As budding medical professionals, we have all come to understand the intimate relationship between the mind, the body, and emotions. We all recognize that it is important to keep up with and engage in activities that will support our physical health. But, what about our social/emotional health?
When pursuing such rigorous career paths, it certainly can be a time that is trying on our mental health, plus none of our real lives stop when joining grad school. Between the demands of grad school, a pandemic, a massive civil rights movement, and each of our own individual personal lives continuing, it makes total sense why this would be a time that can push us to a point of distress and needing to take care of our mental health. An important thing to remember is that feeling overwhelmed is totally normal and can be managed. We must all be leaders in destigmatizing mental health care and start by recognizing the importance of caring for our own mental health. It is necessary for us to utilize available resources and to care for our whole selves. The following list includes some social/emotional resources that can help us navigate our grad school experiences.
- Ideas for Daily Social/Emotional Hygiene to Build and Maintain Resilience: Just like physical health, it is better to approach social/emotional health from a preventative approach. Engaging in daily acts of self-care will help to maintain your mental health, which will make coping with feelings of upset more manageable when they do arise. Here are some of the ways that you can take care of your social/emotional health.
- Exercise: Whether it is a long run or short walk, all types of exercise are good for your mental health. If you are worried that you don’t have time to work out with all the studying you have to do, don’t worry. You can always sit on a bike while reading notes, walk on a treadmill while watching lectures, or take a jog outside while listening to a medical podcast.
- Take some time to be outside. The fresh air and sunshine is so good for us both physically and mentally, especially since it is so tempting to just stare at a computer screen all day while in grad school.
- Human connection and conversation can be extremely healing to our nervous systems. Humans are wired for connection so make time to connect with people that you love. Zoom, Facetime, and phone calls can all be safe ways to connect.
- SLEEP!!!
- Relaxation techniques: This can include, but is not limited to yoga, meditation, baths, breathing exercises, listening to music, going outside, or going on a walk. It is important that you know yourself and figure out the things that help you to relax.
- Nutrition: Food effects our moods. Highly nutritious diets that limit your intake of processed foods and are low in sugar have been linked to better moods. A cheat day to celebrate passing a test is great for your soul every once in a while, but your daily diet should focus on nutrition so that you can fuel yourself to learn.
- Gratitude: Starting the day by writing down 3 things you are grateful for and ending your day by writing down 3 positive things that happened that day can retrain your brain to live in a more positive state. Recognizing the things that you feel grateful for reframes the world around you.
- MBKU Resources: MBKU recognizes and emphasizes the importance of maintaining individual wellness while attending their rigorous programs, so they put several resources in place to make sure that we feel supported during our journey.
- Alyse Kirschen: Dr. Kirschen is the Director of University Student Counseling Services and she is available for individual appointments if you email her. She is here to help with any issues that arise during your graduate school experience and has a plethora of resources available to help. I have met with her and she has always been open, kind, warm, knowledgeable, and comforting. She has many strategies to help with grad school and has always made me feel listened to and supported.
- Peer Advisors/ Faculty Advisor: If you don’t know who to talk to you can always reach out to your peer advisor or faculty advisor. Your peer advisors volunteer for this position because we all genuinely love connecting with and helping our fellow peers. The same is true of your faculty advisors, all of the MBKU staff has your wellness as their priority.
- Wellness webinars: MBKU has recognized that this pandemic is a time where we need more resources, not less. So, they have been and will continue to host wellness webinars and other virtual events that are focused on giving us tools we can use to help with our overall wellness.
- Practice Mindfulness: It is so important to frequently check in with yourself and recognize how you feel. By connecting to how you feel, you can figure out what you need and how to best care for yourself. If you check in with yourself and find that you are anxious or in distress then here are some tools to bring you out of overwhelm.
- Take 10 deep breaths. Try and make them slow and even. Inhale for a slow count of 5, exhale for a slow count of 5.
- Ground down into your senses. Look around you… what are some things you see? Take a deep breath… how does your body feel when you inhale? Is there anything that you can smell? Take a sip of your drink… what does it taste like? How do your feet feel inside your shoes? Listen to a song you love. By engaging each of your senses you can get out of your thinking mind and slow an anxious thought pattern.
- Take a break. I know it can seem counterintuitive to stop studying when you are worried about school, but you will not be able to retain information if you are in a state of distress. Take a 30-minute break to engage in relaxation techniques and refresh, so that when you do get back to studying you are calm in a headspace that is primed from retention.
- Practice personal self-care