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We all go through rough periods in our life. Recently I faced a level of mental burnout I hadn’t felt in over a decade. It was unexpected and overwhelming, but it has taught me valuable lessons.

Mental health challenges can arise throughout life, and university can often bring them to the surface. Juggling study and workloads, mixed with the pressure of a cost of living crisis, can add up and exacerbate life stressors. found that 46% of Australian university students experienced mental health issues in the past year. The study also highlighted that international students were more likely to identify as depressed but were less likely to seek professional help. Hopefully, sharing my own story will resonate with others and offer a sense of hope and practical ways to build mental resilience in the face of adversity.

Communication is Key

In the past, I would have tried to manage everything myself, bottling up my emotions and shutting people out. Feelings of shame and guilt about how I felt prevented me from communicating with others and led me to self-isolate. It’s OK to not be OK 100% of the time. Before I felt comfortable talking to friends, I found a great deal of solace in talking to a stranger at . The anonymity and connection with a stranger helped me not feel alone, gave me hope, and made communicating with others much easier.

Self Compassion

We are often our own harshest critics. Through my latest experiences, I’ve had to learn to give myself space for things in the past I would criticise myself about. This journey of self-compassion has fostered a new level of emotional resilience by helping me to be kind to myself despite the setbacks. Scaling back plans, taking it one day at a time, and celebrating the small wins have helped nurture this resilience. I have found journaling to be a good way of reflecting and celebrating small wins.

Resilience is a Journey, Not a Destination

Being mentally resilient isn’t about rushing your mental health recovery; rather, it’s about acknowledging the situation and recognising that progress is different for everyone. Flipping my internal negative narrative to framing this as an opportunity to learn has allowed me to recognise my mental health was depleted and what steps I need to take to build it back up. My recovery has been slower than I would have liked, but that’s all part of the learning experience. Building resilience allows me to accept this and celebrate any small win in the journey. 

Seeking Professional Help

Thankfully, there is a lot of help to support anyone going through challenging times. At university, I have found immense support from talking to peers, lecturers, and especially from and Student Life Counselling Support, who have helped guide me through the logistics of taking a step back from full-time study and planning for the future so I can complete my studies. 

We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for usJoseph Campbell

So, if you’re going through something similar, know you’re not alone. In the past, I would have found it difficult to talk about this, whether in a blog or with a friend, but sharing this experience has helped me build mental resilience and foster self-compassion by reinforcing that it is OK to not be OK. Taking a step back to take care of your well-being may be a hard decision at the time, but it needs to be made a priority. By learning new techniques and building resilience, we can better deal with future challenges when they arrive. And remember—sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.