Tips on how to manage anxiety
Advice and tips from the the Student Health Centre and the Occupational Health Service
Many people are currently feeling very worried about the war in Ukraine. It is understandable and completely normal to feel concern, grief, anger and other emotions just now.
Below are a few tips on how to take care of yourself and manage your anxiety:
- Be open about your feelings. It is not shameful, morbid or abnormal to react with worry or fear. It can be unpleasant, but that does not mean that everything you worry about will come to pass. Your experiences will also change over time.
- Spend time with people you like and get support from them. It is often helpful to put your worries into words and talk about them with others. However, it can also be soothing to focus on and talk about other things.
- Take care of yourself through regular meals, sleep and exercise.
- Keep yourself busy with activities you know will make you feel better. Allow yourself to think about something else.
- Reflect on what you can and cannot affect. It is easy to feel powerless in a major crisis. However, it may feel meaningful to do what you can, for example by donating money or getting involved in some other way.
- Avoid unhelpful coping strategies. There are several common, but unhelpful, coping strategies that you should avoid when you feel worried. These strategies may involve using alcohol, drugs or sedatives to manage the difficulties. Similarly, some people are tempted to withdraw from activities, family and friends.
- Limit the amount of news you consume if the news and content on social media make you worried. For example, you could choose to listen to the morning news on the radio, but skip the evening TV news before going to bed.
- Get professional help from the Student Health Centre, the Occupational Health Service or public healthcare if you are experiencing major difficulties or if you need advice. For example, this could be appropriate if you feel very depressed, anxious or isolated, if you have insomnia or if you are struggling to manage your studies or your work.
Contact information and links to further information
The Student Health Centre offers individual counselling sessions in order to help students in need.
The Occupational Health Service offers individual counselling sessions in order to help staff members in need.
The University's Multifaith Chaplaincy offers support and provides comfort for all students and staff, regardless of faith or beliefs.
More information and contact details for the student chaplains:
Contact person: Jan Kjellström
Email: jan [dot] kjellstrom [at] svenskakyrkan [dot] se
Telephone: +46 (0)70 422 29 97
More about the student chaplains' services on the Lund Cathedral website (in Swedish)
At the Emergency information from Swedish authorities website (krisinformation.se), you can find more information about the war in Ukraine and anxiety support.
Do you wonder how the war affects the University?
If you have questions about the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the University, you can email ukraina [at] er [dot] lu [dot] se.
If you are a student, you can contact the International Desk at studentreception [at] lu [dot] se.