We all react differently to uncertainty. It is important to realise that it is normal to experience stress and to discuss this with your manager or lecturer. It is only natural to experience fear, anxiety and insecurity. However, stress can exacerbate physical and mental symptoms, have a negative effect on our behaviour and affect our nervous system. It is important to try and realise when you are feeling stressed, in order to be able to do something about it.

There are several methods that can help you reduce stress. Here are a few suggestions. These based on scientific research and may help you take care of your mental wellbeing. Try and see which ones best suit your personal circumstances and work for you.

Stay in touch with others

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, we are having less contact with our social network. Epidemiological studies have shown that social isolation is a risk for the symptoms of stress. Without social support most people are more sensitive to symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Research has shown, for instance, that students are more susceptible to viruses during exam periods and that wounds heal faster during holidays. This makes it important to stay in contact with others. Be creative in finding ways to do this.

Talking to people you know and trust helps to reduce feelings of isolation, fear, boredom or vulnerability. Try to enlist the support of family, friends, neighbours and/or spiritual or religious leaders such as spiritual workers, pastors, imams or others. Also support others. Not everyone will find it easy to ask others for help, so try to contact others whom you think may be finding things difficult.

Lower the bar

Lower your expectations and do what you can. Adjust your idea of ‘a successful day’ to the current circumstances and give yourself permission to feel the working from home blues (in Dutch)  every now and then. Take a break between stressful activities and do something you enjoy after having completed a difficult task.

Accept your emotions instead of suppressing them

Realise that it is normal to be anxious or worried about all the things that might happen. Especially if things in your daily life are uncertain or changing and you feel as if you have lost control. Remind yourself that people can cope with even the most negative of emotions and that they will pass eventually. By acknowledging these emotions, it will actually become easier to accept the things you cannot control and help you focus on the things you can control.

Reduce smartphone use

It can also be difficult to put down your smartphone, but some time without it is good for your brain. For tips on resisting your smartphone see the Leiden Psychology Blog.

Relax your body and mind

Make sure to plan enough moments for rest and relaxation, both mentally and physically. Time-pressed? A session of only five or ten minutes can still be very effective. A lot of people benefit from yoga, sports, walking, listening to music or reading in order to relax. Try to breathe slowly and make a conscious effort to relax your muscles. The USC Instagram channel offers free live workouts, including meditation and yoga.

Focus on positive thoughts

Try to see positive aspects of this period and to redirect negative thoughts to become more empowering statements. Instead of thinking ‘these are terrifying times’, try thinking ‘this situation is temporary and I am now looking very differently at what I consider to be important’. Make a list of things that are going well and things that you are grateful for. Keeping track of things you are grateful for or enjoy doing, however small, will help you focus on the positive side. Also compliment others to help motivate them.

Continue doing the things you enjoy and allow yourself to enjoy them

Make plans for your free time, so that you have something fun to do after a hard day’s work.

Daily routines and good ‘sleep hygiene’

Flexibility can be a good thing during these extraordinary times, but it can also cause a lot of anxiety and stress (in Dutch) because you suddenly have to make all these choices. Sticking to a fixed schedule can help you get through the day and keep a grip on the situation. Add some structure to your day by taking regular breaks and going for a quick walk around the block. 

A good night’s sleep will help you deal with stress. Some rules for practising ‘sleep hygiene’: go to bed at approximately the same time each night and get up at approximately the same time each morning. For instance, get up at your usual time even though you are working from home and try not to stay up too late in the evenings. Try to avoid afternoon naps.

Try to get enough exercise and eat a healthy diet

Eating a healthy diet and taking regular exercise will help you sleep and will help reduce stress too. When you are feeling a bit down you are less likely to feel like exercising or eating healthy food, but these actually have a very positive effect. And whether you exercise alone or with others (online), sport can even improve your social circle and vice versa. Exercising with family, friends or teammates through video calls or online races makes it more fun and also encourages you to keep active. For more information on food and exercise and tips for sports and online support, see the Physical health page.

