Mental health involves our emotional, psychological and social wellness. According to mentalhealth.gov, it affects how we think, feel and act, while also determining how we conquer stress, empathize with others and make decisions.
Everyone deals with various mental health stages throughout their life, although, some of them can be more traumatic than others. As young adults in college, we are surrounded by people that have experienced a rollercoaster of emotional events, but we try to keep it together for the sake of passing classes.
Jillian Henderson, a junior at FAMU, feels that her remote classes are even more stressful than in-person learning.
“With these online classes, I seem to find myself more stressful,” Henderson said. “To help with my mental health, I try to stay organized using my planner.”
Whilst living in a pandemic and experiencing the era of Zoom University, this can take a toll on a person’s mental state in a plentiful amount of ways. Not everyone is self-disciplined enough to stay home and log onto the computer to make sure they are paying attention to class.
Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional and physical health. Quality self-care is the secret to improving your mood and reducing anxiety, as well as being key to a good relationship with yourself and others.
Anthony Bowie, a sophomore at FAMU, has several different self-care methods that he uses to better maintain his own mental health.
“I usually work out to relieve stress or built-up aggression,” Bowie said. “The one thing I enjoy the most is reading. Reading is so therapeutic to me and helps bring me to a calm.”
During the fall semester in the middle of a pandemic, the most important thing right now is taking care of yourself and making sure your mind is at peace, because a negative mental state can bring you down. Using your time wisely and being productive makes for less time spent reflecting on the bad things that are happening in the world.
Jordan Johnson, a senior at FAMU, tries to avoid a specific pastime of hers that can be detrimental to her mental health.
“Decreasing your social media time will help your mental state,” Johnson said. “We as millennials can stay on social media all day if we choose too. Sometimes, it’s okay to step away from our phone and take a mental break because social media and the internet can be very overwhelming.”
Even during this time of social distancing, everyone still needs some type of socialization. It can be on Facetime, Zoom or even in person ― as long as it is six feet apart. Don’t make yourself feel like you’re alone, because you are not. Always remember your mind comes first.