by Zambu Sakala
University can be a very interesting and fun place, full of memories and worthwhile moments. However, it’s not always the case, most students spend so much time chasing their degrees or qualifications that they neglect their mental health completely.
Stress in university comes from different places, sometimes it comes from the pressure that comes from the countless deadlines you have to meet, other times it comes from the feeling that you are behind in your readings and in an attempt to catch up, you spend sleepless nights studying. Other times things might not be okay at home and you’re put in a situation of balancing school work with whatever is happening at home but as my friend puts it “ You can’t expect everything to be okay at school while things are not okay at home.”
As a student myself, I have had times when I felt overwhelmed by school, overwhelmed by my low grades and even overwhelmed by seeing my social life become almost none existent. In my experience I found that the number one cause of my stress which also resulted in depression was my grades, I would beat myself up for scoring lower grades than my peers. I’m not even a competitive person but university can do that to you, sometimes you go from competing with peers to just wanting to pass or clear the course.
I was curious to know if I was the only one experiencing this, so I asked fellow students and to my surprise, I wasn’t the only one. Countless other people were struggling with school, with their social life and one thing stood out, grades.
But why grades? Because when parents take you to school they invest so much in your future and they have high expectations for you. when you get low grades you might feel like you’re letting down the very people that believed in you enough to invest in your future. Other people have scholarships they could lose if they were to get a lower grade other than the one considered satisfactory by the institution.
Suicide cases are on the rise, one story on the news was that of a student who committed suicide because they didn’t do well in their mid semester exams, very sad. Even as Africa talks about mental health, we shouldn’t overlook students and their struggles.
What can we do to overcome this? One thing that has helped me is taking a day at a time, this looks more like “ okay, I didn’t do well in the previous exam, but what can I do to improve on those grades.” This is to avoid getting stuck in constant loop of low moods which can further worsen performance.
Other universities have guidance counselors you can confide in, chances are you won’t be the only one who has faced such a problem and you’ll be guided appropriately. Another thing that has helped me is talking to peers, sharing my challenges and working together to overcome that challenge, if academic, don’t shy away from asking for help.
At the time of writing this article, I am currently a final year student who has had ups and downs, I wish I knew then what I know now, that if you look after your mental health, even academic work becomes easier. Don’t let your mental health deteriorate while you’re pursuing your degree or academic qualifications because you need to leave that institution sane, just like you’ll need your degree after university, you’ll also need a healthy mind to function in society.
An article by Zambu Sakala Co founder of the Heal organization