Battling the Back-to-School Nerves

For many students, going back to school can bring a lot of stress and mental health concerns. By using coping skills and relying on the people you care about, these mental health concerns can be very manageable.

One of the most important things students can do for their mental health is to get enough rest at night. The stress of school can make it difficult to make sure you are getting enough sleep. One key factor to ensuring good sleep is having good time management skills. If you wait until the last minute to do everything, you will spend many nights up late, which is detrimental to your mental health and can negatively affect your performance in school. If you spread all of your work throughout multiple nights, you will get more sleep and may also feel less stressed about your work because you will be sure that you can get it done on time.

Something else that can be helpful for mental health when returning to school is joining an extracurricular activity. Being a part of a club or sports team gives students something to look forward to at the end of the school day, allows them to pursue diverse interests, and provides opportunities to make new friends with similar interests. It can also be a good stress reliever to engage in something you enjoy doing before going home to do homework at night; this activities also teach you responsibility and good time management skills.

Relying on your resources is another great way to take care of your mental health during the school year. Try to have at least one good friend that you can talk to about your struggles. If you do not have a good friend to rely on, you can always talk to your teachers. If your assignments feel like they are too much for you, talking to your teachers or the school counselors may be an option.

The best effective mental health technique is to simply take care of yourself. Self-care comes in many different forms and is crucial for your well-being. Taking care of your personal hygiene, eating healthy, and exercising daily are all great ways to take care of yourself and will also give you more energy. Spending time with friends and family is another relaxing way to take care of yourself. Positive self-talk is also important; positive self-talk can look different for different people, but the best way to describe it is talking to yourself the way you would talk to your best friend.