So, what can we do to combat the stigma?

It is important to understand the links between mental health and money – often you may find that someone is clear of mental health problems but they start experiencing financial problems – students are thrown into university often having never lived away from home and are forced to start spending in new categories and find it difficult to manage their money which can ultimately lead to stress, worry and anxiety. This can cause a mental health problem which then affects how they manage their money. Mental health and money is often a vicious cycle. 

Laura Peters, Head of the Mental Health and Money Advice Service gives us the down low on how to help students manage stress, identify their level of need and where to signpost them for further support during the cost of living crisis and beyond. 

Levels of need: how does it work?  

• Coping with everyday stresses – This is the lowest level of the pyramid. An example would be students that live in a house share and get a utility bill higher than they were expecting, they will have to sit down with their housemates and make a decision on how they will make the payment. They may be feeling stressed at that point but that would be considered a normal and natural feeling to have. Once they resolve the issue, this stress should then go away. 
• Using self-help techniques – This level of the pyramid would occur when these stresses are not going away, this may be caused by students not being able to solve the problem or they have multiple things on their mind. This may then start to affect their mental health – they find that when they need to concentrate on a lecture, for example, they are thinking about their money problems or other worries instead. For these students, they may need to use self-help techniques which are listed below. 
• Seeking medical help – At the top of the pyramid sit those who need medical help. This occurs when someone is finding that they cannot not think about their money problem or if their money problem has gone away but they are still experiencing the negative feelings associated with that problem such as, stress and anxiety. At this point you should suggest they go and visit their GP or use an IAP service (available across the UK) to self refer. 

Self-help techniques

Stress Bucket: Everyone has a ‘stress bucket’ in their mind. But, what is it? This is an analogy that represents our stress levels – stress is continuously raining down into our bucket. What we need to do is monitor our stress bucket and ensure there is a small amount of water in there to keep us motivated whilst ensuring it doesn’t overflow resulting in a mental health problem.  It is important to ensure there are holes at the bottom of your bucket to release tension. Ways we can do this, but not limited to,  is through rest and relaxation or doing something you enjoy. 

5 ways to wellbeing: We must treat our mind well in order to maintain a good mental health and cope with everyday stresses. Here are the 5 steps your students can take to ensure they are looking after their mind whilst at university: 

1. Connecting: spending time with loved ones.
2. Keep learning: learning new skills will give them a good feedback loop in their brain which will help maintain happiness.
3. Be active: studies show that moderate levels of activity are as successful as treating depression as antidepressants. 
4. Take notice: encourage students to be mindful everyday, take a few minutes to feel grounded and to understand their 5 senses. 
5. Give: encourage students to give some of their time and energy to others that supports a good cause.

    

Together, we stand with students during the cost of living crisis. Catch the full webinar on demand.