Module 4: A health study-life balance Flashcards
Common factors to balance with studying
- Socializing
- Employment
- Volunteering
- Commuting
- Holidays
- Exercise
- Caring for a dependent or family member
- Hobbies/interests
Expectations and importance of study-life balance
- Time commitment
- Rest
- Plan
Time commitment expectations of students
Students aren’t expected to study 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; the expectation for a full-time university student is 30-35 hours of studying a week including lecture, labs, seminars
Importance of rest for study-life balance
Imp for brain to process new info; body needs exercise and sleep to keep it in proper state of alertness to focus on learning effectively
The impact of over studying on well being and mental health
-Neg impact on relationships w family, friends and partners
-Interfere with ability to fulfil other non-study related obligations or interests
-Increase likelihood of unhealthy behaviours
Which unhealthy behaviours are likely increased with over-studying?
Smoking
Excessive alcohol or drugs use
Unhealthy eating
Feelings of loneliness and isolation
Anxiety/depressive symptoms
Increase risk of hopelessness
Self-harm
Benefits of achieving a healthy study-life balance
- Health and absences
- Efficiency
- Engagement
- Focus and concentration
- Academic success
Health and absences
Reduce worry and stress, trying to do too many things at once feeds worry and rumination
Efficiency
Having a healthy balance improves efficiency of work during the allotted study hours
Engagement
Supports greater connection to and interest in courses, lectures and relationships
Focus and concentration
Facilitates attention on the task at hand and staying present (mindfulness)
Academic success
Improves learning efficiency and productivity which is needed for academic success
Wheel of life
- Academic/professional
- Finances
- Health
- Family and friends
- Relationships/love
- Personal growth
- Recreation, culture and hobbies
- Physical environment
Self reflection questions to ask yourself when reflecting on your wheel of life
1.Balance: how would like it to look?
2.Overload: what areas are you spending too much time on?
3.Time on self and others
4.Changes to make
Connectedness
A personal sense of belonging
What can personally meaningful connections be made on the basis of?
World view
Environment
Values
Relationships
Work
Recreational interests
Examples of types of connections
- Other people
- The natural world
- Meaningful values
- Meaningful work
- Culture and heritage
Types of connections- other people
Family, friends, peers, colleagues
Types of connections- the natural world
All of the animals, plants and other things existing in nature and not made or caused by people, ie. Gardening, hiking, sightseeing
Types of connections- meaningful values
Faith-based activities, activities that reflect importance with family and or personal values
Types of connections- meaningful work
Work, hobbies, volunteering, passion projects
Types of connections- culture and heritage
Celebrating traditions, cultural holidays, relating to people and places from your past
Benefits of social connectedness
- Improve quality of life
- Boost mental health
- Increased life expectancy
- Decrease risk of suicide
- Build more inclusive learning activities
Benefits of social connectedness- improve quality of life
Social connection is an imp determinant of health and mental health
Benefits of social connectedness- boost mental health
Increased feelings of belonging, purpose, increased levels of happiness, reduced stress, improved self-worth and confidence
Benefits of social connectedness- increased life expectancy
Individuals with stronger social connections had a 50% increased likelihood of survival
Benefits of social connectedness- decrease risk of suicide
Protecting feelings of isolation, suicidal thoughts and behaviours
Benefits of social connectedness- build more inclusive learning environments
Compassion for self and for others; challenging stigma and discrimination (based on race, gender, sexuality, disability, worldview or mental state)
Loneliness
Sensation or unpleasant feeling that accompanies the perception that one’s social needs are not being met by the quantity or quality of one’s social connections
Effects of loneliness
-Increased cortisol (can lead to depression or stroke or heart attack)
-Increased sleep disturbances
-Reduced activity
-Increased risk of heart disease
-Challenge immune system
Forms of a lack of connection
Withdrawal, ignoring or being ignored, lack of support or approval, feeling of being abandoned
Important contributors to to self-harm in older adults
-Social exclusion
-Lack of social connectedness
-Loneliness
-Substance misuse
Does social media have an impact on loneliness scores?
No impact of social media on loneliness scores
Social prescribing
Holistic approach to health and mental health supporting nonclinical community-based activities to improve social connectedness, reduce loneliness and optimize well-being
Social isolation
Objective measurement of the number of people you interact with; lack of quantity of social connections
Impacts of isolation
- Physical
- Emotional
- Cognitive
Physical impacts of isolation
Isolation has been linked to poorer health and substance abuse, which in turn negatively impacts health further and increases risk of disease
Emotional impacts of isolation
Reduced confidence
Feelings of diminished self worth
Despair
Depression
Worthlessness
Self-harm
What is one of the strongest predictors of depression in later life?
Social isolation
Cognitive impacts of isolation
People in prolonged isolation may experience a shortened attention span or forgetfulness as they may not see any reason or opportunity to remain aware and alert
Recreation
Noun
o1. Refreshment by means of some pastime, agreeable exercise or the like
o2. A pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment
Types of attention
- Directed attention
- Involuntary attention
Directed attention
Form of focused attention that requires great effort to remain on task and process the info; mentally demanding, as more appealing external info must be blocked out.
Ex. Driving in heavy traffic, study, computer work etc.
Involuntary attention
Effortless; held when subject is interesting and automatically holds your attention; pleasurable way of processing environmental info and comes at no cost to human way of tiredness.
