Mental Health in University

With the winter season approaching, it has made me think about the lack of sunlight and gloomy weather that will affect the mental health of a lot of people. Two years ago I experienced sadness on a day to day basis, which I did not know at the time was depression. After it started fading away, that is when I decided to sit down with a counsellor. I do regret not talking to someone while I was experiencing it, but if you have ever gone through it... I'm sure you can understand my mental state at the time.

Source: Photo I took myself

I consider my first year of university to be the best so far out of the three. I met a lot of people, made a lot of friends, took classes I enjoyed, made unforgettable memories with friends, and met my amazing boyfriend. Yet, I still went through depression. There were a numerous amount of reasons that caused it, but it still took me by surprise when I found out what I was going through. It's hard to talk about it with someone, because you don't want to seem like an "attention seeker" and you don't want to work towards resolving the problem because in that mental state, it seems so unbelievably hard. That's something that I believe some people don't understand... when you are in the state of depression, everything that use to be easy or exciting to do... changes.

University is stressful. It's stressful for a number of reasons, from studying for that midterm and finishing up that assignment within a day... to feeling homesick or experiencing problems with friends. Even with these things happening, university can still be an overall good experience. You just need to be aware of not just what is happening in your life, academically with school work and physically with family and friends, but with yourself. Negative mental health is not always the easiest to detect, and even when it is recognized... it isn't always the easiest to fix.

The Bell Let's Talk campaign is not just something that you should hop on board with because everyone posts on their snap stories using the campaign filter or posts photos on instagram wearing Bell Let's Talk swag. It is important because it is an initiative that the company has taken to bring reality to the problem of mental illness and provides a safe environment for anyone to talk about their experiences. Although your studies are important for your future career, your health right now should also be a priority. Don't feel bad if you skip a day of studying to do something you love, and most importantly... don't feel bad to talk to someone about what you're going through.

#univeristy #college #mentalhealth