Mental health survival guide
On the psychological troubles of modern youth barely anyone wants to acknowledge, their mistreatment during the pandemic, and practical advice on how to deal with it as an individual.
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„Pointedly, results may be summarized as follows: the COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied among [university] students by a ‘pandemic’ of depressive disorders and anxiety disorders.“
– Statement by the German Ethics Council1
The consequences of two years of pandemic.
Four semesters of mistreatment, neglect and disrespect, characterised by university closures, online “learning”, and most of all: intense social isolation. Lower quality of education, lacking support and financial uncertainty23 have had devastating consequences for student mental health.
The problem
One in four adults is affected by psychological disorders yearly.4 Depending on where you live, you might work more hours than a medieval peasant. Grad students develop depression or generalized anxiety disorder at 6 times the rate of the general population.5 According to a 2019 CDC report, 20 % of high schoolers have seriously considered suicide, 40 % experienced lasting feelings of sadness or hopelessness.6 The average time to get a therapy appointment? 6 months.
The services of licenced psychotherapists are covered by public health insurance. New licences needed for sufficient coverage according to the German Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists: 7000.7 Actually necessary according to an assessment by the Federal Joint Committee, the institution responsible for deciding what’s covered by insurance – in which insurers incidentally wield the most power? 2400. How many were issued: 776.8 Therapy is expensive and insurers want to save money. The legitimacy of the Federal Joint Committee to wield the power it does has been called into question by the Federal Constitutional Court.9
“Not everyone needs a therapist, sometimes a bottle of beer will do the trick.”
– Joseph Hecken, chairman of the Federal Joint Committee10
The pandemic has exacerbated a pre-existing problem. Requests for therapy appointments have increased by 40 %.11 Skoda et al. found that stress, generalized anxiety and depression increased under the conditions brought about by the pandemic initially,12 an effect persistent throughout the pandemic.13 The effect was worse in people suffering from a mental health condition by a huge margin.
Somatically healthy people with mental disorders were as afraid of COVID or even more generally afraid than people in COVID risk groups!
„Furthermore, risk group patients fear the virus itself, while mentally ill individuals seem to develop a general state of anxiety, depression and stress that rises to alarming levels. […] this fact underscores the importance of mentally affected patients’ urgent need for psychological attention.“14
Young people appear particularly affected, with panic attacks, eating disorders and suicidality on the rise.151617 Circumstances brought about drastic changes in personality traits in adolescents, and it’s not clear if the effect will be lasting.18
Student suffering
People experiencing mental health issues are not taken seriously in our society.
Young people experiencing mental health issues are doubly not taken seriously.
We students had to endure three semesters of closed universities, while schools reopened, people returned to work, and bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen.
In Germany, over course of the entire pandemic, 504 people aged under 35 have died of Covid. The same age group represents 45 % of all infections, or roughly 15 million.19
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the population least endangered by COVID-19 was restricted and isolated the most, and for the longest period of time, while simultaneously being the most psychologically vulnerable.20
“Compare your situation to that of other people. Then you will see that there is no reason to become depressed.“
– Winfried Kretschman, minister-president of Baden-Württemberg, when confronted about the mental health crisis by students21
Never have I felt politically represented during the last two years. Two years of my life restricted ruthlessly, and for whose benefit? Certainly not mine. The idea of a compulsory “social year” for the young is being put forward, after decades of political neglect in the public health sector.22 Further university closures this winter are being considered, this time to save power.23
What more are we supposed to endure? Any other problems you caused and let fester for years that you want us to solve, by chance? Then when we ask for such outrageous things as mental healthcare or work-life-balance, you call us soft or entitled. Makes me sick to my stomach. Never again talk to me about solidarity.
The old are meant to sacrifice for the young! Don’t you want your kids to have a better future? This country has its priorities exactly backwards. But that is a topic for another day.
Fortunately for you, dear reader, I have decided that I’d like to be more positive on my platform. The aim of the rest of this essay will be to show practical ways for you to improve your mental and physical health. Inexplicably, no one teaches you this stuff. Obligatory disclaimer: What follows is based on my own research and experience. I’m a chemist, not a medical professional or psychotherapist. Seek professional advice first and foremost.
Nutrition and mental health
Consider the following experiment:24 When mice were given a choice of drinking pure vs sugar water, they chose the latter. Scientists knocked out the function of their taste buds and ran the same experiment. For a day or so, mice would drink equally from both types of water. After 48 hours, however, they would again drink sugar water almost exclusively. How? Scientists reason that neurons in the gut communicate the presence of sugar to the brain. So: What happens in your gut can influence your behaviour.
“Mens sana in corpore sano”, even the acient Romans used to say: A healthy mind resides in a healthy body. This is true scientifically, as you will come to realise.
