The Power of the Mind

This chapter addresses contributing factors toward mental health challenges, protective practices, and common mental health disorders. Contributing factors include moving away from family for the first time, dealing with new living situations, adjusting to an entirely new schedule, imposter syndrome (the feeling of being a fraud), social isolation, and managing a heavier workload. An overview of common mental health disorders includes information about symptoms and treatment for anxiety, depression, attention deficiency/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum, and bipolar disorder. Guidelines for how the instructor can encourage self-care, as well as how to respond to different levels of distress, are presented. A mental health toolkit at the end of the chapter provides exercises for cultivating mindfulness, developing time-management tools, and coping with imposter syndrome and performance anxiety.