Okay guys đ Iâve reached over 300 followers (yay thanks everyone!) so I thought I would do my first masterpost – Managing Study with Mental Illness.
I have been studying for 6 years at university and have also been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder.So here are my tips for keeping up with study while living with mental illness đ
ORGANISE YOURSELF EARLY AND FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH YOUR COURSE OUTLINES đ
Organise yourself as early in the semester as you can and find a system which works for you đ as someone living with chronic mental illness (first diagnosed at 8 years old) I find structure helps alleviate anxiety.
To manage myself, I use a planner. In my planner I have sections for:
– my university timetable/study schedule.
– My assignment schedule
– My list of readings.
– Monthly view and weekly view calendars.
– My subject notes.
– To Do notesPrint off your course outlines/overviews and your assessment guides as soon as you can! Familiarise yourself with these documents as your lecturers (from my experience) will go over this information in your first lecture đ
PRINT OFF YOUR LECTURE NOTES
If you can, print off your lecture notes BEFORE class so you can refer to them during class and have time to make notes without trying to scrawl every single thing down from the smartboard as well as what your lecturer is saying.MAKE NOTES DURING CLASS
Make sure you take notes during your class. If you have your lecture notes already printed out, great! If not, donât focus on trying to copy down everything on the lecture notes as well as what your lecturer is saying. If I donât have access to my lecture notes before class, as Iâm making notes I will write what number slide those notes correspond with – that way I can focus on what the lecturer is saying without becoming too overwhelmed with information.DO YOUR READINGS
As overwhelming as readings are, especially when you have multiple per course, itâs important to keep up with your readings as well as you can đ even if you just complete the prescribed readings and not the additional recommended readings. Do as much as you can without bringing too much distress on yourself đKEEP A HEALTHY BALANCE BETWEEN STUDY AND DOWN TIME – THIS IS SO IMPORTANT
I canât stress the importance of down time, especially when living with mental illness. Try organise your study schedule, if you can, so that you get all your study done by 6pm or 7pm so that you have nights to unwind and relax before bed time.I have also arranged my study schedule so that I have weekends free! Although this means putting in extra hours through the week I always look forward to having 2 days to relax and not worry about work I need to get done.
START YOUR ASSIGNMENTS EARLY!
As annoying as this is, starting early means you can stay on top of all your assessment tasks. If you have a 2000 word assignment, spread it out over a few sessions of 250 words đ this will give you time between each block of writing to clear your mind and go over what you wrote last and edit without having a huge word count hanging over your shoulder! Iâve found this especially helpful with reducing anxiety and panic when writing long essays/reportsPRACTICE GOOD SLEEP HYGIENE!
Getting a good amount of restful sleep is so important for your mental health! I try to get between 8-9 hours of sleep so I can wake up refreshed ready to start the next day! As hard as it is, try stay off technology for at least half an hour before going to sleep đ read a nice book instead!IF YOU ARE TAKING MEDICATION FOR YOUR MENTAL ILLNESSâŚ
Make sure you take your medication EVERY DAY or as prescribed! Missing even a day of your medication can cause side effects including headaches, dizziness or nausea and impede on your functioning in general. It is important to make your mental health a priority, especially during stressful times.KEEP UP WITH YOUR APPOINTMENTSâŚ
If you are currently in therapy, make sure you keep up with your regular appointments. I know itâs hard to manage appointments around classes and study but itâs important to keep these appointments to keep yourself at a healthy level of functioning so that you can be the best that you can be!PRACTICE MINDFULNESS ACTIVITIES EVERY. DAY.
Some people hear the word mindfulness and automatically think of meditation, although that is one form of mindfulness there are many other different mindful activities that you can do on a daily basis. I often canât concentrate on mediation but one form of mindfulness I find very effective is utilising a sensory toolbox.
A sensory toolbox is essentially a small âkitâ of various items to stimulate the senses.
SOME IDEAS FOR A SENSORY TOOLKIT:
– theraputty
– Sour lollies
– A smooth stone
– Kinetic Sand
– A hand massager (either the small wooden ones or the small spiked balls)
– Water balls
– Heat or cool pack
– Soft plush toy
– Inspirational quotes on your favourite coloured paper
– Meaningful photosLess portable items I have as part of my sensory tools for home:
– Gym ball that I use when I feel the need to ârockâ to self soothe
– Weighted blanket that I use on my bed at night, or I wrap it around myself or sit it on my lap during the day
– A large spiked ball that I roll over my legs
– Small round mini trampoline to jump on when I feel the need to expel anger or anxiety
– A large plush bear (probably about 1m in length) that I can mould around my bodyDEVELOP A PLAN FOR WHEN YOU START FEELING LIKE YOUâRE GETTING UNWELL..
This is important. On my plan are the following things:
– early warning signs to indicate I may be getting unwell
– Relapse prevention measures (such as regular therapy, taking meds, practicing distress tolerance strategies)
– Strategies I can implement at home to prevent relapse
– My support networks (a list of contact details for important people involved in my care such as parents, partner, GP, therapist, psychiatrist etc)
– The phone number for my local mental health unitIF YOU START FEELING LIKE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH IS DECLININGâŚ
Please contact your course coordinates or lecturers đ they are very understanding of student needs and they do want to help you in whatever ways they can đ I found it useful to register with my universities disability support service who I worked with to develop an Academic Integration Plan with various measures in place to maximise my study while I feel unwell in my plan I can request extensions on assessments, have extra time during exams, request recordings of lectures and have assistance with note-taking during class. Even if I donât need to use it half of the time it means I donât need to go and get a doctors certificate every time I begin to feel my mental health sliding.And lastly, YOUR MENTAL HEALTH COMES FIRST!
I know, you want to get those good grades which means you need to push and push yourself, BUT donât push yourself so hard that your mental health begins to suffer! Because you definitely wonât get good grades that way.Iâd love to hear some feedback from you guys if you found this post helpful so flick me a comment or message if you have any suggestions for future posts!
Love to you all xx
starry-eyed 