Dealing with Stress and Crises

Starting university brings new challenges, because the start of your studies is also the beginning of a new phase in your life. It often means moving from school to university, moving out of the parental home and perhaps starting over in an unfamiliar city. You might feel like a stranger in the new location at first and need to learn to find your way around in a new environment. Additionally, there is the subject of medicine: exciting - but also with an extensive learning workload, little free time, pressure to perform and stress. Each person processes stress in a personal way. If one or more stress factors are involved, it is quite normal that each person reacts differently to them and has different levels of resilience.

What stress factors can occur?

• Crises during studies: Probably everyone has had to deal with problems such as exam worries, exam anxiety or concentration difficulties to varying degrees in the course of their studies.
• The onset or worsening of one's own somatic illness.
• The onset or worsening of one's own psychiatric illness (such as depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, eating disorder) - which can affect anyone and are very well treatable.
• External stressful factors due to financial problems, partnership or family conflicts, and grief or loss.

We want you, our students, to cope well and safely with your studies. For us, this includes accompanying you safely over obstacles.

If you feel affected by the stress factors mentioned above, talk about them openly - with friends and family, but also with fellow students.

HHU offers support through a variety of counseling and coaching opportunities. In addition, we would like to recommend some offers by students for students of the Faculty of Medicine as contact points in this context.

There are other knowledgeable contacts on campus who will listen to you confidentially, will be happy to advise you, and will offer help with issues such as:

•     The onset or worsening of your own somatic illness.
•     The onset or worsening of your own psychiatric illness (such as depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, eating disorder), which can affect anyone:n and is very treatable.