Ex. Watching animals or birds, looking at nature scenes or water, watching sports, listening to music
Directed attention fatigue (DAF)
Neuropsychological phenomenon indicating overuse of brain’s inhibitory system necessary for maintaining focused attention
Areas negatively impacted by DAF
1.Input deficits
2.Thinking problems
3.Behaviour
4.Executive functioning
5.Emotions
6.Worrying and rumination
Areas affected by DAF- Input deficits
Misinterpretation of and failure to notice social cues
Areas affected by DAF- behaviour
Cause an individual to act compulsively or recklessly
Areas affected by DAF- executive functioning
Reduced ability to plan and make good decisions
Areas affected by DAF- emotions
Short-tempered and have feelings of unpleasantness
Areas affected by DAF- worrying and rumination
Makes it easier to slip into worry and overthinking
How to refresh and recover from DAF
-Engage in positive activities you find absorbing
-Clearing mind of internal distractions and take short breaks from directed attention tasks
-Getting good quality sleep
-Allowing mind to wander freely (exercising etc.)
Attention restoration theory
Suggests that you think better when you spend time in or connecting with nature; feeling restored mentally when immersing oneself in a restorative environment
Attention restoration activities
-Nature
-Creative tasks (music, art)
-Kinaesthetic activities (sport, dance)
-Highly sensory/sensual tasks (cooking, eating listening to music)
Examples of recreation
1.Physical activity
2.Nature
3.Cultural activities
The cost of physical inactivity- caused by inability to work
-3.3 million people die around the world each year due to physical inactivity
-Cost in Canada: costs Canadians $6.8 billion per year
-Cost in the UK: costs UK over 8 billion
Five key findings from physical exercise impact research
- Positive emotion
- Unity of body and mind
- Heightened self-esteem
- Leisure
- Problem-focused coping
Five key findings- positive emotion
Enhance positive emotions such as pleasure, vigour and energy, decreases anxiety, tension, tiredness and anger
Physical activity and endorphins
PA releases endorphins which promote a feeling of happiness, improves concentration and boosts immune system
Five key findings- unity of body and mind
Feeling of more improved well-being and life satisfaction from active leisure
Students who engage in PA are more likely to engage in other health behaviours such as healthy eating, avoidance of unhealthy food and improved sleep
Five key findings- heightened self-esteem
Sense of accomplishment that brings sense of fulfillment, self-effectiveness and self-esteem after wards
Five key findings- leisure
Enhance stress coping due to heightened sense of control of spare time and health
Five key findings- problem focused coping
A way of coping through which people actively seek info or help to tackle a problem directly or diminish its impact rather than emotion focused coping such as blaming, venting, denying or avoiding
Nature and well-being
Being in touch with nature and spending time outdoors is beneficial for both physical and mental health
Access to green space benefits
Alleviates a range of both mental and physical health problems including levels of chronic stress, reductions in obesity and improved concentration; can reduce stress within min
Benefits of interacting with environments rich in wildlife
- Physical health: improvements to health through increased PA
- Stress: reductions in stress and anxiety
- Emotional regulation: increased positive mood and self-esteem
- Social life: a better and healthier social life
Ways you can include nature in your daily life indoors
-Keeping plants in home
-Photographs of nature on or around desk
-Using beautiful landscape as your screensaver and background picture on your computer
-Having your morning tea/coffee/breaky by your window or on your patio/balcony
-Watching a nature show on tv
-Taking 5 min to meditate to sound of the ocean or rainstorm
Ways you can include nature in your daily life outdoors
-Taking your laptop outside and work for a while in a shaded area
-Allowing yourself 5 min to walk around park, garden or sports field
-Going outside on your coffee/lunch break
Royal society for the protection of birds report
Found that continued use of green space for PA is linked to quality of the landscape, in terms of beauty, diversity and contact w nature
Examples of green space increasing levels of physical activity
Health walks and the green gym
Culture
Characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people; encompasses language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, art and more
Cultural activities
Art, music, reading, writing
Impact of engaging in purposeful and meaningful activities
Work as an antidepressant by improving mood
The flow state
-State you get into when you are so engaged in a creative task that your sense of time disappears and you temporarily forget yourself and your internal chaos
Impact of flow state
Effective at reducing worry and rumination and increasing well-being
GLAM
Galleries, libraries, arts and museums
Benefits of living a GLAM lifestyle
- Longevity
- Resiliency
- Community connectedness
GLAM- Longevity
The arts and heritage sectors can help keep us well, aid our recovery and support longer lives better lived
GLAM- resiliency
The arts and heritage sectors can help meet major challenges facing health and social care including ageing, long-term conditions, loneliness and mental health
GLAM- community connectedness
The arts and heritage sectors offer a range of non-clinical programs, some are well-being programs helping communities with preventative lifestyles and others are early intervention support for mental health difficulties; can reduce pressure and save money in health service and social care
What are the three R’s?
- Reading
- Writing
- Resetting
Importance of the three R’s
-In times of stress, reading and writing are often the first things to go
-Writing or journaling about an emotional topic lowered peoples cortisol levels, leading to better sleep and improved mood
Cultural heritage
Implies a shared bond, our belonging to a community; represents our history and our identity, our bond to the past, to our present and the future
The heritage, health and well-being report in 2020
Highlights the social benefits of heritage range from increased social cohesion and greater sense of identify to improved well-being and better learning and skills outcomes
Prescribe culture
Well being and mental health initiative run by the university of Edinburgh museums services; heritage based and non-clinical and proactively engaging with the concept of social prescribing
Social prescribing
An approach for connecting people with non-medical resources to help with the health problems they experience
