Student Helpdesk

Relationships, including the one you have with yourself, are vital to our mental wellbeing. People with healthy, positive and supportive relationships are more likely to be happier and healthier. Creating and maintaining good connections with others can also help to combat loneliness and improve mental health issues, such as stress and anxiety.

How can I look after myself?

1. Get to know yourself – Take the time to appreciate yourself and get in touch with your emotions to be able to express yourself clearly and more effectively.  Find something to do for you and focus on your own hobbies and interests.
2. Put in the work – Healthy relationships are not found but built. A healthy relationship needs commitment and willingness to be accommodating to each other’s needs.
3. Set and respect boundaries – Setting boundaries is not only about what you don’t want or like in your relationships, but also about letting the people around you know what you appreciate. Doing this can take the pressure off your relationship to commit to anything unrealistic.
4. Talk and Listen – All relationships have disagreements and that’s ok. what matters is how you talk and listen to one another. Listen to understand, rather than listening to respond.
5. Let go of control – Know that you can only really control what you do and not what anyone else does will save you time and stress.
6. Reflect and learn – If you have a healthy way of expressing your feelings, you’re able to react to other people in a healthy way. Reflect on the relationships that work best in your life, what qualities do these relationships have, and how can you bring these qualities into other relationships?

Managing conflicts in relationships:

Relationships aren’t always easy and you will sometimes meet conflict. Difficult conversations may make us feel uncomfortable but there is an importance of being able to talk to friends, family and romantic partners about these things, it may even strengthen your relationship in the long run.

A good starting place is to let the other person know in advance that you want to talk. It helps if you both have time to prepare. Once you do start talking, take a break if needed and remember its ok to say ‘no’ when you don’t feel comfortable.

Here are some sentence starters to help:

• When you say ____, it makes me feel ____.
• Can we talk about ____? I want to hear your feelings about this and share my feelings too.

Leaving an unhealthy relationship:

It’s​ ​OK to leave a relationship that does not feel right or is having a negative impact on your​ mental health and wellbeing. On the ‘Where can I receive support?’ tab there will be a list of organisations that could support you during this time.

Where can I receive support?

Mental Health First Aiders

We offer a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) service where students are able to call the Mental Health First Aid phone available Monday-Friday 08:30-16:30 if they feel they need someone to talk to. Our staff will support you with various issues such as academic pressure, bullying, wellbeing support, panic etc.

Please call 07483 956433 or 07483 956434 if needed.