Taking Care of Our Mental Wellbeing
Written by Theint Aung
Edited by Jasmine Jeon
July 31st 2021
Edited by Jasmine Jeon
July 31st 2021
College can be stressful for many students. Nearly 7 million of U.S. college students are experiencing mental health problems (Horn, 2020). Mental health plays a huge role in academic success with poor mental health can negatively affect students’ motivation, concentration, and social interactions (Unger, 2007). According to the 2019 Annual Report of the Center for Collegiate Mental Health, anxiety is the most common diagnosis of the students who seek help at university counseling centers.
So how can we take care of our mental wellbeing? The best remedy when it comes to taking care of our mental wellbeing is our lifestyle and our mindset.
Many studies have shown that positive personalities such as being mindful and grateful can help improve mental well-being. Being mindful means paying attention to the thoughts and the surroundings in an intentional and nonjudgmental way at the present time (Kabat-Zinn, 1994); being grateful means expressing appreciation for the things that happen in life (Peterson, 2006). Different people have different levels of mindfulness and gratitude (Marzabadi et al., 2018). According to a study conducted in 2016 on 688 college students (481 non-meditators, 200 meditators), students with high levels of mindfulness had a high level of psychological well being and self-regulation (Bravo et al., 2016). One of the studies recommended using mindfulness as a palliative therapy to better monitor and manage the emotions (Bao et al., 2015). High levels of mindfulness may even be able to help navigate through uncertainty or the fear of the unknown (Kraemer et al. 2016).
Likewise, more grateful people have more positive relationships and better physical and mental health (O'Connell et al., 2016; Wood et al., 2010). Practicing gratitude can help prevent the negative effects of stress on one’s well-being (Krause, 2006). Gratitude can not only positively impact mental health but also physical health by improving sleep quality, cardio protective, and less fatigue (O'Connell et al., 2016).
Therefore, it is important that we train ourselves to always be mindful and grateful to improve and take care of our physical and mental wellbeing.
References
Bao, X., Xue, S., & Kong, F. (2015). Dispositional mindfulness and perceived stress: The role of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 78, 48–52.
Bravo, A. J., Boothe, L. G., & Pearson, M. R. (2016). Getting personal with mindfulness: A latent profile analysis of mindfulness and psy-chological outcomes. Mindfulness, 7(2), 420–432.
Center for Collegiate Mental Health. University Park, PA: Penn State University; 2020. [2020-05-11]. 2019 annual report. https://ccmh.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/2019-CCMH-Annual-Report_3.17.20.pdf.
Horn, A. (2020). Active minds and association of college and university educators release guide on practical approaches for supporting student wellbeing and mental health. Active Minds.https://www.activeminds.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Active-Minds-ACUE-Release_Faculty-Guide_April-2020.pdf
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life (1st ed.). New York: Hachette Books.
Kraemer, K. M., O’Bryan, E. M., & McLeish, A. C. (2016). Intolerance Of uncertainty as a mediator of the relationship between mindfulness and health anxiety. Mindfulness, 7(4), 859–865
Krause, N. (2006). Gratitude toward God, stress, and health in late life. Research on Aging, 28(2), 163–183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0164027505284048.
Marzabadi, E. A. (2018, November 27). Positive personality: Relationships among mindful and grateful personality traits with quality of life and health outcomes. Current Psychology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-018-0080-8?error=cookies_not_supported&code=98a4445d-f252-4c60-b55d-02601a4f89d3#citeas
O'Connell, B. H., O'Shea, D., & Gallagher, S. (2016). Mediating effects of loneliness on the gratitude-health link. Personality and Individual Differences, 98, 179–183.
Peterson, C. (2006). The Values in Action (VIA) classification of strengths. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), A life worth living: Contributions to positive psychology (pp. 29–48). New York: Oxford University Press.
Unger K. Handbook on Supported Education: Providing Services for Students With Psychiatric Disabilities. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing; 2007.
Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(7), 890–905.
Image Source: Image by Theint Aung