Professional support

The degree to which you are affected by the corona situation depends on a number of different factors. People with existing mental health problems or less support around them and those who have experienced traumatic events will tend to be more badly affected. If you notice that your response to stress has been seriously affecting your mental health for several days in a row, call a medical professional such as your GP. You can find more information and tips on these Dutch and international websites:

• Dealing with coronavirus stress (LUMC) (in Dutch)
• Stress and Coping
• Looking after yourself
• COVID-19 in clinical practice (in Dutch)
• Coronavirus Anxiety: Coping with Stress, Fear, and Uncertainty
• Health care toolbox: COVID-19

There are a number of free e-health apps that you can use at home to help you cope with corona-related stress. Our psychologists recommend the following:

Therapieland (in Dutch)

Therapieland offers a free online programme aimed at helping you to deal with corona stress. Although you may be powerless to influence many of the things happening around you, Therapieland helps you to identify the things you can influence. It provides concrete tools that help you to deal with unpleasant thoughts or feelings. These tools enable you to relax and focus on the things that are important to you.

InsightTimer

InsightTimer offers a free app that teaches you to deal better with sleep issues, anxiety and stress.

Youper

The Youper emotional health assistant helps you examine your negative thoughts and feelings and provides advice and suggestions on how to change your mind in a positive direction.

What’s UP

What’s UP is another good app that helps you cope with symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. It also helps you identify helpful and counterproductive habits (iOS/Android)

MindShift

MindShift uses strategies based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge of your anxiety (iOS/Android)

Sanvello

This is a popular app for stress, anxiety, and depression based on CBT and mindfulness (iOS/Android)

As a student, combining your social life, studies, work and exercise can be quite a challenge. That makes it extra important to be aware of your mental state and to take good care of yourself. Your university wants to help you with this. 
That's why the university joined Caring Universities, an initiative aimed at improving the psychological wellbeing of students. An anonymous online questionnaire can provide insight into your own mental health by offering personalized feedback about your mood, stress and anxiety based on your answers. Whatever you decide to do next is up to you, but if you experience complaints like stress or low mood, we offer you the chance to work on these in a free online programme, completely anonymously and with a free online coach to guide you through the process.  

Survey checks mental wellbeing

Completing the survey takes approximately 25 minutes and can be stopped at any given time. You can expect questions about psychological problems such as anxiety and depression, but also questions about your personality or daily functioning.

You will receive a personalized link to the survey in your uMail

Free online help and coaching

After you’ve completed the questionnaire you will receive personalized feedback on your stress, anxiety and mood based on the answers you’ve given and you will receive an advice. This advice can vary from the advice to visit your General practitioner, a psychologist in the area or the student psychologists. For a number of complaints, Caring Universities has developed free online programmes, such as to improve your mood or reduce your stress. With these programmes you can work on your complaints anonymously, for free, and with guidance from an online coach.

The Caring Universities team is working hard to expand the number of interventions we can offer, to make sure that many students can work on the issues that are the most relevant!

An international initiative

Caring Universities is part of an international initiative: the World Health Organization College Student Mental Health Surveys (WHM-ICS). The online survey was developed by Harvard University and is offered to students worldwide by the World Health Organization. Caring Universities takes it one step further by offering students free online interventions for various psychological issues. The universities that are part of Caring Universities are:

• Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
• Universiteit Leiden,
• Universiteit Utrecht and
• Universiteit Maastricht

More information can be found on the website caring-universities.com, or send an e-mail to caring.universities@leidenuniv.nl
 

For students

Improve your wellbeing Join the Student Support Groups 

Do you find it hard nowadays to motivate yourself to study? Are you looking for social contact and support?  And do you want to meet new people, get together with fellow students, to help and motivate each other to study or simply to connect to have a little fun together?

