Some mental health tips for surviving at LUMS

When I came to LUMS, I was messed up in too many ways to count. On top of that I didn’t even know about the bomb that was building up inside me that just needed LUMS as an excuse to burst. Most of us, especially the hostelites, we get to learn so much about ourselves when we embark on this journey of LUMS. Sometimes it is because we have to live in a small room, disconnected from our families who are our emotional support systems. It is when we are stuck in those rooms that all the inner insecurities, frustrations and voices rise in our life and they become bigger than life. It is at that time that we break and we curse LUMS for messing us up. I am not justifying the system of LUMS here; I will be the last person to. All I am saying is that this journey of pain and tears makes us so much better as individuals. Here are some of the tips that I have come up for staying sane at LUMS.

1. Do something for yourself

The routines that we have at LUMS, it is easy to forget that we exist as individuals and our emotional health is much more important than all the academics. Some of us have such bad routines, especially the SSE people that we forget to find time for ourselves. We start our days in a hurry to get to classes and we sleep while thinking of our classes. I know it’s hard to survive at this and you have too much on your plate but trust me you can spare one hour for yourself in the whole mayhem. Specify one hour each day where you are going to do something solely for your enjoyment and you are going to do it alone. If you are a writer then just sit and write. If you can sketch then do that. Take a bicycle and go for a ride. Swim till all you can think about is swimming. Sit alone and gaze at the sky. Do all this without the background voices telling you that you are wasting your time. If you don’t give time to yourself then you will become angry, irritated, frustrated, tired and depressed in this schedule.

2. Exercise

You don’t have to spend long hours at the gym or the swimming pool. The aim is not to build a body but the aim is to build barriers for your mind. For 15 to 30 minutes do some exercise be that yoga, aerobics or just a simple walk. Physical exercise helps a lot in relieving all the pent of frustration and anxiety in our bodies.

3. Seek Help

I agree with you that not everyone at LUMS is helpful or approachable but that is just a minority. There are so many people out there, both in the admin and the student council who would love to help you. Twice in my years at LUMS, I have had anxiety and panic attacks due to a course and I have received immense support from the faculty. All I would do was send a mail and a number of people would reach out to me to help me. If you are going through a difficult time in life then reach out to someone from the LUMS community.

4. Stop Comparing

I have a horrible GPA and I spent too much of my life being upset over that. Yes there are ‘theetas’ out there and may God bless them but that has nothing to do with you are as a person. Not everyone was meant to get a 4.0 and that is okay. Make your CV so strong that even a 4.0 can’t beat you. We live in a much progressive world and you can prove your worth in many more ways than the GPA on your transcript.

5. Ditch the Toxicity

I had the luck of making horrible friends and it is now in senior year that I am learning to shed the old and make new friends. Be smart from the beginning and don’t make friends who further pull you down and make you feel even worse about yourself. Everyone is suffering from some emotional trauma I life and they have the tendency to take that out on friends. If you feel like you can’t deal with that then get out of that relationship. Make friends who can provide you with laughter when LUMS hits you.