Category: Features

by Rachel Barter ’27 on October 2, 2025

The Importance of Prioritizing Our Mental Health As College Students

Although Mental Health Awareness Month is only one month out of the year, this does not mean we should only monitor or prioritize our mental health during October. Instead, I think of mental health awareness as a yearly reminder for us to reevaluate our mental health and how we could be doing more to improve it. Additionally, it encourages everyone to become aware and educate themselves about mental health conditions, reduce stigma associated with seeking treatment, and highlight the availability of mental health resources and support systems, such as the Personal Counseling Center here at Providence College. Overall, the importance of this designated month is to educate people about mental health, normalize conversations around mental health, and foster a more compassionate society where individuals feel empowered to seek help.

Particularly, I find that as a college student whose main task is to study for our classes and do homework, it is easier to let our mental well-being slide in order to accomplish our academic goals while balancing clubs, jobs, family, and friends. Hence, college seems to be a breeding ground for poor mental health and for neglecting to value our mental health over other priorities. For instance, rigorous studying can cause us to neglect exercise, spending time outside, eating, and having fun with friends, which are all influential factors on our mental health.

It is important to correlate our ability to complete assignments with our ability to successfully retain information. If we let our mental health slip in our list of priorities in order to prioritize academics, we are actually degrading the quality of work we attempt to complete. This is not to say it is easy to take this advice and begin to prioritize our mental well-being over our academics, but even taking baby steps towards this goal, like occasionally making active choices, are great ways to approach this goal in a comfortable way.

One way I accomplished this last week was taking a walk before I started homework that had been stressing me out that I had consequently been pushing off. This simple 30-minute break calmed me down to a point where I could focus on the work at hand and approach the assignment in digestible sections. Another way that I worked on my mental health last week was by saying yes to my friends and roommates when they asked to hang out. Instead of scheduling this around my homework time I had set out, I scheduled my homework around what we wanted to do. This solution is simple, and it helps to take the anxiety away that comes when I feel like I am forced to take time away from my studies. I get to feel like I am truly maximizing my study time when I know my activity schedule first. Lastly, I find that the most important thing I do for my mental health is to set limits on how long I will devote time to academics. It’s important that I know when to stop studying because I have gotten to a point where I will not be very productive and can better utilize this time by taking time for myself.

Similar to how Mental Health Awareness Month is about encouraging improvement rather than forcing you to change your routine or list of priorities, I simply want to offer my opinion as a friendly encouragement to consider what small steps you could take to improve your mental well-being. Lastly, I encourage everyone to seek information on the different types of support you can receive either here at PC or elsewhere, and to understand that it is not necessary to carry our mental health conditions stoically without the help of others.