Starting University | Essential Wellbeing Advice

For Mental Health Awareness Week 2024, we're revisiting our past guide with ICMP's Mental Health Advisor Julianna Pusztai. 

Here, we learn about some of the most common concerns for students and what she recommends for anyone studying with us looking to prioritise their wellbeing.

Her tips include the below...

• Give yourself time to ease back into a new social environment
• If things get too much - take yourself out of a situation
• Engage with the Wellbeing team
• Use the last year as a conversation starter with your peers
• Feeling homesick? Bring something from home with you
• Prepare some conversation starters
• Don’t overwhelm yourself
• Watch your alcohol consumption
• Try and establish a routine

Give yourself time to ease back into a new social environment 

Just joining ICMP? Or looking to join in the new academic year? It's important to not be too hard on yourself and give yourself the time and space to ease back into a new social environment. 

Don't force yourself to do every social engagement on offer. Look at your schedule and plot a way through it. 

If things get too much - take yourself out of a situation 

If you find yourself in a situation where you feel uncomfortable being surrounded by so many people, then take some time out for five minutes. 

We recommend one of the simple breathing techniques such as the Triangle Breathing technique. Doing this in a calm and quiet space should help. 

There is also the third floor library and quiet space area for some calming moments when onsite.

Engage with the Wellbeing team 

You don't have to have a mental health diagnosis to speak with us. That is a common misconception among some students that we are all only reachable if you go through some sort of incident or episode. 

Use recent experiences as a conversation starter with your peers 

Your recent experiences can be an effective conversation starter. 

It's a good way of connecting with people and finding some common ground - but also to be there for someone else who might need to talk about what they’ve been going through if they have been facing challenges and they comfortable sharing. 

Feeling homesick? Bring something from home with you

Think about how you can find ways of representing your home in your room or wherever you might be staying. Perhaps a familiar object or photo can recreate some of the atmosphere or memories. 

Also, use technology to reach out to your networks and connect with friends and family.

Prepare some conversation starters 

One of the best ways to overcome any social anxieties during the first few weeks of the year is to ask questions. So prepare some in advance. Keep them in your mind or perhaps somewhere on your phone. 

This can help ease some of the pressures new students may face when they first attend university. 

Don’t overwhelm yourself 

Life as a student is full of sessions, social engagements and events so try and be conscious of how much information you can take in. If you miss something, don't be worried about reaching out to someone to help. Everyone is there to support you and available to answer questions via email. 

Watch your alcohol consumption

Try and keep an eye on how much partying is going to happen in the name of bonding with other people. Don't go too hard. 

Alcohol doesn't ease anxiety - in fact, it often makes it worse. It's always good to be sensible and mix water and alcohol.

Try and establish a routine 

As we’ve said, there can be a lot going on for students, especially if you are working in a part-time job to support your studies. 

It sounds obvious but establishing a routine can be really helpful, to outline what happens in each part of the day. This gives you a framework on how you manage your time and either write it down or use a calendar to try and follow it. 

Don't try to keep everything in mind - if you're working, studying and making music, the less things you have on your mind, the more headspace you have to be in the moment and engage in conversation and make friends.