You can use simple apps like „Myfitnesspal“ to track what you eat. Unless you’re a professional athlete it’s entirely sufficient to take in enough calories (and enough protein if you want to track it). Do try it. I discovered I was regularly in a deficit of about 300-500 calories per day. With my body, on average, this is like fasting one day of the week, eating normally on the others. And I was wondering why I had so little energy! Calculators are available online for you to find your caloric needs, they are accurate enough.25
Magnesium
Magnesium (Mg) is vital for the proper function of your nervous system and muscles.26 All chronic illnesses, stress, and any kind of stimulation increase demand. This can mean physical exercise, but also straining your eyes looking at screens or doing intellectually demanding work! Vitamins often cannot be properly utilized if your body is Mg-deficient, then supplementing those is useless! All these can be linked to Mg-deficiency:
Back pain
Cramps
Sleep issues (!)
Anxiety (!)
Overly light-sensitive or tired eyes
High blood pressure
Taking Mg supplements is advisable to fulfil demand. Plants absorb alarmingly low quantities of it because of soil depletion and use of Potassium- and Calcium-based fertilizers.
Alcohol
Alcohol is a neurotoxin. I’m a social drinker myself and I trust you to make your own decisions. To illuminate some of the consequences of alcohol consumption:27 Your liver processes alcohol by oxidising it to acetic acid (vinegar) via Formaldehyde. Formaldehyde, also toxic, damages cells there. Your body also prioritizes detoxing over processing nutrients, so alcohol can impact muscle gains or make you fatter.
Alcohol can cross the blood-brain barrier, and in your brain mostly acts on the prefrontal cortex: The place responsible for planning ahead and suppressing impulsive behaviour. This makes sense to everyone who has ever seen a drunk person. They behave irresponsibly. Chronic drinkers will start acting this way, even while not drunk.
Alleviating depression through exercise
“It is a real pity when a person dies in despair. Despair is not sent to us by God to kill us, He sends it to awaken in us new life.“
– Dion Pugil the Confessor, in: Hesse H., “The Glass Bead Game“
Depressed people often feel sluggish or demotivated, to get out of bed, work, or even to eat. The hypothesis that Serotonin imbalance is to blame has fallen into disfavour.28 Instead, the scientific consensus appears to be that depression is deeply interlinked with mitochondrial activity.29 Mitochondria (powerhouse of the cell) are involved in ATP synthesis, which is what your body uses as fuel. Depressed people literally have less energy at their disposal on a cellular level! Exercise stimulates mitochondrial activity, effectively treating this symptom.30 Exercise leads to muscle growth (optimally if you’re eating sufficient protein), stimulating your appetite.
How to start?
Without investing money, you can research full body bodyweight training, such as simple calisthenics workouts.31 When I began exercising, I did only cardio and couldn’t even jog 1 km without taking breaks. My first strength workout consisted of 10 push-ups and 10 crunches, which I could barely do. I couldn’t do a single sit-up.
Never be ashamed. The most important thing is to start. I work out properly now, three times a week, and am very happy with my appearance. Pick some exercises you think you can do, track your progress (I simply use an Excel sheet), don’t overdo it. I won’t give a specific routine to follow, it depends on your goals. Excellent resources to get you started are linked at the end.
Sleep
Enough, proper sleep is the first necessity to stay mentally and physically healthy. Many people, especially with mental disorders, struggle with it. Here are some tips that helped me greatly:32
Get 10 minutes of sunlight within the first hour of waking, 20 on cloudy days. Best to repeat this in the afternoon.
Wake up at the same time each day
Avoid caffeine 8-10 h before bedtime
Dim the lights after 10 pm, even using blue blockers. Any bright light messes with your sleep
Keep your bedroom completely dark
Don’t nap, or at most 90 minutes daily
If you’re doing something contradictory to an item on this list, but it works for you, keep doing what you’re doing. Make sure you get at least 7-8 hours per day. Literally plan everything else around it, it’s that important.
Focus and self-awareness
Your nutritional needs are met and you are getting enough sleep, what then? It is recommended to look at things further away than 6 m at least 90 minutes a day.33 If you don’t, tiredness and headaches may result from the strain. Doesn’t have to be all at once. Relax, take a walk, but don’t bring your phone!
The longest period you can do focused work without taking a break is about 90 minutes.34 After, you need a break that is as free of additional stimuli as possible. You might be in a state where you have difficulty working 90 minutes continuously. Recognize that you’ll get better the more often you try it.
Meditation
I cannot overemphasise the benefits of meditation. It genuinely surprised me. Think of your brain like a muscle you train. Meditation is how you work out your brain. I used to be sceptical about meditation, gratitude journaling or yoga. If you’re like me, consider that many generations of people have found these practices to be helpful and passed them on. Why do you suppose that is? It's OK to trust in the process. I’m telling you from experience that it works. Wholeheartedly, I can recommend these two videos to get you started. Meditation will make it easier for you to focus and to observe yourself, a key skill, even while you’re not meditating.
