Coping strategies for university students, here and abroad

By Dr Gabrielle Alexander, Psychiatrist

University students—this new period in your life brings both exciting new possibilities as well as a range of challenges.

It’s exciting to be able to have the opportunity to study here and abroad and get the chance to expand your knowledge in your desired field as well as to explore a new environment and culture. Also, you’re exposed to a greater number of people from so many more backgrounds making it easy to connect with many interesting people and forge longstanding professional, platonic and romantic relationships.

With the challenge of transitioning into a new environment and new routine you can face a number of challenges and be vulnerable to various mental health issues. Some common ones are Generalised and Social Anxiety, Depression, Substance and Social Media Addiction and many more.

It’s important that, especially in this transitional period, you develop what I like to call a coping skills toolkit. In this psychological toolkit, just like a physical one, you’re equipped with a range of effective tools to get you out of trouble.

For ease of remembering, coping tools are grouped under what is called the 5 Rs of Coping:

1.Reframe

2.Relax

3.Release

4.Reduce

5.Reorganise

These tools would help you survive—and moreover thrive—when you are in tough spaces. The most effective overall is prayer. In difficult situations, prayer reframes your mindset, relaxes you, releases divine strategy to help you navigate it, reduces burden and reorganises things to your advantage.

Prayer helps you to reframe your mindset from a glass half empty mentality to a glass half full one, through what the Bible calls the renewing of the mind. Prayer helps you to relax, release stress by ventilating your cares and concerns to the Lord, reduce your load and reorganise or shift stressors to make your way straight.

Get in (or stay in if you have this habit already) a consistent practice of prayer and Bible study, because from that secret place of two-way conversation with the Lord,  you will find that source of strength, replenishment, and strategy to get you through the tougher parts of the journey. Prioritise your relationship with God and make it as important as maintaining good grades and GPA (Grade Point Average) in your studies.

We don’t need science to back up what we know as people of faith, but there are studies that back up the effectiveness of prayer as well.

The 5 Rs of Coping Strategies

1. Reframing: Changing your mindset and perception of your ability to cope. For example, changing a negative statement, “I can’t get through this” to a more positive one “All tough times end”, and tacking on an actionable strategy, “I can find access to resources/people to help me through”.
2. Relax: Finding avenues to relax helps de-stress. Listen to encouraging music, find creative outlets, deep breathing, reading, going outside in nature are some effective relaxation strategies.
3. Release: Stressful situations can lead to negative thoughts that when kept bottled up can exacerbate the situation. Movement can help release negative kinetic energy. This can be done through exercise in any form, be it light, moderate or more vigorous forms of exercise. Walking is particularly implicated in generating mood boosting chemicals in the brain that relieve stress, burnout and other psychological issues like depression.
4. Reduce: Exceeding our capacity can make us more vulnerable to stress, negative thoughts and various other psychological issues. Setting firm boundaries in place in the various areas of our lives is a good place to start in reducing stress.
5. Reorganise: Structure is important in a time of transition. Having a daily routine and having time management strategies such as to do lists, study timetables and/or use of time management apps can help in this area.

These strategies are not exhaustive but hopefully can serve as a starting point in navigating a new period, aiding your success, and maintaining your sanity. All the best on your journey!

Dr Gabrielle Alexander has been a psychiatrist for the past seven years. She currently serves under the South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA), as well as in private practice. She attends Holy Mass at St Joseph RC Church, Mon Repos and recently presented on coping strategies at the Expo for Travelling University Students at the Bishop John Mendes Auditorium, Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, San Fernando.