WELLBEING 

The Wellbeing Hub   

From The Counsellor’s Desk

Welcome Back

Term 3 has begun! Things continue to change with COVID restrictions once again interrupting life but we soldier on as best we can. The Year 12s are really on the final stretch now, their last term of school ever. The HSC trial exams begin on August 2, which will be upon us before we realise. The question is how to best support them in this tumultuous time?

Balance

Balance in life is incredibly important for mental health. We need a variety of activities in life that satisfy the various psychological needs each of us has. You can think of your life as a table. A table with only one or two legs will be easy to tip over and will have a hard time standing on its own. When we have four or five legs our table then gets very steady indeed. In the same way our mental stability requires a good mix of time spent on study/work, leisure, friends, family, sleeping, eating, exercise, in order for us to be healthy in the long term. 

Pressure

What happens though in times when all the pressure is on one aspect of life? The exams are approaching, the assignments are due and everyone is freaking out about the Multi-modal that’s due on Monday? Well when all the pressure is at one point on the table sometimes you have to reinforce that leg. Spending more time studying and pushing yourself at these times is fine and necessary so that you can get things done on time. Always make sure however, that this is a temporary situation. You need to come back after this and balance the table again. Perhaps you need to reward yourself with a day of socialising and sport or going out to the movies or going out to dinner or sleeping in, after you have finished the assignment or the exam. Reward yourself for a job well done and treat yourself like someone you care about.

Our Lopsided Tables

Unfortunately, most of us, most of the time, have very lopsided tables. We know the activities that we need to do that will make us happy and give us good mental health but we just don’t do them. You know it is more healthy, refreshing, relaxing and psychologically beneficial to go for a walk, than sit in your room looking at memes but it just feels too hard. You could go and spend time with your family or catch up with friends but you end up just sitting and keeping your streaks going. Perhaps it is time to look at the table that you’re creating and reduce the legs that are just weighing you down and not helping you much. Put a limit on the time you spend with a screen in front of you (this includes phone screens). Spend time doing things that you really want to be doing. Do some things that you will actually feel better for having done at the end of the day. 

The Perfect Day

Sit down and plan your perfect day. I know that sometimes it feels like the perfect day would just consist of lying on the couch and watching Netflix with a constant supply of junk food but in reality this really doesn’t make you satisfied. Plan a day where you work toward a goal that you really value, eat food that tastes good and makes you feel good after you have eaten it, spend positive time interacting with people you love, spend time doing some exercise, spend time relaxing and spend time looking out for the needs of others. Basically, I want you to plan a day that at the end of the day when you sit down makes you satisfied. You want a day where you are further ahead than when you started. A day where you are closer to who you want to be at the end of it. Not all of our days can be the perfect balance but ensuring that we have some time for each area of our balanced day will help us to remain mentally healthy.

Michael Lance | College Counsellor