Mental Health & Well-being
This pages is focused on mental health and wellbeing, including the THESIS initiatives and useful resources.
Student Well-being
The transition to university is a big challenge for many students. We support and advise students throughout their studies at Royal Holloway Psychology Department, and we are here to listen and help.
There are a number of specialist services at Royal Holloway such as Student Wellbeing, Disability and Dyslexia services, and Counselling. For more information follow this link Student Well-being
We closely collaborate and provide training for these services as well as externally. We always encourage students to seek help and advice when needed. If you have questions about support available for our students please contact us at THESIS@rhul.ac.uk.
Self-Care & Well-being Resources
This document aggregates several simple self-care exercises to promote your wellbeing. Click on the following link to access Self-care exercises to promote mental health and well-being
Feel free to try them all or just those that seem appealing to you. Adopt a curious stance and see which one works best for you. You don’t have to do the same one every day, the most important thing is that you take time, each day, to care for yourself. The goal is to embed this into your daily routine. This is particularly relevant ahead of the exam period.
Dealing with Anxiety During Exam Preparation
Another exam season is approaching and we understand how anxiety provoking these times can usually be. Therefore, we put together some resources to help you manage with your anxiety, particularly, excessive levels of anxiety, which may interfere with your performance.
- Dr Ines Mendes: How to deal with anxiety
- Dr Olga Luzon: Anxiety and Exam Stress
- Soothing breathing exercise
- Self compassion blog one & blog two
Supporting Students During Covid-19
- During this period of great uncertainty and stress, the RHUL psychology department has compiled a selection of resources to aid students with their studies and mental wellbeing. Below you can find the links to access these resources.
- Dr. Inês Mendes – RHUL Psychology lecturer, Clinical Psychologist and expert in self-compassion – has written a series of blogs to support students during Covid-19, published on the THESIS page. Click here to read blog one and blog two now. Dr. Mendes has also released a Vlog about looking after your mental health during Covid-19 which can be accessed here. In a second vlog Dr. Mendes gives practical tips and demonstrates exercises for students to help deal with anxiety – click here to watch now.
- The British Psychological Society (BPS) have put together some tips and advice as well as links to important articles that may provide comfort at this time. Example resources include: Advice on using social media to cope with isolation, guidance for aspiring psychologists during Covid-19 and coping with grief during the Covid-19 pandemic. Click the link for more information https://www.bps.org.uk/responding-coronavirus
- Student Minds (a UK student mental health charity) have produced and collated resources, in accordance with government guidance, especially for the university community. They have outlined some helpful examples of things you can do at home to maintain a sense of normality and routine. https://www.studentminds.org.uk/coronavirus.html#self
- Dr Dominique Thompson – a GP and mental health expert – and True Student have worked together to provide a student survival guide to self-isolation. This blog post has been written to inspire and incentivise students in an accessible and light-hearted manner. Tips include: getting creative, eating regular meals/snacks and even clearing out your wardrobe! https://www.truestudent.com/blog/a-student-survival-guide-self-isolation
- Action for Happiness have created a ‘coping calendar’ comprising of 30 actions to look after both ourselves and one another at this time. Why not follow the link and try them out for yourself! https://www.actionforhappiness.org/coping-calendar