Student Welfare Advice During COVID-19 Outbreak
This list of resources and guidance has been created with input from welfare staff across the colleges and the wider University. Please remember that your college Welfare Team are still available to provide support and guidance during this time, even if you are not currently residing in Oxford.
Sources of Information
The following websites offer details and updates around the rapidly changing public health situation in the UK and abroad:
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The University’s FAQ page is regularly updated following government advice
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The Public Health England website and Twitter page
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The GOV.UK government response website
Advice for Parents, Carers, and People working with Children and Young People
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The University of Oxford Psychiatry Department in collaboration with other professional services has put together a document of Advice for Parents, Carers, and People that Work with Children and Young People. The document has sections on keeping healthy habits with your family, Watch Out for Getting Caught in Vicious Cycles, Responding to Children and Young People, Talking about worries with children of all ages, how to cope with anxiety if it becomes persistent and getting in the way of life, and an abundance of resources!
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These resources include ones for children and young people with specific needs, for teachers, managing children’s anxiety, and resources of how to cope with self-isolating children.
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Mental Health Support
The following websites provide a range of online resources and advice for managing your mental health during this challenging time:
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Mind – advice for everyone from charity Mind, which focusses on how to cope with self-isolation/ staying at home
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Student Minds – a range of resources for people with existing health conditions, and who are struggling with social distancing, or have experienced xenophobia
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Centre for Disease Control and Prevention – advice around managing anxiety and stress
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BBC advice on protecting your mental health
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World Health Organisation – mental health considerations and coping with stress during the covid-19 outbreak
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NHS advice on self-isolation and dealing with stress, anxiety or depression
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NHS mental health apps – the majority of which are free
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COVID-19 and Anxiety – advice from the charity Anxiety UK
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COVID-19 and OCD – advice from the charity OCD-UK
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Eating Disorders and Coronavirus – advice from Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity
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Advice from UK charity The Mix – The Mix provides free, confidential support for young people under 25 via online, social and mobile
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ORLO (Oxford Reading Lists Online) Read Well – ‘Reading Well Books on Prescription helps you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using self-help reading. The books are chosen by health experts and people living with the conditions covered. People can be recommended a title by a health professional, or they can visit their local library and take a book out for free.’
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Oxford Anxiety Disorders and Trauma Group Advice – The oxford group have put together a useful list of recommendations to help us all manage anxiety and worry.
UPDATES
Message for GTC students from the university counselling service (6th May 2020):
The counselling service team would like to let you know that we are still here and able to support you (via online appointments) and you are welcome to contact us directly.
To request an individual appointment, please email counselling@admin.ox.ac.uk and a member of our admin team will be in touch.
We also offer several workshops and podcasts on a range of topics e.g. can’t work, managing perfectionism and practical relaxation skills.
Many of the workshops can be booked directly via our receptionists without first attending an individual appointment.
Further details can be found here:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/counselling/workshops?wssl=1
And here:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/counselling/self-help/podcasts?wssl=1
This week, the university blog included a short piece from the counselling service.
You can see it, along with other contributions, here: http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/news-list.
Mental Health Applications and Exercise
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Headspace – Headspace offers guided meditation to all users. They have created a special FREE guide called Weathering The Storm. ‘It includes meditations, sleep, and movement exercises to help you out, no matter how you’re feeling.’
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Calm – Calm has created free resources as a ‘curation of content hand-picked to support your mental and emotional wellness through this time.’
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Elefriends – ‘Elefriends is a supportive online community where you can be yourself. We all know what it’s like to struggle sometimes, but now there’s a safe place to listen, share and be heard.’
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There is a great number of free exercise and yoga instruction videos available for free on YouTube. Simply type in keywords for what you’re after as there are hundreds available!
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Don't forget that we, the GCR, are running regular live stream yoga and Zumba classes. Check out the Facebook page or E-Term Card to see when they will be on and how to connect!
Managing Your Time
Whether balancing working from home with other responsibilities or simply finding ways to fill the days and evenings, managing your time will take some adjustment. Watching TV or listening the radio and podcasts are an obvious choice, but maintaining routines can help prevent losing structure to your life and help to separate life and work. Here are some things that may help:
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Stay in close contact with friends, especially those who are also in self-isolation through having regular video or audio calls with your friends and family and maybe try “virtual study/hang out sessions”.
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Keep in touch with fellow students, colleagues, etc via things like Skype, Zoom, and Teams.
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Create and keep to a schedule for yourself, your household and/or your family to keep a sense of routine and normality
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Plan to try a new recipe with a friend or family member and then eat together over Skype to see how you both did!
Live Cameras from Around the World
If you are missing the sense of community and people, live cameras of public places and playlists of ambient sounds such as coffee shops and parks can be soothing. Here are a few links:
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The famous crossing in Shibuya, Tokyo, in Japan.
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A beach-bar on the British Virgin Islands.
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Pandas in Sichuan, China.
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Ambient coffee shop sounds.
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City park sounds.
Media & Social Media
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Follow a ‘Good News’ source to ensure you get happy notifications of the good in the world during this time. Try the Good News Network, Positive News, BBC Uplifting Stories, or MSN Good News
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Instagram accounts to help with working from home and mental health: The Financial Diet, Millenial.Therapist, i_weigh, giveusashoutinsta or Shout UK, KelseyMech, and Myselflovesupply
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Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories. It can be upsetting to hear about the crisis and see images repeatedly. Try to do enjoyable activities and return to normal life as much as possible and check for updates between breaks. You can turn off Notifications for News Alerts or you can change them only to Breaking News alerts!