Six ways to build an unbreakable student
Anxious about how your child will cope at university? Here’s how to keep their mental health in check. By Debbi Marco
‘Going to university is hard. They don’t know their place in the world and can struggle with social interactions’
In a few weeks’ time, nervous parents across the country will be packing their cars: pots and pans obscuring windows, laptops and speakers jostling for space, duvets squeezed into corners and lanky teens folded into passenger seats. The university academic year is about to begin, and while most parents hope their child is ready for this huge leap into independence, it comes with many worries.
Students are facing new challenges ranging from learning how to feed themselves and wash their own clothes to how to get themselves to lectures and exams on time. Not to mention making friends and being away from the safety of the family home. All this while dealing with ongoing Covid restrictions, too.
Dr Nic Hooper, an expert in clinical psychology and a senior lecturer at the University of West England, Bristol, knows these challenges all too well.
“Going to university is hard. They don’t know their place in the world and they can struggle with social interactions. It’s a big leap.” Seeing the problems his students face has inspired Hooper to write a book, The Unbreakable Student: 6 Rules for Staying Sane at University. Hooper acknowledges that the pandemic has exacerbated certain elements of student life, such as more time spent in front of a screen and increased isolation, which has had a big effect on mental health.
“They don’t get to know their fellow students and lecturers in person,” says Hooper. “They can’t do normal things like go clubbing or join societies. Plus, more time spent on social media can also affect mental health negatively as they compare themselves to online ideals.”
Throughout his 16-year teaching career, Hooper has had to support his students through a variety of challenges. “I had one student whose dad died of bowel cancer,” he says. “I spent quite a lot of time with him, mostly in the pub, allowing him to be sad but also allowing him to find the space to realise that s--- happens but life is to be lived.
“I had another student who was plagued by self-doubt and low selfesteem. I tried to give him the strength to realise that you can make mistakes and it will still be OK.”
Hooper also helps his students deal with more average struggles, such as worrying about giving presentations. “These are all life skills,” he says. “It’s about accepting that life is hard, but you’ve got to be willing to go through that bad stuff as it is useful in the end. I tell them to hold that discomfort and still do it.”
In his book, he uses the basic psychological principle of the six elements of well-being and he applies them directly to the challenges students face today.
“The book sends a message to students that if they’re feeling down, stressed or angry, it’s a normal part of being human. But it’s how you fight against these feelings that is the issue. They might choose alcohol or Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, but I try to show them that there are ways not to dig those holes.
“I want them to build a stable base and create a blueprint for psychological well-being.”
So, what are Hooper’s six rules for staying sane at university? See right.