mental wellness

Exam Anxiety: Interview with Lisa Pfau
By Pfau2018
April 28, 2021
768 Views
Blog

This week we will be interviewing Lisa Pfau, the founder and CEO of Pfau Academic Writing, about the stress caused by assignments and exams. We thought this topic would be helpful to our listeners who are about to enter the final exam season. Exam anxiety is a real and serious problem that can hinder students’ academic performance.

Lisa 300x200 Exam Anxiety: Interview with Lisa Pfau

 

As you may know, Lisa has over 20 years of experience supporting students through academic challenges. I first met Lisa three years ago as a first-year International student at the University of Toronto. Lisa has helped me with the transition from high school to university, giving me lots of great tips about how to deal with the pressures of university.

 

What are some symptoms of exam anxiety?

Before I start, I should preface this with a disclaimer: I’m not a psychologist. I am a writing coach and I am basing my responses on 20 years of experience dealing with students, as well as my own research and readings on the topics. We do provide some links to mental health resources at the end of this post though.

 

Physical symptoms of anxiety: sweating, shakiness, increased heart rate, dry mouth, nausea, loss of appetite, crying, shortness of breath and dizziness. In some cases, some folks may even get physically ill, experiencing vomiting and diarrhea. I threw up one before my first provincial exam in Grade 12 because I was so nervous. Exam anxiety can be debilitating.

Cognitive symptoms of anxiety: procrastination/avoidance, addictive behaviors, inability to focus, loss of memory, lack of concentration, negative self-talk, easily distracted, lots of thoughts bouncing around in your head. I can usually tell when a student is anxious because I have to ask them the same question repeatedly and I get a distracted response. Or, oftentimes they fail to do their work in-between sessions because they are so worried about failing the assignment that it is better to completely avoid it, than try and make a mistake.

 

How does exam anxiety impact performance?

For me, I used to blank out at the beginning of the exam. For the first few minutes after sitting in the exam room, I would not be able to recall anything. However, after taking a few deep breaths and ritualistically setting up my exam table, my memory would start to come back and I could write the exam. Developing awareness about this response to exam stress helped me not to get overwhelmed by it. 

 

Another major impact is procrastination. When we are scared about something, we tend to avoid it, and that can mean avoid even starting an assignment or studying for an exam because we are afraid to fail, in the end creating the outcome that we were scared of, and validating our original fears.

 

Anxiety also makes it hard to focus and plan ahead, so we may think we studied, but since we were anxious our thoughts are all over the place and we likely are not hitting on or absorbing the key concepts. This is usually what happens when someone appears to have logged a bunch of hours in the library, but can’t seem to get a good grade on their work or exams. They are not sitting down to make a plan, note key information, memorize it, review it, and reflect on their mistakes, so that they can improve in the future. This is because when you are anxious you cannot access the part of your brain that deals with long-term planning and long-term memory. Your body is focused on fighting off the threat, which doesn’t require you to recall theoretical concepts or historical dates. It just requires you to know how you use your legs and run like the wind…or, hid under your bedspread watching Netflix.

 

What are some practices or strategies to relieve stress?

Anxiety affects everyone differently, and so we all deal with it differently and some strategies that work for me, may not work for everyone, but here are a few that I like:

  • Deep breathing: 7/11 breathing – breath in for 7 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds and breath out for 11 seconds

  • Journaling – Writing things down really helps me to get clear on why I am feeling a certain way, so that I can make a plan to resolve those stressors. It also can help me to identify and combat negative thought patterns.

  • Exercise – I find that I collect a lot of stress in my body throughout the day. If I don’t get at least an hour of intense exercise (weights or cardio) each day, it will build up over a few days and I will eventually find it hard to focus and want to start avoiding my desk.

  • Healthy eating – Sugar in-take really impacts my mood, so I tried to avoid sugary treats as much as I love them. I try my best to eat more fruit or bake treats out of natural ingredients or increase the fiber content to balance out the sugar. This is definitely a tricky one for me though because I baked goods.

  • Making lists – making a to-do list and setting intentions for the day helps me to get back on track when my brain wanders off on a tangent. I also keep a blank page for random thoughts that I pop into my mind throughout the day that I need to deal with, but not at the moment. I can then add them to my list for another day.

  • Professional help: Finally, I’m a big believer in psychotherapy. I think we spend some much and time working on my physical appearance, why not invest in your mind and mental health as well. Good friends are wonderful, but a therapist provides you with insight you often cannot get from others in your life unless you happen to be best friends with a trained therapist.

