One thing that all student workers are bound to come across is Mental Health. But before looking after others we need to look after ourselves.
Rachael Newham is the Founding Director of ThinkTwice, a national organisation which seeks to raise awareness of mental health issues, providing training and consultancy to churches and christian charities. She has written some useful tips about how as Student Workers we can look after our own Mental health so we can be in a better position to look after others.
Taking care of ourselves
When our work involves taking care of others, taking care of ourselves can sometimes fall by the wayside. As the air hostesses’ say however, in order to care effectively for others we must ensure that we are securing our own oxygen masks before we can help others. When we are looking after our own mental health we’re able to model what good self-care looks like to those we’re ministering to. So here’s a few things to consider:
Taking care of the physical
We can’t separate our mental health and our physical health and we need to be ensuring that we are eating as healthily as we can and getting enough sleep.
Taking care of the emotional
When we're spending our days trying to support others, it's vital that we have time and space to process our own emotions.
Don't neglect the spiritual
Take some time each day to ensure that you are reconnecting with God. It can be tempting to only reach for the Bible when preparing a talk, but try and get into a rhythm of personal devotions. Have a sabbath, we need rest! Get a community, the ministry can be lonely and it’s important that there are people you can turn to who are in the same boat.
Top Tips
- Try and get outside at least once during the working day, whether it be walking to work or taking a lunchtime walk. This will ensure you take a proper break and get some exercise.
- Limit the caffeine! As tempting as it is to rely on a programme of diet coke and Starbucks, they don’t help anxiety levels - if nothing else avoid caffeine after 4pm.
- Ensure that you have regular supervision sessions with your line manager so that you can discuss concerns.
- Take a Sabbath. If you work on a Sunday and can’t take the traditional day as a sabbath, have either a Saturday or a day in the week that can be a complete break from work.
- Organise monthly or termly meet-ups with the other youth and student workers in your area for friendship and support.
- If you’re struggling, tell your line manager and try and get a mentor or friend outside of work that you can be supported.
- Put boundaries in place, be strict with session times and make sure you have at least a day when your emails/work texts aren’t dealt with and let your team know.
- Use your annual leave! Look at your calendar for the year ahead and plan in when you can get a break regularly.
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