How to keep your mental health a priority throughout the challenges of adjusting to university life
Beginning university can be a time filled with excitement, anticipation, and making new friends.
But behind the cheering, partying, and all-around chaos of frosh week, it can also be a time full of anxiety and loneliness. In order to have a great first year it’s important to remember that everyone reacts to the transition to university differently and no reaction is wrong.
Stan Kutcher, a professor of psychology at Dalhousie University said though people won’t react to university life the same way because of individual differences, personality, and life experience. There can be some common emotions as well.
“The most common of those themes is excitement and real anticipation and looking forward to the next phase of life,” Kutcher said. “There are some people however, who are either anxious by nature, or they don’t know that they have the life skills that are necessary for that environment, that end up being quite nervous about it.”
According to Kutcher, universities have a responsibility to provide counselling services, sexual health services, and medical services to their students, who may need to heavily rely on those services during their first year. “Services should be exceedingly easy to access and there should be no difficulty or shame in accessing them,” Kutcher said.
“For the vast majority of students who are having difficulties, they won’t have a mental disorder . . . They could be overstressed, they could be lonely, they could have difficulty with their parents or with friends and that can be a little bit overwhelming.”
He added there are about 15 per cent of students who have a mental disorder.
“What they need is properly trained health providers, be they nurses, or psychologists, or general practitioners who have the skill set necessary for treatment. Those kind of services should be part of every single student health service,” he said.
Anne Bowker, professor of psychology at Carleton, said establishing a sense of belonging through personal connections can be a big factor in improving the first-year experience.
“The more students connect with others— peers and professors and academic/ health supports on campus, the more satisfied they are with their first year experience and the more likely they are to return the following year,” she said via email. Bowker also said the importance of reaching out to campus services such as the Student Academic Success Centre and Health and Counselling Services in order to help cope with first-year stress.
“Everything from academic supports, to support groups for substance use issues through Health and Counselling services, to peer counselling. And sometimes, just having made some friends, maybe even during frosh week, and having somebody to talk to, can make a big difference,” Bowker said.
“Chances are, many of the concerns that students have are shared by many other students.” If things aren’t a-okay, stay cool, and get help.
University can and should be a time of working and learning with a hefty side of fun, but nobody expects you to do it alone.
For Counselling:
Counselling Services
Locations:
For students living off campus: Main Clinic Room 2600 Carleton Technology & Training Centre
For students living in residence: Room 223D Residence Commons Building.
Hours:
For students living off campus: book in person or call 613-520-6674
For students living in residence: call 613-520-2600 ext. 8061 for intake or drop in from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday.
For International and Exchange students: Call 613-520-6674 and ask to book with the International Student Counsellor.
For academic accommodations and support services:
The Paul Menton Centre
Location: 501 University Centre
Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday
For sexual health concerns and medical issues:
Walk-in Care
Location: 2600 Carleton Technology & Training Centre
Hours: Preferably by appointment, which can be made by calling (613) 520-6674 however they do have walk-in hours from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday to Friday
For picking up prescriptions:
The Prescription Shop
Location: 1100 Carleton Technology
Training Centre, lower level Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday
Reporter Katie Yamamoto talks to freshmen and upper years to see what they have to say about being a frosh.
