5 Tips to Get Yourself Out of Your “Funk”

We’ve all been there.

I don’t wanna get out of bed. I don’t wanna brush my hair. Sorry, I can’t come to lunch, I’m really busy. 

And in reality, *this* is what you mean by “busy”.

This is what I like to call, a FUNK. If you feel like you’ve been in bit of a funk lately, this article is for you. I’ll be providing you with some juicy tips on how to make your funk feel a little less… Funky?

1: Reward yourself for doing things out of your comfort zone.

Sometimes it seems impossible to do the things that are a little out of your comfort zone, especially when you’re already feeling a little out of sorts. For example, going to a party or even just leaving the house. Sometimes, it can make it a little easier to have an incentive to look forward to. For example, if you’ve just gone to a social gathering that you weren’t too excited to go to, treat yourself but having your favourite food when you go home. Or maybe, taking the next night off to watch a movie by yourself? A clever idea is to have a jar, and put a certain amount of money in there for every time you do something out of your comfort zone, and once you have enough money in there, treat yourself to something special. This can help to relieve some anxiety, and subconsciously get you out of your funk.

2: Don’t hate me for saying it but… try a little bit of exercise?

I know, I’m sorry. I’ve had so many people tell me this and I’ve rolled my eyes, but it really does help to just go for a relaxed walk every now and then. It’ll help to clear your head from all the clutter that is most likely in there, and the exercise itself will actually help to make you feel a little better about yourself. You don’t need to become a power lifter or a CrossFit champion; just do whatever you are comfortable doing, and what you are likely to stick to. Exercise releases endorphins as well and will boost your mood.

3: Do things that you know you typically enjoy!

We all have things that we know we enjoy. For me, I know that laying in bed and watching a movie with my favourite foods makes me feel good. Taking time out of my busy schedule to do something simply for myself is really important in order to get myself out of a slump. It helps to stop me from feeling overwhelmed and reminds me that my own wellbeing should always come first. Whether it be bike riding, painting or researching astronomy, anything that makes you feel good is worth doing.

4: Surround yourself with positive people and delete the toxic people.

This is an important one. It is possible to get yourself out a slump without cutting out negative people, but it is a lot more difficult. It also is a lot easier to slip back into a funk when you’re surrounded by toxicity. This can be difficult if the toxicity relates to people from your workplace (aka, people that are hard to avoid), but if this negative energy is stemming from people in your friendship circle, you should take some time to reconsider that relationship. Your mental health will thank you for it. Life is too short to spend our time catering to people who make us feel terrible.

5: Take a technology hiatus to reset your mind.

Finally, this is one of my favourite tips. We are surrounded by technology and social media so incessantly that it can become easy to get swept up in the doom and gloom of things. Sometimes, taking a step back from Facebook or Instagram can be exactly what you need to get back to your old self. Now, I’m not saying that you need to delete your accounts permanently, but rather, not checking them as much or deleting the app off of your phone so you’re not tempted to scroll through your feed constantly. I think you’ll find that after a few days, you will feel lighter and a little more present.

Hopefully these tips will have you feeling less funky and more *fUnKy* in no time.

IMPORTANT:
If you do feel like you’ve been in a funk for an extended period of time, please seek help. You deserve to feel good, so take the first step and contact someone to help get you on the right track.
Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

My Proposal: What are universities doing about mental illness?

If you’ve seen my previous blog post (here) where I ponder my ideas for a research report I am undertaking, you’ll know that I have picked the topic of mental health in students. As a university student, mental health is something that has greatly impacted my own life, including my studies, and I feel that my own experience is important in allowing me to research reflexively, and acknowledge my own stance on the topic. I also believe that transparency is important in my research, so expressing my personal connection with this topic will allow any readers to understand the research report from my point of view.

However, for me to be able to do this topic justice, I must focus all of my research on one aspect. For this research report, I will be focusing specifically on how and if universities are helping students with mental health disorders.

I strongly believe that this topic is extremely relevant for today’s current university students, and is something that needs to be spoken about as soon as possible. An article published by ABC News supports this, stating that 35 percent of students (both at TAFE and university) had experienced self-harm or suicidal thoughts in the past 12 months. (Vukovic, 2017)
This is a truly frightening statistic, and it solidifies how dire and prominent of a situation mental health in students has become.

In a study conducted by the American College Health Association, results showed that only 24% of college students that had been diagnosed with depressed were receiving treatment. (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2009)
If only 24 out of 100 medically diagnosed students are receiving treatment, it’s no wonder students are struggling to cope.

But why are they not receiving treatment? And if universities are aware of this crisis, what resources are they supplying to students? I aim to find this out through my research, as well as uncovering students’ perceptions of these resources.

I plan to achieve these goals through multiple research practices and pathways. I will conduct anonymous online surveys that will be distributed to University of Wollongong students via social media. The questions will be based around whether participants have heard of the resources available for students with mental health disorders at the University of Wollongong, and their attitudes surrounding it. I have learnt from conducting previous primary research that allowing anonymity in completing the surveys will likely increase participants’ willingness to cooperate, and therefore, I believe this information will be of high importance to the report as well as being easily achievable.

I also aim to connect with members of the UOW Wellbeing Society and other UOW officials to see how successful their efforts have been, and whether they can see room for improvements. My secondary research will continue, with hopes to find more statistics about mental health disorders in students and the utilisation of resources in universities both nationally and internationally.

Ultimately, other than simply achieving the goal of writing this report for my assignment, I really want to raise awareness for mental illness in students and hopefully encourage universities to develop and promote resources for students, or continue building upon resources they may already have available.

Sources:
Vukovic, D. (2018). One in Three Students Consider Self-Harm and Suicide. [online] ABC News. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-06/one-in-three-students-consider-self-harm-and-suicide/8420728 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].
Hunt, J. and Eisenberg, D. (2009). Mental Health Problems and Help-Seeking Behavior Among College Students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46(1), pp.3-10.