Recommended Resources

Presence by Amy Cuddy

School Counsellors

My SSP

Good2Talk

Student Care

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Lisa, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers! 

Missed the podcast? Listen here:

For more advice about writing, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

To get more help with your assignments, book a 20 minute discovery session with us and start your journey to reaching your full potential on the page, and in life.

Both the written, visual, audio, and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.

Customizing Mental Health Support for Students: Interview with Holly Smith
By Pfau Marketing
March 31, 2021
660 Views
Blog

 Thank you for joining us for the Breath In, Write Out podcast this week. Since many students are currently experiencing a stressful period of the semester because of the due dates and finals coming up, we thought this was the perfect time to re-run our interview with Holly Smith on Customizing Mental Health Support for Students. We hope that this podcast helps you to understand that it is normal to feel stressed out sometimes and provide you with strategies to take care of your mental health while studying.

We interviewed Holly Smith, an experienced clinical occupational therapist in the field of mental health and substance use, about some of the mental health challenges that students encounter, and strategies to create a healthier study environment. Despite campaigns put forward by governments and corporations in the last decade that encourage a more open discussion about mental health, there are still a number of stigmas and taboos that surround mental health concerns, particularly mental health struggles that are connected to addiction.

Holly Photo edited 2 300x300 Customizing Mental Health Support for Students: Interview with Holly Smith

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 Holly Smith is a Kanien’ke:haka (Mohawk) of the Haudenosaunee people from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, and she currently works as a clinical manager at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She also recently established Indigenous Wellness Services, mental health therapy, and consulting business which offers a decolonized approach to mental health treatment.  

What kinds of struggles do you often hear that students face compared to those in other stages of life?

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Typically, the majority of students are under the age of 25, and it is a really interesting time in life because people are still finding out about their identity. Students’ brains are still developing, and being in school is a high-stress period of time. There are a lot of social pressures and expectations, either from the family or themselves. It is a highly competitive environment. There is also a lot of social pressure, especially with the advent of social media. In addition, the upheaval of COVID-19 has been having a negative impact on society as a whole and creating additional pressures for students to try to manage the workload, finances, home life, and personal life at the same time. For international students away from family, there is also the impact of social isolation. The disruption of normal routines and activities caused by the restrictions placed upon students due to COVID-19 can have a lot of impacts on people’s mental wellness and mental health.

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What do you think prevents or delays students from reaching out for mental health support before their situation escalates? 

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I think there is a lot of stigma around the topic of mental health and mental wellness in general. There is a lot of fear and anxiety around even asking for help or saying: “I’m struggling in a certain area”, or “I’m having a rough time.” Sometimes it’s difficult to go for help without the fear of being judged or not being taken seriously or not being understood. For me personally, these fears had prevented me from reaching out for help. Thus, I was trying to manage and cope with those pressures and those expectations in a way that was not always the healthiest. When those kinds of pressures start to mount and increase, it will eventually get to a point where things get really overwhelming, and different areas of your life come in can become impacted by that. However, a lot of suffering could be avoided by understanding these feelings are just normal human emotions, and reaching out for help to navigate those feelings in a healthy way.

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What gaps do you currently see in the ability of the current mental health services on-campus and off-campus to provide adequate support to Indigenous students, and perhaps other students who have felt unsafe or unheard?

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I think the gap within the mental health care system, in general, is that it is a bit of a “one size fits all” approach. Even the mental health services that are offered on campuses, for example, are not going to meet the needs of everyone. They are not going to be relevant to everyone’s needs; and as a result, people are not going to connect with them in the way that they were intended to. Personally, when I was trying to connect with mental health supports in school, I was not happy with what was available at that time, so I didn’t access as many resources as I probably could’ve. I know that accessibility has improved, but there is still room for improvement in terms of understanding and personalizing services more to meet specific student needs. In addition, the traditional model of meeting with a therapist one-on-one doesn’t work for everything either. There needs to be more variety in how mental health services are delivered.

What would you suggest be done to start filling these gaps?

I also think more informal mental health supports should be provided, such as peer support groups and culturally sensitive programming. I think campuses should provide safe spaces for black, indigenous, and other racialized folks to be able to have access to peer support workers, elders, or traditional psychotherapists. Students should be able to talk to somebody who represents them and their community. And that’s something that I feel is missing in the health care system as a whole, particularly on college university campuses.