“Dopamine fasting”
Apart from making us more miserable, many apps appear to be decreasing our attention spans. They are designed to waste your time. It's how they make money: Keeping you engaged and viewing ads. How do they keep you engaged? Dopamine. They’re designed to feel satisfying to use and utilize mechanics like endlessly scrolling feeds to trap you without a clear exit point. They track your interests, use that data to serve content even more addicting to you personally. All the while, they contort your self-image, creating unrealistic expectations through their filters.35
Stop wasting your life watching videos, scrolling through memes and staring at e-girl tits. Regulate your technology use. Take back control. You can regain your focus and heal your goldfish brain.36
Getting to the real issues
As you get better at observing your own thoughts and actions, I urge you to question why you distract yourself to begin with. More often than not, we use external stimuli to cope with problems that are bothering us internally. Why are you reaching for that bottle? Why are you binge watching that true crime channel YouTube randomly recommended to you? Why watch porn? Because you are trying to feel less lonely through parasocial relationships to people you will never meet? Find out what’s really bothering you, and address that. It is infinitely more effective in the long run.
I can’t tell you what it is, but you will find it if you look for it.
Final thoughts
Medicine, nutritional science, and psychology have much to teach one another. My aim was to provide you with practical, scientifically backed pointers to help you take care of your mental and physical health. Hopefully I could demonstrate to you that there are many things in your control even in a world set against you.
However, the single most important thing for you to do remains to seek therapy, if you think you need it, even against all odds. If you are unsure, consult a doctor.
Don’t stress about doing everything right. You will fail. But you will fail less as time goes on. Also, this text was written from the perspective of a mid-20s male student. Use what you like and leave the rest.
Further resources to get you started
Dr. Andrew Huberman, Stanford professor (Focus, sleep, mental health)
Jeff Nippard, pro natural bodybuilder (Exercise, nutrition)
Shredded Sports Science (Exercise, nutrition)
Dr. Alok Kanoja, Harvard educated psychiatrist (Mental health)
Hamza (Self-improvement, meditation, motivation)
Courtney Ryan (Relationship and dating advice, communication skills)
Carnegie D., “How to win friends and influence people”, 1936. I consider this a mandatory read for anyone. Teaches the basics of effective communication, something we’re never taught explicitly.
In these times, when society puts this enormous pressure on you to achieve and consume, it’s important to relax and remind yourself: You have no more purpose in life than the birds in the sky or the fish in the sea. There’s literally nothing you’re supposed to be doing. It’s a question of what you want to do with your life, and what concessions you’re willing to make while negotiating that with reality. Never feel bad about taking time to care for yourself.
As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm. Today I call it SELF-CONFIDENCE. As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is AUTHENTICITY. As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody as I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it RESPECT. As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it MATURITY. As I began to love myself I quit stealing my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call it SIMPLICITY. As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health, food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a “healthy egoism”. Today I know it is SELF-LOVE. As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is MODESTY. As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it FULFILLMENT. As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But as I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection WISDOM OF THE HEART. We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know THAT IS LIFE! – Charlie Chaplin, on his 70th birthday, April 16th 1959.
Leusman E., Nachr. Chem., 2022, doi.org/10.1002/nadc.20224125646.
Leusman E., Nachr. Chem., 2022, doi.org/10.1002/nadc.20224129503.
youtube.com/watch?v=mzMj-v1sMI4. Excellent work, highly recommend. I relied on this a lot for the following paragraphs.
T. M. Evans et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2018, doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4089.
ndr.de, 2018. Dr. Munz, president of the chamber, also made clear in an interview that it’s not a problem of having enough trained personnel. Therapists are not being issued licences, leading to artificial scarcity.
tagesspiegel.de, 2017.
spiegel.de, 2013. This is not a direct quote, but semantically equivalent to what’s noted in the protocol reviewed by DER SPIEGEL.
E.-M. Skoda et al., Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry, 2020, doi.org/10.1177/0020764020960773.
S. Moradian, E.-M. Skoda, et al., J. Public Health (Oxf.), 2021, doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdab037.
see 12.
A. Kaman et al., Nervenheilkunde, 2021, doi.org/10.1055/a-1397-5400.
A. R. Sutin et al., PLoS One, 2022, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274542.
Robert Koch Institute, accessed 26.09.2022 16:00 via the COVID-19 dashboard. Raw data, updated regularly here.
F. Jacobi et al., Nervenarzt, 2014, doi.org/10.1007/s00115-013-3961-y. Incidence of mental disorders declines with age.
spiegel.de, 2021.
Dr. Charles Zuker on the Huberman Lab Podcast. In this context, this guy’s name is incredibly funny to me (Ger. zucker = sugar). Just wanted to share that with you. Hey you, actually reading these footnotes. I appreciate you.
Again, Dr. Andrew Huberman.
J. Moncrieff et al., Mol. Psychiatry, 2022, doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0.
J. Allen et al. ,Front Neurosci., 2018, doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.00386.
J. M. Memme, J. Psychol., 2019, doi.org/10.1113/JP278853.
This video and channel are a good place to start.
Huberman again. This goes into more detail. Recommend you read.
youtube.com/watch?v=TtnLm-l0xfo. “Selfie dysmorphia“ is apparently a real thing.
This guy tried it, give it a watch.