Students are not immune to the same psychological difficulties that affect some people outside of our safety-bubble of school. College is filled with difficulties, and when left untreated these issues can become debilitating for students. So whether you feel you are experiencing depression or find yourself concerned for a friend or peer, it is important to take action now. Here\u2019s how\u2026<\/p>\n
If you are the one who is depressed…<\/strong><\/p>\n Here are ways to respond if you are depressed, based off my personal experiences with anxiety and depression and working with people who are facing similar circumstances:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Identify triggers and respond accordingly<\/strong><\/p>\n This is one of the hardest steps, because you have to identify and make a list of what triggers your symptoms.\u00a0For me, it was competing in sports and losing, spending too much time in large groups, and spending too much time alone. Everyone will have unique triggers, but it\u2019s best to identify your challenges in order to help you later.<\/p>\n 2. Do the basics: eat, sleep and exercise<\/strong><\/p>\n When you\u2019re depressed, the little tasks like laundry, dishes, taking showers, and cleaning your room seem like the most challenging of all things.\u00a0You lose all or most of your motivation to do anything. So, it\u2019s important to make sure you\u2019re doing the basics: eating, sleeping and getting to the gym. Your room can wait; the dishes aren\u2019t going anywhere (just make sure you do them sooner rather than later!).<\/p>\n 3. Form safe and healthy habits<\/strong><\/p>\n When you\u2019re under any mental illness, sometimes you feel like you need to take it out on something.\u00a0Research states that alcohol is one of the biggest unhealthy habits that people who are depressed turn to in order to \u201cnot feel\u201d depressed for a short time.\u00a0First off, this isn\u2019t the smartest choice, and it could lead into more destructive behaviors later.\u00a0If you can accomplish #2, it\u2019ll lead into forming habits that will help make you better, which leads me into #4.<\/p>\n 4. Work for a positive self-image<\/strong><\/p>\n This was honestly the hardest one for me to work towards.\u00a0My brain would just not want to accept that I\u2019m a good person (and other things).\u00a0And, it took me so long to figure that out, stop those thoughts, and change them, in order to change how I was acting.\u00a0Writing two or three good things about myself each day and reading them at the end of the week was a easy morale booster for me. It is also extremely helpful to surround yourself with supportive people. Again, you do you!\u00a0Do whatever works for you!<\/p>\n 5. Decide who you want to be \u201cout\u201d to<\/strong><\/p>\n When battling mental illness. At times it seems like an all-out-war.\u00a0Shots are fired in multiple directions in your brain and at times you don\u2019t know what to do.\u00a0What is, I think, the most important thing when you\u2019re battling mental illnesses of any kind is to tell someone, preferably someone you trust.\u00a0Start with one person, and move on from there. When I started telling people, it got easier each time.\u00a0There\u2019s a stigma with mental health, and one of the best quotes to describe this was from a TedTalk<\/a> by 19-year-old Kevin Breel (and you should watch it!):<\/p>\n \u201cSo you hold it in and you hide it, and you hold it in and you hide it, and even though it’s keeping you in bed every day and it’s making your life feel empty no matter how much you try and fill it, you hide it, because the stigma in our society around depression is very real.\u00a0It’s very real, and if you think that it isn’t, ask yourself this: would you rather make your next Facebook status say you’re having a tough time getting out of bed because you hurt your back or you’re having a tough time getting out of bed every morning because you’re depressed? That’s the stigma, because unfortunately, we live in a world where if you break your arm, everyone runs over to sign your cast, but if you tell people you’re depressed, everyone runs the other way<\/em>.\u00a0That’s the stigma. We are so, so, so accepting of any body part breaking down other than our brains. And that’s ignorance.\u00a0That’s pure ignorance, and that ignorance has created a world that doesn’t understand depression, that doesn’t understand mental health.\u00a0And that’s ironic to me, because depression is one of the best-documented problems we have in the world, yet it’s one of the least discussed. We just push it aside and put it in a corner and pretend it’s not there and hope it’ll fix itself.\u201d<\/p>\n 6. Utilize resources (campus services)<\/strong><\/p>\n Fortunately there are so many resources on campus to help you in your fight against mental illness! WSU has Counseling Services<\/a>, Health and Wellness Services<\/a>, and clubs like Active Minds<\/a>!\u00a0You\u2019re not alone, and these organizations are put into place to help YOU!<\/p>\n 7. Celebrate the \u201csmall\u201d victories<\/strong><\/p>\n There are more small victories than big ones.\u00a0Celebrate every victory no matter how big or small! The best quote for this is from one of my favorite TV shows, Parks and Rec<\/em>, \u201cTreat yo self!