Keeping your mental health during the winter months is a bit more challenging than usual. Of course, holidays like New Year and Christmas make students feel better. They get the opportunity to spend more time with people they love. However, low temperatures and lack of physical activity often negatively influence their mental health. That is the reason why making some changes in the everyday routine is mandatory.
Duties that students have do not stop during the winter. They need to continue studying different subjects and stay fully concentrated. Unfortunately, with a lack of good mood, remaining productive becomes a more challenging task. The level of mental power reduces even more if they do not successfully reach their goals. Because of that, they deserve to know some tips to support their mental health over winter. Let’s find them out together!
Improve Your Physical Activity
Living without a vehicle in today’s world seems almost impossible. However, that doesn’t mean driving a car should be a replacement for physical activity. They should not spend hours outside of their home when the temperatures are low. Yet, one hour of walking in parks and near the rivers can boost their mental power. These places are relaxing and quiet. Despite that, the natural environment always positively influences people’s mood.
On the other hand, exercising is another recommendable option students have. Going to the gym or exercising at least home three times a week will support the mental health of the students. Physical activity reduces the production of different stress hormones like cortisol. On the other hand, it also supports the production of endorphin. It is a chemical inside a human’s brain that naturally reduces pain and improves mood of a person.
Still, many students do not know which exercises are adequate for them. The good news is that they are living in the 21st century. There are many workout channels online that can help them determine the right set of exercises for their needs.
Work on Your Time Management Skills
It is not a secret that students often make some excuses when they study lessons. For example, they often delay the beginning of their work for a couple of hours, days, or weeks. In the end, they end up dealing with a lack of time to prepare all the lessons for the exams. During a couple of weeks, they try to complete the job without getting the necessary rest. Unfortunately, reaching their goals becomes to look impossible after a couple of days. That brings some additional negative energy that harms mental health.
Making a to-do list or using any other time-management tool can help students organize their time better. In that way, they will manage to achieve all their goals and have enough time for rest. The rest, in this case, is some type of reward for the achievements they had. After four hours of work, they can reward themselves with two hours of going to the cinema, beach, restaurant, or anything else.
Add Vitamin D to Your Meals
During the winter, days last shorter than usual. However, students need to use the rare moments when the sunlight occurs during the day. Sun is one of the rare sources of vitamin D. According to Insider, vitamin D deficiency can contribute to depression.
Vitamin D has some receptors in the areas of the human brain. These receptors are responsible for the person’s behavior and mood changes. Some people may think the lack of vitamin D is characteristic only for older people. However, younger people can have the same problem as well. That especially counts if they spend their daytime inside their home studying lessons for months. Students probably understand better now why time management is essential.
Of course, there is also an option to add vitamin D to your organism through different ingredients. Some of them like herring and sardines, cod liver oil, canned tuna, and others can be helpful. For more effective results, students can decide to consume vitamin D pills and supplements. However, they are not the replacement for the ultraviolet rays and ingredients previously mentioned.
Determine the Things You Like to Do
Ensuring enough time to rest won’t be enough for students to boost their mental health. They need to use their free time in the best possible way. That is the reason why they need to determine things they like to do.
For example, let’s imagine that student’s friends want to go to different cafes every day. They invite him to join them, and he does that each time when he has free time. However, drinking coffee does not satisfy him at all. Instead of that, he would rather spend one hour outside or go to the cinema. Because of that, he never manages to recharge his batteries after hours of studying lessons.
Students need to focus on things they love doing. That counts even if they are the only ones that have the specific habit. Of course, in some moments, people need to be flexible. However, doing all the time things you don’t like won’t positively infect mental health at all.
Use Assistance when Studying
Students deal with many duties every single day. That counts as well when their time organization is at the highest level. Fortunately, they can make the accomplishment of their duties easier differently.
For example, they can invite a friend to join them and study lessons together. However, in that case, they need to invite someone that will inspire them to work. Lazy and irresponsible students can only be a distraction that negatively influences their mental power.
Final Thoughts
These five pieces of advice will help students improve their mental health over winter. When they are in a good mood, accomplishing all of their duties won’t be challenging a lot. They will have the necessary motivation to continue studying even when things become tough.
The source of motivation can come in different shapes and sizes. However, the same rule counts for the source of demotivation. Students have to understand which things negatively influence their mental health. If other people distract them, spending less time with them would be the right choice. On the other hand, if certain habits make them depressed, changing them is the only option.
Article edited and fact checked by our editorial team
References
- Bouillon R, Manousaki D, Rosen C, Trajanoska K, Rivadeneira F, Richards JB. The health effects of vitamin D supplementation: evidence from human studies. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2022 Feb;18(2):96-110. doi: 10.1038/s41574-021-00593-z.
- Mullins JT, White C. Temperature and mental health: Evidence from the spectrum of mental health outcomes. J Health Econ. 2019 Dec;68:102240. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102240.
- Truscott A, Hayes D, Bardsley T, Choksi D, Edbrooke-Childs J. Defining young people’s mental health self-care: a systematic review and co-development approach. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 Nov 10. doi: 10.1007/s00787-023-02320-7. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37947894.