EDUCATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH RESILIENCE
Understanding
Understanding
1. Do You Know the Facts?
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Sometimes, we can feel very alone when we are dealing with difficulties. We feel like no one else understands or is going through the same thing.
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Learning that others struggle with similar difficulties can help us feel more connected and less isolated. See below for information on how common these feelings are among university students.
94%
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94% of students say that they are stressed in some way.
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40-50% of students around the world say their stress interferes with their ability to perform at school (Auerbach et al., 2018; Karyotaki et al., 2020; Vitasari et al., 2010).
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Whether or not you’re experiencing stress, problems with sleep, feelings of loneliness, or other difficulties, you are not alone. These difficulties often happen in periods of change, and university can be a big change!
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Our experiences may also vary over time. Whichever situation is happening at the moment for you, the important thing is to focus on how we can effectively respond and build our resilience and coping skills.
2. What is Mental Health vs. Mental Illness?
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We often think of our mental health as two opposite states: Either we are mentally healthy, or we are mentally ill.
Mental Illness
Mental Health
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Although mental health and mental illness are related to each other, they are NOT opposites but two distinct states overall. These two states can be used to describe our state of mental health.
Mental Health
Mental Illness
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This graph shows the four different ways we can understand our states of mental health and mental illness. Each axis of mental health and mental illness goes from low to high (Keyes, 2002).
High Mental Health
High Mental Health
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High Mental Illness
We have high levels of resilience and coping capacity, but are also experiencing high levels of mental illness, however this appears. Although we are experiencing high levels of mental illness, we have enough reserves of our mental health to cope and protect our well-being
(Keyes, 2002; Peter et al., 2011).
High Mental Health
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High Mental Illness
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Learn more
High Mental Health
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Low Mental Illness
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We have high levels of resilience and coping capacity, and our experiences of mental illness are low or completely absent (Keyes, 2002; Peter et al., 2011).
High Mental Health
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Low Mental Illness
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Learn more
High Mental Illness
Low Mental Health
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High Mental Illness
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We experience an absence of mental health, while also experiencing symptoms of mental illness
(Keyes, 2002; Peter et al., 2011).
Low Mental Health
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High Mental Illness
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Learn more
Low Mental Health
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Low Mental Illness
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We may feel unwell or not mentally healthy, but also experience an absence of mental illness
(Keyes, 2002; Peter et al., 2011).
Low Mental Health
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Low Mental Illness
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Learn more
Low Mental Illness
Low Mental Health
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Our goal should be to move UP the mental health axis.
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If we experience symptoms of mental illness and manage them through medication or support from mental health professionals, it is still worthwhile to build our mental health by using effective coping skills and strategies. This theory of the two states of mental health and mental illness is from the field of positive psychology, which studies the strengths that help people to thrive (Cherry, 2021).
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These “strengths” can include building the relationships we have with others, fostering our feelings of gratitude or other positive emotions, engaging in activities we enjoy, reminding ourselves of our accomplishments, or finding meaning beyond ourselves (Cherry, 2021).
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Focusing on our strengths and building our reserves of resilience by doing the things above can help us flourish and thrive with high levels of mental health. We are better able to respond to the stresses that happen every day and increase our well-being at the same time.
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High Mental Health
Low Mental Health
If any of this sounds interesting to you, feel free to check out these sections of the website:
3. Adulting and You
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Have you ever had a day when you made a bunch of decisions, or had to make an appointment, or cleaned your whole apartment, or made a healthy meal, and felt like that was enough adulting for the day?
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‘Adulting’ or doing things that are a part of being an adult can be hard. That's because this is a period of time when we’re becoming more independent and exploring our likes and dislikes. In research, this period called ‘emerging adulthood’ is characterized by feeling uncertain or ‘in-between’ places in life (Arnett & Tanner, 2006).
Emerging adulthood
becoming more independent
feeling
uncertain
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Do you ever feel like you should reach a certain milestone by a certain age? There may even be expectations from older generations that you should be in a more stable part of your life than you currently are. But, we know from research that in the past 20 years, more and more young people are finding that stability later in life.
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During emerging adulthood, we try out new things in many domains of our lives (e.g., school, work, and relationships), as we develop our identity and sense of who we are (Tanner, 2006).
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School
Work
Relationships
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Sometimes we joke about having a ‘quarter-life crisis’ in this time of our lives! We feel the weight of new responsibilities, which may throw us for a loop.
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This period of change and exploration also overlaps with attending university (Conley et al., 2014), which brings its own challenges, so it’s important we focus on building those adulting skills.
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For example, navigating our relationships or breakups, finding time for our social lives, or even managing our finances for the first time can feel difficult.​
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Remember: It takes time to build these skills!
Everyone has to learn how to do something for the first time. That’s why we have a whole section on this website dedicated to helping you navigate those challenges:
4. Is it Healthy or Unhealthy Coping?
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This website talks a lot about coping and how we can better our coping skills. But what does it mean to cope with something?
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Coping is how we react, both with our thoughts and our behaviours, when we feel unpleasant emotions, like sadness, guilt, anger, or fear. No matter the type of coping response/reaction, it is important to understand that these thoughts and behaviours always serve a purpose, which is to decrease the short-term discomfort we are feeling (Stallman, 2020).
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However, our coping responses are not always the best for our health. As you might guess, some coping responses (the unhealthy ones) can be harmful to us long-term. All coping strategies, healthy or unhealthy, exist on a continuum that goes from low intensity to high intensity.
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Low Intensity Coping Strategies
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Low intensity coping strategies are ones that are relatively easy to implement.
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Examples of healthier low intensity coping strategies:
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using breathing exercises
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talking positively to ourselves
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journaling our thoughts
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and more (Stallman, 2020).
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Examples of less healthy low intensity coping strategies:
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negative self-talk
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ruminating
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avoidance/procrastination
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and more (Stallman, 2020).
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High Intensity Coping Strategies
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High intensity coping strategies may need additional resources to implement and are often used when lower intensity coping strategies are not effective or are unavailable (Stallman, 2020).
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Examples of healthier high intensity coping strategies:
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seeking out social support
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reaching out to a mental health professional or helpline
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and more (Stallman, 2020).
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Examples of less healthy high intensity coping strategies:
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substance abuse
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isolating yourself from others
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self-injury
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and more (Stallman, 2020).
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​Higher intensity unhealthy coping strategies also have a higher risk of causing us long-term harm (Stallman, 2020).
Things to remember
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It is not realistic to only engage in healthy coping behaviors all the time, but it is important to be aware of our own coping responses and make adjustments to ensure we are not putting our health at undue risk.
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So don’t feel badly if you use “unhealthy” coping strategies; there is no need to self-shame. Just be aware that although it has its function and purpose for you in the short-term, there is also associated risk.
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Instead, work towards balancing engagement in less healthy coping behaviours with healthier ones where possible.