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Holly’s Book Recommendations and Resources

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Books:

The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A GUIDE AND MAP FOR RECOVERING FROM CHILDHOOD TRAUMA by Pete Walker

Youtube Channels:

Crappy Childhood Fairy by Anna Runkle

Lisa’s Book Recommendations and Resources

The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron

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Thank you, Holly, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers! 

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Missed the podcast? Listen here:

_

_

For more advice about writing, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

_

To get more help with your assignments, book a 20 minute discovery session with us and start your journey to reaching your full potential on the page, and in life.

Both the written, visual, audio, and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.

Men’s Mental Health: Interview with Kristopher Morrison
By Pfau Marketing
December 2, 2020
610 Views
Blog

 

We interviewed Kristopher Morrison (Eagle Calling Man), an indigenous and men’s health advocate in Ontario, about men’s mental health. Men and women have been socialized differently around emotions, communication styles, and dealing with life’s problems. Research has shown that men and women express depressive symptoms differently, for example. Women tend to emote and talk about their feelings, while men tend to pull inward and isolate themselves. It is unclear if their differences are biological or social, but they exist. And, this kind of self-isolating response to stress, especially emotional stress, can make it even more challenging for men to reach out for support than women when they need it the most.

Kris photo Mens Mental Health: Interview with Kristopher Morrison

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 Kris was born in the Swamping Cree Territory, with a deeper connection to the Cree Territory. Kris continues to cultivate a connection to the land through spending time outdoors hunting, fishing, and trapping. While in Peterborough, Ontario, he employs his traditional and cultural knowledge and practices to teach leadership skills and build confidence in the community, with a special focus on changing how we view and cultivate male leadership. He believes that knowing who you are and what your values are is essential to the process of being a secure and competent leader in your own life, and the lives of those around you.

How did you reach the conclusion that there was not enough support for men, especially for indigenous men, about mental health?

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When looking at what was available for support for women, one can see that there are a lot of resources and places that women could go to. However, men do not have the same support and resources. It was hard to find somebody to look up and follow as a guide or a role model. I started the Indigenous Men’s Alliance to create a community space where men could find those roles models.

The Indigenous Men’s Alliance is a place where men can go to overcome their challenges. The way that the Alliance teaches is that we need one another to be empowered. In the Alliance, there are talks about the values of truth, respect, and wisdom, which are the three inner values that are the foundation of who people are. When somebody is being honest, they’re sharing their truth about a problem that they are facing. They are being vulnerable. The Alliance serves as a brave space for men, the educated, the experienced, and the elders, to share their truth and their wisdom to engage in the act of listening and respecting the truth.

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Why is it hard for men to express their emotions?

There’s a stereotype that men don’t cry. Through my research, one of the men I interviewed said: “We weren’t even supposed to cry at funerals”. Crying is often associated with weakness. As a result, men are used to bottling up their emotions and not allowing themselves to be vulnerable. The stereotype that men have to be strong prevents them from showing their more sensitive sides. Men tend to hold back their emotions due to fear of the truth and fear of being judged.

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What advice would you give to your younger self?

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Listen more.

There’s a difference between listening and hearing. When someone is listening, he or she does not only acknowledge what others are saying, but respects their truth while showing love and support. At the same time, they are not influenced by what the other person says in a way that causes them to change who they are, but can hold space for that person’s truth and their own truth at the same time.

Do not be scared of making mistakes as the choices we make can help us to learn.

Finding your footing in life is a natural process that has both its ups and down. You cannot go through life without making mistakes. Making mistakes is part of the process of taking risks and exploring the world and yourself. The key is to learn from those mistakes and become a better, wiser version of your younger self.

Try to find a mentor – somebody that you can follow as a role model.

A mentor who is willing to share wisdom with you, be honest with you, and will not judge you can help you to grow into a secure man. It’s through passing down wisdom from one generation to the next that we can really grow as a community, and as individuals.

Stay honest and respectful.

The more that you listen and respect the truth, the more wisdom and opportunities you will have in the future. Being honest with yourself and others isn’t easy, but it results in a fuller, more meaningful, life.

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Book Recommendations and Resources

Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team by Simon Sinek, David Mead, and Peter Docker

I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression Paperback by Terrence Real

“Indigenous Men’s Alliance” by Kris Morrison

Gary Vee

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Thank you, Kris, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers! 

_

Missed the podcast? Listen here:

_

_

For more advice about writing, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

_

To get more help with your assignments, book a 20 minute discovery session with us and start your journey to reaching your full potential on the page, and in life.

