Our mind is very powerful. When we think of something, whether good or bad; whatever it is, we would immediately be influenced as if our thought had a life of its own. We act and materialize them. They said that we all have two wolves living inside of us, the good one and the bad one. And our perception of reality depends on what we are feeding the most. When we’re jealous, depressed, stressed, frustrated, and fighting anxiety, we’re feeding the bad guy. But when we are loved, happy, grateful, and hopeful, and we think of something positive, we are actually feeding the good. Everything depends on us, on our perception of reality. Our ultimate defense in times like this is through positive thinking and managing our mental health.
There has been a rise in cases of student suicide struggling to cope with and embrace this “sudden and major change” in academic learning. Common reasons include: financial problems, lack of devices for the online class, poor and unstable internet connection, and pressure to participate in the online class.
Recently, a 21-year-old student from Sta. Elena, Iriga, Camarines Sur committed suicide due to economic problems and pressure to participate in online classes. According to the investigation, the victim’s parents are unaware of any personal issues other than her problems participating in an online class due to the unstable network connection in their area and lack of technological resources. This is the third case of education-related suicide. The first was on June 16, from Sto. Sunday and the other was on August 15 from the same place. This 19-year-old high school student hanged himself to death on June 16 after worrying that her family could not afford the electronic equipment needed for her to study online for the upcoming academic year. This anonymous student told her parents how sorry he was for causing “additional expense” to her family already struggling in Albay province, south of Manila.
“Depressions and emotional breakdowns among students and parents are likely in the midst of this ongoing health crisis, because many students in public schools come from poor families,” Gilbert T. Sadsad, director of the school, told reporters. Local Department of Education office. . Also, despite all the complaints and frustrations from students and educational institutions, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones urged students to be resilient to avoid education-related deaths.
Similarly, studies indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with distress, anxiety, fear of contagion, depression, and insomnia in the general population and among health professionals. Ahmed et al. conducted an online survey of 1,074 Chinese and found elevated rates of anxiety, depression, harmful use of alcohol, and decreased mental well-being. Anxiety and depression rates were highest among 21- to 40-year-olds compared to other age groups.
All of this stems from our most commonly overlooked aspect of our health, making seeing a psychologist and other mental health experts unlikely and expensive. Those suicide cases reported in the news were not about the problem itself, but how we handle it is the main issue of whether it is healthy or not; acceptable or not.
Here are 10 tips to help you manage your mental health in this pandemic, especially for students who are struggling to adjust to their current situation.
1. Be open to others
Your family, relatives, friends or that special person are always there for you. Everyone loves you more than you think. When you have problems and you felt like you were already giving up. Talk to them. Don’t be afraid to share your load.
2. Surround yourself with people who are good for your growth
They said, “birds with the same feathers came together.” So be careful who you choose to be friends with. Choose upbeat people who can lift you up when you’re down. Choose people with the same interests as yours. Achieve things together.
3. Do healthy activities and minimize the use of your phone
In your spare time, try to do healthy activities like painting, writing poems, playing musical instruments, reading books, etc. It will lead you to discover more of yourself. Cultivate and develop talents. You don’t have to update all the events of your life on social networks and listen and be influenced by the superficiality and opinions of people.
4. Spend more time on yourself
Talk to yourself about those important things that happened in your life. Acknowledge your mistakes. Evaluate yourself through SWOT analysis or knowing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in a given situation. To be more productive, we must first know ourselves and what we can do.
5. If possible, do some meditation
Meditation has been shown to have many health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, relieving confusion, managing depression and anxiety. It will help you see the problem and how to fix it. When a person meditates, his mind will have a reset button pressed that will help him see more clearly and solve the problem efficiently.
6. Choose positive music
Positive music will make you feel powerful whatever the genre. When you hear music that talks about overcoming struggles and the inspiring stories behind the lyrics, you’ll feel empowered. Studies show that people are influenced by the music they listen to and we can say that a person chooses their music.
7. Exercise
Not only to our physical body, but when we exercise it we create a positive vibe. Your body releases stress-relieving and mood-boosting endorphins before and after you exercise, which is why exercise is a powerful antidote to stress, anxiety, and depression.
8. Help someone
Helping someone with their problem and their struggles and seeing it after you have helped them is one of the priceless expressions that you can see. You will feel lighter.
9. Having or knowing your purpose
No matter how bad the situation is, as long as you know where you are going and what you are at, nothing can stop you. Fall 10 times but get up 20 times.
10. Take a break
If it seems that you are drowning in your problems. Take a break. Take a walk on the beach. Sleep well. Treat yourself with your favorite dish. buy yourself something And after that, get up and fight again.
Here is a piece of wisdom for you: never let yourself be defeated without even trying to fight.