It can be hard to find any sort of inspiration for your work. Even though professors set a deadline, it never hurts to ask for an extension. I used to be hesitant to ask because I assumed “A deadline is a deadline. If everyone asked for an extension there would be no deadlines.” What I’ve found is that professors can be very understanding-- especially if you keep constant communication with them and are showing effort. I let my professors know right away when I’m struggling, that way, when I need some help or ask for an extension, it’s not a surprise. This way, it’s also easier to keep up. If you keep quiet and try to make the deadlines when you clearly know it’s not possible for you, you will just fall behind. Most of the time, they are willing to work with you and get you to where you need to be. They can be very flexible and usually just care that you understand the assignment and take the time to complete it so you can learn from it, not a matter of WHEN you complete it. That’s what they are there for-- to help you learn, so that is the priority. If you are trying to bullshit an assignment and aren’t in the best place to put your all into it, it won’t turn out very good and you won’t be learning much from it or getting anything out of it. If they are aware of your situation, often times professors can also eliminate certain assignments for you that aren’t very essential to your learning so you can focus on other, more important assignments.

Hang in there! Your health is most important.