There is one thing we cannot get back: time. As I talked to five of my friends about their mental health, it became apparent to me that a lot of their stress comes from how they use their time. Mental health is heavily linked to stress and how that stress is managed, and those who experience a lot of stress are more prone to anxiety and depression. So, I asked my friends how they felt about their own mental health while being at college. 

Two of my friends said they experience nonstop stress and the other three said they don’t experience it all the time. Emily said she’s always stressed from the amount of work she needs to do for all of her classes and the little time she gets to do it. Then I asked her if she has the tools to deal with all of that stress and she laughs as she says, “No, I have no healthy coping mechanisms for stress.”

My other friends seemed to not feel as stressed about school work. Olivia, who has a very good work ethic and time management skills, said, “I feel if I do my assignments a couple days in advance and use my time wisely I can manage all of my work and I’m not too stressed about it.” She is also on the club swim team, and regularly attends practices and goes on her own sometimes as well. In addition to the physical benefits, swimming is Olivia’s way to relieve stress and give her mind a break. 

Based off of these answers it seems that the way my friends spend their time is linked to how much stress they are experiencing. Olivia enjoys swimming and knows that it gives her mental clarity and she also gets school work done well in advance. Emily admitted herself that she doesn’t know how to deal with her stress at all. Getting just a bit ahead on her school work could help curb her stress because less would be piling up on her mental to-do list. It would also help Emily to find a go-to activity for when she’s feeling overwhelmed to help her destress; such as walking, journaling, or spending some time away from electronics.

It is still a little taboo to talk about mental health in everyday conversations and my friend Hannah solidified that when I asked her what she thinks of when she hears the word health. She said, “I definitely think of physical health rather than mental health.” In order to help people deal with their stress and mental health, it needs to be normalized in conversations in schools and at home. If we learn that mental health is okay to talk about, we can learn how to deal with it in healthy ways earlier on in life.