How to prevent post-freshers’ anxiety

It’s over, and for better or for worse you have survived Freshers’ Week, likely to be sporting a rather persistent headache and bruises that you can’t quite remember acquiring. Then, without realising, you are plunged back into academia with all the pressures and stresses that come along for the ride.

We hear a lot about what to do if Freshers’ isn’t the best week of your life, or if it fails to meet your expectations. But we’re never given any advice on how to deal with the impact of meeting so many people in an alien environment fuelled by alcohol.

From my own experience, anxiety didn’t hit me until university actually started. The conscious realisation that I was surrounded by strangers, all working at an academic standard that I had no experience of, hit me like a ton of bricks. The phone calls that my parents expected on Freshers’ Week started flooding in, and up to three sobbing phone calls a day became the norm. With this in mind, I am giving some advice that I wish I had been given on how to deal with these emotions.

1. It’s okay not to be okay

Forget trying to be big and strong. Whatever age you are, it’s not easy moving away from home for the first time. As your space changes, you have to re-configure how you fit into your own life. The first step in addressing any anxiety or home sickness is acknowledging it, and not feeling bad about it.

2. Talk about it

Not everyone has the kind of home environment that allows them to ring their mum and ball their eyes out. But there is always someone you can turn to and share your thoughts with. It may be a family member, a friend from home, someone on the welfare team in your halls or someone in the counselling service. But more often than not, people are – to a greater or lesser degree – experiencing the kind of feelings that you’re trying to process on your own, so talking to someone is more beneficial than you may have initially thought.

3. Walk the walk

One of the best things I did when I first started to experience these thoughts and feelings was to go on very long and quite laborious walks. Not only is this a way to get some exercise but it’s also a great way to try and deconstruct your state of mind and start to understand why you’re feeling rotten. An extra benefit of being a student in Bristol is that it’s a quirky, cool city. Feeling social? Explore Clifton. Interested in alternative arts? Wander into Montpelier and up to Stokes Croft. Want to get out of the student bubble? Venture into Southville and Bedminster.

4. Don’t be afraid of going out

Whether it be joining a society or going to play badminton with your flatmates, embrace every chance you get to get to know people. As obvious as it sounds, the more time you spend with people the more comfortable you will feel in their company. It’s easy to feel like nobody likes you when really, they just don’t know you. And this is not me advocating going on a mad one every night, but just advising you to make an effort to show people who you are.

5. Don’t be embarrassed about going home

It’s easy to get caught up in university life and not go home for the entire first term. You’re a strong, independent person, and that’s cool. But what’s also cool is a fully-stocked fridge and watching TV on the sofa with your family. In my first term at Bristol, I went home every two weeks, and I am not local. By my second term, I stayed for longer periods, but it didn’t feel like forced labour as I had given myself the time to settle in and feel in control of my new environment.

So, if you are feeling anxious or just a little sad, give yourself a break and go home for the weekend. And if your own home isn’t the place for you, visit an old friend. Forget what other people think, and do what’s right for you.