\u201d<\/p>\n 8. Advocate for yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n Figure out what you need, and demand it.\u00a0You know yourself better than anyone else. For me, my challenge was finding the words to describe what I needed.\u00a0I would often need time to write down what I was feeling and how I could ask people to help me. If that works for you, do it! Otherwise find out what does and do it.<\/p>\n If you have a friend who is depressed…<\/strong><\/p>\n Please note that in any situation, it may be difficult for you to approach a friend regarding mental illnesses.\u00a0People do not like to be told when they are sick, what they are feeling or what to do. It is vital that you, as a friend, are conscious of what\u2019s happening, but know that the choice to get professional help is ultimately your friend\u2019s choice. You must be supportive and patient, but adding too much pressure to a friend with any of these mental illnesses could make it worse.<\/p>\n 1. Validate their experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n Be empathetic and understanding.\u00a0You will not be able to fully comprehend what they\u2019re going through.\u00a0The best you can do for them is repeat back what they say so you are confirming what they\u2019re going through. This will also help them feel like they\u2019re not going crazy (coming from my own personal experience).<\/p>\n 2. Be developmental with your feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n Constructive feedback is always the best kind of feedback people can often receive. However, working with people who are depressed, things can be warped and seen in a negative light. Make sure you\u2019re giving them as much positive feedback, yet still trying to give them things to work on, too.<\/p>\n 3. Be patient<\/strong><\/p>\n Depression is not cured overnight, and research shows that it is far more successful when medication, therapy, and counseling are used together.\u00a0When interacting with people who might be suffering from depression, take into account that they might not know how to explain their situation and it might take a while for them to break out of their shell and trust you more.\u00a0Trust is not earned overnight.\u00a0Keep talking to them and eventually they should open up more!<\/p>\n 4. Don\u2019t push too hard, but no \u201ckid gloves\u201d either<\/strong><\/p>\n This plays into #7 later, but make sure you\u2019re trying to make them challenge themselves to get better! They have to set the challenge for themselves.\u00a0Keep them accountable and maybe even try to partake in the \u201cchallenge.\u201d\u00a0Maybe this is writing three good things about your day and sharing them with each other.<\/p>\n 5. Avoid blaming language<\/strong><\/p>\n People who are depressed already think what they\u2019re going through is already their fault.\u00a0Try not to blame them for things that they are doing \u201cwrong.\u201d This is where #2 comes into play.<\/p>\n 6. Help celebrate the victories<\/strong><\/p>\n I think this is one of the most crucial aspects of helping people through depression and any mental illness.\u00a0A simple, \u201cyou\u2019re doing great\u201d or \u201cawesome job\u201d means a lot!<\/p>\n 7. Ask what they need, but don\u2019t pry<\/strong><\/p>\n The fact that a friend might have told you that they are depressed should indicate that they place great trust in you. Never try to force them to talk about their illness.\u00a0Instead, ask questions and find out what they need. If they don\u2019t know, do not try to force them into an answer.\u00a0It\u2019ll destroy the trust they have for you. Look at #3 if you have questions about this!<\/p>\n 8. Take care of YOU!<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the most important part.\u00a0You can only do so much for people, and as a person who loves helping others I sometimes neglect myself.\u00a0Mental health is an illness \u2013 and illnesses can be spread.\u00a0And, if you don\u2019t take care of yourself, you might fall into the similar situation as your friend.<\/p>\n Mental health is a serious aspect of living a full and fulfilling life. We need to break the stigma surrounding mental health and start treating this aspect of wellness just like we do with a broken arm.\u00a0That\u2019s my challenge to you guys reading this post, if you know someone who\u2019s going through a hard time, send them a message telling them that you care for them. That was the biggest thing that people did for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Students are not immune to the same psychological difficulties that affect some people outside of our safety-bubble of school. College is filled with difficulties, and when left untreated these issues can become debilitating for students. So whether you feel you are experiencing depression or find yourself concerned for a friend or peer, it is important […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,73],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellness-blog","category-winona","tag-mental-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PQJv-fz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6774,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions\/6774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}