This pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health — that much is certain. But for college students in particular it’s been a gruelling battle. With in-person lectures, clubs and societies and vibrant social lives becoming a distant memory, it’s not surprising that students — a group who battle with their mental health in the best of times — are now truly struggling.
Outreach and Prevention Manager at Trinity’s Student Counselling Service Chuck Rashleigh admits that students are turning up with more severe levels of distress. Research from the US, he said, revealed that students returned to campuses with higher rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, financial stress and insecurities around basic needs than before the pandemic.
While, according to Rashleigh, students’ resilience has increased since the start of the pandemic, he adds that, “rates of ‘positive psychological flourishing’ have decreased in line with the sharp rise in mental health problems”.
“A renewed focus on supporting student’s mental health is needed and this resilience should be harnessed to create a positive experience for students”, Rashleigh adds.
While College has plenty of opportunities for students to get involved with 50 sports clubs on campus, it is also often the case, especially these days, that students can feel a lack of motivation and get “stuck”.
Trinity Sport’s Mind, Body, Boost programme is designed to do just that. The seriousness of the issue and the necessity of the programme is reflected in the near-€400,000 grant handed out for it by the EU Commission.
The programme is, Rashleigh says, a classic example of a “social prescribing” initiative. This is when a doctor or counsellor suggests that someone do something active, like joining a club or picking up a hobby in order to help overcome their mental health problems.
While College has plenty of opportunities for students to get involved with 50 sports clubs on campus, it is also often the case, especially these days, that students can feel a lack of motivation and get “stuck”.
“Perhaps they are feeling down, unmotivated, stressed or overwhelmed”, explains Rashleigh, adding that it is exactly these students whom the programme intends to help.
“There is strong evidence that exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.”
Described by Trinity Sport as a “practical intervention programme” for those who need it, Mind, Body, Boost utilises the scientifically proven antidepressant effects of exercise to prevent the development of serious mental health issues.
“Our physical and mental health are connected”, Rashleigh explains. “There is strong evidence that exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.”
“Exercise has also been found to improve sleep in college students, and to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal”, he adds.
Trinity Sport and the Student Counselling Service are joining forces to bring the programme to students in need. It’s set to launch in full in September 2021. The pilot programmes carried out to date, with one on-going at present virtually, have been a great success with students acknowledging in a feedback survey that it had “positively impacted their lives”.
According to Lisa Cafferky, the Student Pathway Manager at Trinity Sport, “almost all the students said the project improved their motivation and confidence to engage in regular physical activity”.
The pilot programmes carried out to date, with one on-going at present virtually, have been a great success with students acknowledging in a feedback survey that it had “positively impacted their lives”.
“They also noted they found the psycho-education and mindfulness aspects beneficial for stress management and their mental health”, she said.
The Mind, Body, Boost programme involves a dual blend between intense physical activity and mindfulness skills training with 30-minute sessions devoted to each. Cafferky says that students who take part can expect to see “reduced social isolation, increased physical activity levels and an improvement in [their] overall health and well-being”.
In the mental health part of the session, the Student Counselling Service teaches psycho-education, which is designed to help the participants gain a better understanding of the connection between mind and body. It also aims to get students practically equipped for handling anxiety when under pressure through practicing cognitive skills and learning about their emotions.
“It is like a short psychological taster menu of the wide range of psycho-education programmes the Student Counselling Service generally offers students, delivered in a small-group environment”, Rashleigh explains.
Indicative of the popularity of the programme but also of the current mental health distresses of students, however, demand for the pilot programmes has exceeded what Trinity Sport can facilitate at this point. The EU funding won’t kick in until September 2021 meaning, the project can’t operate at full capacity until then.
“It is like a short psychological taster menu of the wide range of psycho-education programmes the Student Counselling Service generally offers students, delivered in a small-group environment.”
However, Cafferky assures that “Trinity Sport and the Counselling Service are looking at alternative ways that we can support those that can’t be facilitated in the pilot programme”.
“All those that registered an interest will be signposted to current programmes that may be suitable and new initiatives will also be developed to support students.”
But even without an EU-funded programme, both Rashleigh and Cafferky agree that even taking up exercise alone is a simple but extremely effective way for students to bolster their mental well being.
The science is certainly there and it does hint that being physically fit can improve our psychological as well as physical health. As Rashleigh — in impressive scientific jargon — puts it: “The literature says, for example, that physical fitness optimises physiological and neuroendocrine stress responsivity, promotes an anti-inflammatory state, and enhances neuroplasticity and growth factor expression. In short, exercise can help us be more physically and mentally resilient.”
For Rashleigh, making small, simple steps forward is key: “Just do something – even something small. A little exercise is better than no exercise, a 10-minute walk, 20 press-ups or squats, some stretching.”
It can be difficult to get out of being “stuck”, though, and Cafferky accepts this acknowledging how the reduced hours of daylight and bad weather in winter has made it harder for students to motivate themselves to get out and move around compared to the previous lockdown in March and April.
For Rashleigh, making small, simple steps forward is key: “Just do something – even something small. A little exercise is better than no exercise, a 10-minute walk, 20 press-ups or squats, some stretching.”
“Remember that ‘action sometimes precedes motivation’. You might not feel like exercising in the moment, but if you nudge yourself towards doing something, even if it’s hard to do at first, you might find it easier to build up exercise behaviours day by day.”
Indeed, as Cafferty reminds, there are plenty of resources to take advantage of through Trinity Sport and by joining one of the sports clubs, even in an online world.
“I would encourage all students to join one of our 50 sport clubs or to take part in one of the many online programmes that Trinity Sport offers”, Cafferty advises. “There’s a variety of online classes and on-demand content available for free until the end of November through the recently launched Trinity Sport+.”
Having issues with mental health is a serious and unfortunately common occurrence for students — one that’s only made worse by the current lowly circumstances we find ourselves in throughout 2020. Of course exercise isn’t a magic pill, but, at the very least, as Cafferty puts it: “Even a short burst of 10 minutes’ brisk walking can increase our mental alertness, energy and positive mood.”