Both the written, visual, audio, and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.

Customizing Mental Health Support for Students: Interview with Holly Smith
By Pfau Marketing
November 18, 2020
662 Views
Blog

We interviewed Holly Smith, an experienced clinical occupational therapist in the field of mental health and substance use, about some of the mental health challenges that students encounter, and strategies to create a healthier study environment. Despite campaigns put forward by governments and corporations in the last decade that encourage a more open discussion about mental health, there are still a number of stigmas and taboos that surround mental health concerns, particularly mental health struggles that are connected to addiction.

Holly Photo edited 2 300x300 Customizing Mental Health Support for Students: Interview with Holly Smith

_

 Holly Smith is a Kanien’ke:haka (Mohawk) of the Haudenosaunee people from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, and she currently works as a clinical manager at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She also recently established Indigenous Wellness Services, mental health therapy, and consulting business which offers a decolonized approach to mental health treatment.  

What kinds of struggles do you often hear that students face compared to those in other stages of life?

_

Typically, the majority of students are under the age of 25, and it is a really interesting time in life because people are still finding out about their identity. Students’ brains are still developing, and being in school is a high-stress period of time. There are a lot of social pressures and expectations, either from the family or themselves. It is a highly competitive environment. There is also a lot of social pressure, especially with the advent of social media. In addition, the upheaval of COVID-19 has been having a negative impact on society as a whole and creating additional pressures for students to try to manage the workload, finances, home life, and personal life at the same time. For international students away from family, there is also the impact of social isolation. The disruption of normal routines and activities caused by the restrictions placed upon students due to COVID-19 can have a lot of impacts on people’s mental wellness and mental health.

_

What do you think prevents or delays students from reaching out for mental health support before their situation escalates? 

_

I think there is a lot of stigma around the topic of mental health and mental wellness in general. There is a lot of fear and anxiety around even asking for help or saying: “I’m struggling in a certain area”, or “I’m having a rough time.” Sometimes it’s difficult to go for help without the fear of being judged or not being taken seriously or not being understood. For me personally, these fears had prevented me from reaching out for help. Thus, I was trying to manage and cope with those pressures and those expectations in a way that was not always the healthiest. When those kinds of pressures start to mount and increase, it will eventually get to a point where things get really overwhelming, and different areas of your life come in can become impacted by that. However, a lot of suffering could be avoided by understanding these feelings are just normal human emotions, and reaching out for help to navigate those feelings in a healthy way.

_

What gaps do you currently see in the ability of the current mental health services on-campus and off-campus to provide adequate support to Indigenous students, and perhaps other students who have felt unsafe or unheard?

_

I think the gap within the mental health care system, in general, is that it is a bit of a “one size fits all” approach. Even the mental health services that are offered on campuses, for example, are not going to meet the needs of everyone. They are not going to be relevant to everyone’s needs; and as a result, people are not going to connect with them in the way that they were intended to. Personally, when I was trying to connect with mental health supports in school, I was not happy with what was available at that time, so I didn’t access as many resources as I probably could’ve. I know that accessibility has improved, but there is still room for improvement in terms of understanding and personalizing services more to meet specific student needs. In addition, the traditional model of meeting with a therapist one-on-one doesn’t work for everything either. There needs to be more variety in how mental health services are delivered.

What would you suggest be done to start filling these gaps?

I also think more informal mental health supports should be provided, such as peer support groups and culturally sensitive programming. I think campuses should provide safe spaces for black, indigenous, and other racialized folks to be able to have access to peer support workers, elders, or traditional psychotherapists. Students should be able to talk to somebody who represents them and their community. And that’s something that I feel is missing in the health care system as a whole, particularly on college university campuses.

_

Holly’s Book Recommendations and Resources

_

Books:

The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A GUIDE AND MAP FOR RECOVERING FROM CHILDHOOD TRAUMA by Pete Walker

Youtube Channels:

Crappy Childhood Fairy by Anna Runkle

Lisa’s Book Recommendations and Resources

The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron

_

Thank you, Holly, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers! 

_

Missed the podcast? Listen here:

_

_

For more advice about writing, check out our weekly podcast or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

_

To get more help with your assignments, book a 20 minute discovery session with us and start your journey to reaching your full potential on the page, and in life.

Both the written, visual, audio, and audiovisual content of this post has been created by and is the intellectual property of Lisa Pfau and PFAU Academic Writing. Please do not replicate any of the above content without our consent. However, please do feel free to share this post and its authorship widely.