For some reason, it has become "trendy" for college students to have "mental breakdowns," to get little to no sleep day after day. This is especially true when the semester is coming to a close, finals are approaching, and GPAs aren't quite where we want them to be. People like to compare how many cups of coffee they've had or how many hours they didn't get to sleep.
Part of it is understandable. It's good to know that others are drowning in schoolwork right along with you. It makes me feel like I'm not actually a bad student; rather, school is just hard for everyone.
The mindset is not healthy.
Mental health encompasses more than just mental illnesses. It refers to mental wellbeing as well, and that's when this pre-finals time of a semester comes in.
It is horrible for your mental health not to sleep. It's even worse when you don't sleep for weeks at a time. It's important to know when school needs to take a seat and your mental wellbeing needs to take priority in your life, and college students tend to forget that at this time of the year.
Colleges tend to have "de-stressing" events during this time of year. Some events offer study breaks, with yummy snacks and a time to relax. The Psychology department at Saint Mary's gives students bubble wrap and brings in cats and dogs for students to play with to de-stress. There's plenty of opportunities for meditation or yoga.
It's up to us to take care of our mental wellbeing. I know it's hard when the semester is quickly slipping away. I know personally, I drink too much coffee, don't sleep and drown in school work, but that isn't something to brag about.
All college students need to take time for themselves every now and then, but especially now when assignments are getting thrown at us like baseballs at a Cubs game. We need to realize that mental health is just as important as physical health, and allowing so much stress into our lives is not healthy. We need to make changes in our routines, attend de-stressing events, and work to make sure we are properly taken care of instead of joking around about our unhealthy habits.
I challenge everyone reading this — myself included — to take a minute for yourself. Do ten minutes of yoga. Pet a dog. Go to bed half an hour earlier or wake up a little bit later. Substitute that cup of coffee for tea. Make one positive change that will help improve your mental wellbeing. Grades aren't everything — we just need to remind ourselves of that.
