Ramp up your mental health routine

It's always a good time to work on building your resilience, learning how to recognize and manage your stress, and knowing when you might want to meet with a counsellor. The work you put in will help you feel ready to overcome your next challenge or setback by promoting good mental health and well-being. 

Try these tips and connect with Student Development and Counselling on World Mental Health Day. 

📅 World Mental Health Day
Tuesday, Oct. 10 | 11 am to 1 pm
Reg Erhardt Library, Stan Grad Centre

Build your resilience ✅

When you have positive mental health, you’re more resilient, meaning you’re able to bounce back from challenges.

Positive mental health and well-being is…

• feeling in control and able to cope with challenges and stress
• being able to focus at school, work and home
• feeling physically healthy and getting enough rest
• feeling a sense of connection or belonging to a community.

Flex your resilience muscles daily

• Download headversity to your phone and develop six skills of resilience at your own pace.
• Restore calm to your day — watch all or one of these mindfulness videos. 
• Connect with nature — check out three parks near SAIT for a nice break or visit a virtual rainbow reef to lower your blood pressure.
• Colour by number on your mobile device or get out your pencil crayons to help relieve anxiety.
• Complete Resilience 101 and develop resilience strategies to help you achieve greater personal, professional and academic success — plus, it's a registered co-curricular activity.
• Check out the library’s World Mental Health Day booklist and student self-care collection.

💡 DYK? Students with higher resilience skills tend to achieve greater academic success, recover from failure more quickly and are more adaptable.

Recognize and manage your stress ✅

Stress happens when we believe what’s required of us exceeds our ability. Stress can be caused by change (financial, health, family, work, school), feeling threatened or overwhelmed, or by a loss of personal control.

Each person experiences and reacts to stressful situations differently. While stress is normal, prolonged stress can have a negative impact on both your physical and mental health. It can also encourage poor choices and habits, and have a negative academic impact.

Common signs of stress

• anger, irritability, blaming or withdrawal
• fatigue, an inability to focus, forgetfulness or lack of concentration
• anxiety, excessive worry, teeth grinding
• change in eating or sleep patterns, headaches, stomach difficulties

4 tips for navigating change and managing stress

Focus on what you can control Maintain a routine, keep on top of your school work, stay active, eat right, be aware of how you respond to others.

Make connections Develop a support system, be engaged in class, get involved on campus; if you're studying online, turn on your camera and say hello.

Take meaningful breaks to avoid fatigue Try a short mindfulness practice between classes.

Use SAIT’s support resources Services to support positive mental health and well-being are available whether you’re studying on or off campus. We’ve got you covered — from tutoring, learning strategies and counselling to spiritual support and financial advising.

🤔 What makes you feel healthy and productive? Be aware of what works best for you — that might be meditation, a high-intensity workout, organizing your space, baking, etc.

Meet with a counsellor ✅

Students meet with counsellors for a variety of reasons about a broad range of concerns — maybe you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, or maybe you’re questioning your program fit.

Ask yourself, what may be getting in the way of my well-being? What are the ways I can tackle and manage these concerns? If answering these questions is challenging or confusing, chances are meeting with a counsellor would be helpful.

A counsellor can work with you to recognize your strengths, develop your skills and find coping strategies that are helpful for both everyday life and times of difficulty.

👉 Don’t wait to be in crisis or for your situation to be out of control before booking an appointment. Call 403.284.7023 or message Student Development and Counselling on MS Teams to book an appointment. Drop-in appointments are also available Monday to Friday. 

Focus on well-being

Maintaining positive mental health and well-being is a key factor in your success as a student, in your career and in life. There’s no magic formula, but there are ways every student can thrive at SAIT — plus resources and services to support you whether you’re studying on or off-campus.