Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Everybody has a coping mechanism; a way to ensure their heads don't explode from stress, annoyance or the general tedium of life. My own takes the form of cooking; every revision period you can guarantee a minimum of 5 three-course meals and a couple of home recipe cakes.

The result of this habit is that I tend to carry my stress around with me, though less in its 'emotional' form and more as a rapidly expanding waistline.

For my friends, this method of de-stressing seems weird. Sarah, who I have known since High School, turns her stress into jet fuel. "If I'm not stressed, I'm not working," she would continually remind me.

The story is less true for two of my other friends from home. One has become as close to an alcoholic recluse as anyone who regularly attends lectures can. The other found that pain distracted her best, and still bears those scars today.

As you can imagine, I advocate no method I have mentioned as a way to cope. My own – stuffing your face with fatty food – is not a good way to stay healthy. Pretending that you like stress inevitably fails (I still recall Sarah throwing pottery at me) and drinking heavily can lead to a stage where its difficult to distinguish between ìjust a good timeî and alcoholic.

What is often worse about stress and general welfare issues is that we hide behind this fog of 'everything is ok' or 'I'm OK on my own.' Though it's not weak to ask for help, people often perceive this to be the case.

As the president of a Faculty Union I often feel this is a flaw we as students have. We are all happy to say that lecture X was crap because lecturer Y just read the PowerPoint slides but not to approach someone for guidance and advice.

If you are one of the latter people (and yes, sadly this is a plug) do try to visit the RCSU Welfare Week across campus. And if that is a little too brave, email your Faculty Welfare Officer, the relevant Sabb or your Personal Tutor – there's a lot of support out there.