Student Wellbeing
Self Care
What an unusual time this is!
Amongst our community there are so many complex stories of how this pandemic has impacted households. Pretty much all of us have been uprooted in some way from our normal lives.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been emailing students a series of self-care tips to help get at such a time. One of these tips, is to talk to a Counsellor. And to this end, I make myself available, in person at school, via Zoom or phone to any student who may welcome a chat. Feel free to get in touch via email, gvlamakis@sjcbe.catholic.edu.au or 9575 8100.
Here are the evolving self-care tips sent to students thus far
SELF CARE TIP 1 – Exercise
You can’t go to the gym, or skate-park, or train with your sports team, so why not try exercising at home? There are heaps of free You Tube workouts you can do, where you don’t need any equipment.
Check out ‘You Are Your Own Gym’ by Mark Lauren. He is an elite trainer that specialises in bodyweight training – basically, no weights or equipment, just your body. He has heaps of free stuff on You Tube, and a free 30 day trial on his webpage.
Why is exercise helpful during this time? It’s good for your physical health obviously, but the research and personal experience has made it very, very clear, it’s VERY good for your mental health.
If you’re feeling really anxious or stressed at the moment, this is a great way to burn off those stress chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline. Not only that, when you exercise you release nice chemicals that make you feel better, like serotonin, dopamine and endorphins.
Recent research has also shown that when you are working out and using your muscles they release myokines which travel to the brain and appear to act as a natural antidepressant.
So why not give it a go. You could set a goal to come back to school fitter than before, or at least commit to not ‘letting yourself go’ during this period.
SELF CARE TIP 2 - Laughter.
You’ve all heard the saying that, “Laughter is the Best Medicine”. Laughter stimulates the release of endorphins and it bolsters your immune system by lowering cortisol and increasing T-cells.
Social media, at the moment is flooded with so much scary stuff, that it is worth seeking out stuff that is funny and will make you laugh.
It’s probably not helpful to binge watch news on the virus.
Laughter really is the best medicine, and whether it’s over a favourite clip, or a board game or banter with your mates, give yourself permission to have a good belly laugh.
SELF CARE TIP 3 - Sunshine
Autumn is a beautiful time of the year, where sunshine seems to linger in gentle manner. Who doesn’t like the feeling of sunshine on our skin? It’s good for us.
Allow me to nerd out on this point. If you don’t want to read the science/ psychology explanation, skip the next bit in italics
Sunshine helps improve your mood. Research has suggested that sunlight cues special areas in your retina that in turn trigger the release of serotonin (but DON’T stare straight at the sun, just being in sunlight will do it), a chemical in your brain that we think plays a role in mood.
Sunlight on your skin triggers your body to make vitamin D which may also help improve your mood. Several studies have suggested a correlation between low Vitamin D and depression suggesting that Vitamin D plays a role in helping you release more serotonin.
Sunlight also helps regulate your circadian rhythm and what you probably want right now is a good night’s sleep. Often we lay awake at night over-thinking, over-analysing and catastrophizing what may happen (or am I the only one who does that?). Problem is the next day you’re too tired to get out of bed.
Well if you are, try drag yourself out of bed and sit in the morning sunlight. The sunlight triggers you to wake us (yes, by effecting that serotonin chemical again) and then hopefully by tonight you’ll be tired you have a better chance of nodding off and heading into la la land quickly.
Make the most of any sunshine remaining.
SELF- CARE TIP 4 – Nutrition
There is a bucket load of research that tells us that your mental health has ties to the quality of your nutritional intake. It’s a rapidly growing field of study called “Nutritional Psychiatry” and if you’re
curious to learn more about it, Professor Felice Jacka – an Aussie, is one of the leaders in this area.
The research suggests that a good quality diet can help with depression and anxiety and even help with emotional regulation (something many of us need in these stressful times).It’s really easy at a time like this, to snack and binge on unhealthy food. Our daily rhythms are out, and comfort eating can be our go-to, when we are bored or a bit anxious.
Try get back into good eating patterns. The basics of a good diet are these:
- Whole foods (less processed stuff)
- Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables
- Less meat
- A bit less sugar
- A bit less fat (particularly trans and animal fats)
And lastly, I just want to add, what a great time this is to learn how to cook something new, delicious and healthy.
SELF CARE TIP 5– Try an APP
The Calm APP is offering a bunch of guided meditations for free at the moment. You don’t need to download the app, you can access it from any device.
There are some great meditations to explore:
Soothing Meditations
Sleep Meditations
Meditations for Young People
Calming Music
You can check it out at the link below.
SELF CARE TIP 6 – Talk to a Counsellor
Talking to a counsellor is an all-round good thing to do. You don’t need to be “mentally unwell”, to justify speaking to a therapist.
I am at the school most days, if anyone would like to have a chat. You are welcome to email or call me on the school phone. We could meet at school, or via Zoom or phone.
If you prefer to talk to a therapist, not connected to school, the good news is that the government has rushed through new legislation that lets you speak to someone via tele-health because of the pandemic. Most therapists will bulk bill, meaning no out of pocket expenses. We have a visiting school psychologist, Jeff Edmonds, who works in this way.
Jeff’s is at the school on Tuesdays. His webpage is:
https://www.melbournecounselling.org/
To speak to a therapist outside of school, you’ll need to do some groundwork. You will need to ask your GP for a referral, and preferably, have chosen a psychologist or mental health social worker that you connect with.
Talking to a therapist at a time such as this can leave you feeling positive, optimistic and empowered to get through this difficult time.
I look forward to connecting with students and parents over the next few weeks, and being a help to families as much as possible.
George Vlamakis
Student Counsellor