Welcome to a brand new blog post! The title probably explains what this blog post is going to be about. I've been at University for over a month and I just thought that it would be good to talk about how my mental health has been within that time.
University is a challenging thing especially when moving into a flat/accomodation which is normally the first independent living space that they've had, meeting new students, finding campuses, getting used to new lecturers, getting used to the course, getting used to the city and their surroundings, budgeting, coping with freshers and getting used to juggling everything with assignments and reading materials on a weekly basis.
Moving into somewhere new always takes it's toll on anyone but especially someone that suffers with mental health problems because honestly, mentally it takes a lot out of you getting used to somewhere new once the moving situation has been sorted with. I also think that it took me a while getting used to the place that I'm living in for the first year of university due to living behind a big music arena especially after the tragic events that happened in Manchester this year.
Getting used to new campises and getting lost can be a struggle on anyones mental health especially if you suffer with anxiety because you double check everything and try to make sure that the app has got your route opened up already so you're prepared but what happens normally includes your phone or app screwing up, taking a wrong turn or everything going well and okay but you still don't think you're going the right way so you end up self doubting yourself yet you're too anxious to ask anyone thats passing in case it makes you look completely stupid and then you end up checking your phone or watch several times to ensure you're getting there by the time you've been told to arrive and then you try to calm down for the next twenty or so minutes.
Homesickness normally happens within the first few months of living alone at University but I didn't feel homesick due to being quite close to home as it's only two buses away. I think only knowing mainly citizens of Leeds who work quite a lot compared to me whos got two days off a week which are spent either going home, sorting things for uni out or looking for jobs, it means that spending time with them is rare which honestly made me feel a bit lonely within a major massive city such as Leeds which just triggered my depression and made me wonder if all of this is really worth it and was I trying hard enough to make friends on my course?
Freshers doesn't appeal to me in any form whatsoever. The most I did at my Freshers Week was sit in a room and drink some tea and eat a good amount of cake for free and in my opinion that beats spending so many hours not remembering whats going on the morning after. The latter has a time and a place but cake normally beats it in my opinion. I don't get drunk off alcohol. I get more aware of my surroundings and then end up needing to go outside and then I end up having an anxiety attack of some sort so going into a nightclub where it's dark, sticky and loud wouldn't help it much.
What I'm attempting to get at is that things can be tricky when attempting something like University and its good to take a breather. Everything isn't great for me at the moment but I'm sure it'll get better when/if I get a moment to think and breathe.
Try to talk to your GP and get things sorted if possible or try and talk to your university and see what welfare services even though the NHS has had as many cuts as possible including mental health services, they are doing the best that they can.
Thanks for reading my rambly mental health student based blog post and I hope to see you next time for another blog post!
Thanks for reading!
Jamie x
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