If your answer to these questions is yes, please sign up for the online Student Support Groups! Here you can participate and receive support as well as offer support  to fellow students. A quick overview on what these groups can offer you  and how to become a member:

Support, personal goals and sustainable interaction  
Each group consists of six students and one staff member ór a student contact that will host your meetings (an active member within an existing student network). Our aim: form sustainable support networks through these challenging times. We can get through this together! We will have weekly one-hour meetings where we discuss how everyone is doing, we set personal wellbeing goals for the coming week and we work on our personal development which will help us through challenging times. There will be room for serious talk but also fun elements and interactive exercises which will help you to connect with other students. 

Between these meetings you are in touch with your group to work on your goals. The student contact is available for questions during the week as well. Groups are free to schedule more get-togethers, for example to create a daily structure together.

How to apply 
Dutch and international students from all programmes in Leiden and The Hague are welcome to join. After six applications, a new group will start for a period of 8 weeks. For the next few months, groups can start at any moment, as long as there are 6 participants.

To register and to receive more information, send an e-mail to studentsupportgroups@sea.leidenuniv.nl. We are looking forward to hearing from you! 

Leiden University Student Helpline: the Listening Phone

Are you feeling anxious, stressed or lonely in these difficult times? Contact the Listening Phone, a helpline staffed by the members of the Student Support Services. Call 071 527 8025, 071 527 8026 or send an email to studentsupport@leidenuniv.nl and we will call you back. The Listening Phone is available Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 12:00.

National Listening Line (Luisterlijn)

The national Listening Line (De Luisterlijn) is available 24/7. You can share your personal story in full anonimity with the volunteers, also via e-mail or chat.

Leiden: 071 - 512 52 02
Den Haag: 070 - 345 45 00

Most volunteers do speak English, but please note that because of the anonymity, the Luisterlijn cannot guarantee that you’ll be connected to an English speaking volunteer.

Rapenburg 100 Student Helpline: for corona crisis support

We all need a sense of where we are going in life and what our purpose is. Normally we take this for granted, but sometimes we feel the need to talk about this. The life coaches/spiritual counsellers of Rapenburg 100 are available Monday to Sunday from 16:00 to 18:00 and 20:00 to 22:00. Tel.: 071 744 0168.

Moodpep

Students who suffer from mood issues are welcome to take part in Moodpep. Moodpep is an online programme aimed at helping students and young people who suffer from low moods. The programme was designed by psychologists Nadia Garnefski and Vivian Kraaij. You will be invited to follow a number of online modules and offered support via short weekly coaching sessions over the phone. There is no waiting list – you can take part whenever and wherever you want – and there is a coach on hand to offer support. The programme consists of eight lessons and covers topics such as positive activities, negative thoughts, stress, relaxation and working towards achievable goals. The whole programme lasts six to eight weeks, spread over weekly sessions of one to two hours. For questions and to take part, send an email to: Moodpep@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.

For staff

HRM coaches

Has your social life been affected because of the corona crisis? Are you feeling (extra) lonely? The current crisis has resulted in uncertain times for everyone. You might be worried about your own health or that of loved ones. Or maybe you are trying to combine work with looking after children or caring for a family member. All these things can lead to stress, especially when the situation seems likely to continue for some time. If this sounds all too familiar and you feel the need to talk to a professional, you can contact one of the HRM coaches. Make an appointment by sending an email to: coacheshealthyuniversity@bb.leidenuniv.nl or calling 071 527 3193. After your appointment, the HRM coach may advise you to contact the University doctor if this seems to be the best course of action. Of course, you can also contact your own GP for assistance.  

Confidential counsellors

Working at home can lead to new problems in your working environment and relationships, in the area of academic integrity or possibly other issues such as undesirable behaviour. Obviously, you can first raise an issue with your manager and together look for a solution. Maybe you would prefer not to do that, but you can't resolve the problem on your own. It's good to remember that even in this period of working from home, the University confidential counsellors are available for you to talk to. Don't hesitate to contact them if you would like their help.