A great number of people suffered during the pandemic at the beginning of last year, especially the group of international students, who are forced to have online classes at home. It is noticed that a many of them feel stressed due to loneliness and academic pressure. A Chinese student who studies at the Monash University presented his dilemma to us. “It is hard for me to get used to the online learning and catch up with my classmates who are native English speakers. I feel really anxious and helpless, but I don’t even have a close friend to talk with.” It is really important to help international students stay mentally healthy. So, are you ready? Here are our five top tips for stress-busting.

• Stay in touch with someone who can help you 

Staying at home for study without any friendship and relationship does huge harm to students both psychologically and mentally, which means their psychological defences may be broken down because of feeling lonely and isolated. Having some conversation with your parents or some chats with friends online are useful and effective methods to reduce depression and stress by the way of feeling connected. Taking a few moments to relax and share can help calm your mind and heart.

• Ask for some professional help

Feeling stressed affects how you behave and feel, it might become difficulty to handle it by yourself even out of control. It is necessary to book an online psychological counseling appointment at this stage, which is the most reliable way to help you solve your problems. During the pandemic, there is no shame to see a psychologist. It is really convenient and useful for stress reduction.

• Certain videos or sounds can help

There are some tools for stress-release. For instance, videos that contain certain types of sounds or scenes which may help you to feel relaxed. Some contain the sound of rain, waves or the natural environment. You might find these helpful to empty your mind and release stress.

• Spend your time on a hobby or start a hobby

Start to cook meals for yourself, work out in gym or a yoga class, and join a club that fits your taste. Still, it is about personal taste. By doing what you are interested in, you will be concentrating and your mind will be empty. Which means, essays, homework and lectures are all left behind. These three things are mainly where international students get their stress during the pandemic and online classes. So forgetting about them and having fun could help a lot with stress-busting.

• Share your thoughts to others

Try to have a conversation with your family, friends or teachers. It can be complaining about how complex and bothersome the upcoming essay is. It can be about  any bad things you encountered in life like a noisy construction that you barely could endure, or it can be showing-off your brand-new watch. The content does not really matter, it doesn’t have to be a deep talk! But talking or communication with someone does matter in terms of stress-busting. 

So, do you feel you have some strategies up your sleeve to bust your stress? We hope we have helped!