Mental Health Awareness Week
It’s not always easy. Right now is a difficult and strange time for everybody. We may not all have an easy home life or we may struggle not being able to see family or friends. It is important to acknowledge how these times might be affecting our mental health, and find our own coping mechanisms to keep us going.
In light of Mental Health Awareness Week, we spoke to a few of our Training Professionals and asked them what their advice would be when it comes to looking after your wellbeing during lockdown and studying remotely. What’s keeping you going? What advice would you give to somebody struggling? Here’s what they had to say:
“A common problem I’m facing with lockdown, and also many of my friends suffer with this too, is doing the same things every single day: it really affects your motivation. You can ease this by finding at least one new thing to do every day, it doesn’t matter how big or small, some of my examples are meditating, reading a page or more of a book, colouring, walking to a new area, texting someone I haven’t spoken to in a while, write a poem and so on.
Doing even the tiniest new thing every day brightens me up because it changes my mindset, even just for an hour or more/less, to be more positive and curious. When we are distracted and not dwelling on the same things we do every day, we find peace. That’s what we all need at some point every single day.”
– Bethany
“Keeping in contact with my loved ones is helping me so much. I try to make sure I can FaceTime a friend or family member at least a few times a week. I’ve not had much time to go out and do things like running because of work, but just sitting in my garden helps calm the storm. I also make sure I try to talk about things like mental health on my social media.
Helping others helps me and makes me feel less alone, even if I help just one person. My last point is never be afraid to reach out to your loved ones if you are struggling. You may feel like a burden but you are not! Your feelings matter especially in such a crazy time! Keep connected to those you love and remember it’s okay to feel a little wobbly in these times.”
– Molly
“Forcing myself to go on a walk every day has helped me massively. The worse I feel – the longer the walk, and even if it only helps me feel a little better – I always come back feeling better than I did before I left the house. If you have a lot of nature around you, there is nothing better than spending time in it! Also making myself reach out to people – even if it’s just asking if they’re okay. It makes you feel less alone and can also help someone else.”
– Sofia
“I think just knowing that how you’re feeling is valid, not telling yourself you’re abnormal when things start to dip. Most importantly, reaching out to people and letting them know you’re feeling like this! You’re not a burden and they WILL help you. Asking for help is one of the best things you can do for your mental health because it instantly relieves pressure and you are not weak for doing so.”
– Lauren
At ICTheatre, wellbeing is at the heart of our training ethos. We encourage our Training Professionals to be honest with how they’re feeling, in return we offer regular mindset classes, check-ins, a strong student support team as well as extra wellbeing workshops such as nutrition and physiotherapy.
If you’re feeling down or out of control, seek somebody to speak to.
