Psychological Counselling

Mental health and wellbeing are very closely interlinked and are sometimes placed within the same conversation and university services.
Your mental health includes anything to do with your emotions, psychological and social well-being. It affects how you are able to cope in situations, how you deal with your emotions and how you manage the stresses of daily life.
At a university level, things like building new relationships, moving to a new location with unfamiliar surroundings, on top of the stresses from COVID restrictions can contribute to having an impact on our mental health.

Your mental health and wellbeing is just as important as your physical health.
Positive mental health and wellbeing enables you to function well, have meaningful social connections, positive self-esteem and be better able to cope with life’s ups and downs.
Keeping our mind healthy is an important part of our overall health and wellbeing.
A few tips that can help maintain your mental health and wellbeing:

• Spend time with friends, loved ones and people you trust (with full compliance with the Covid-19 spread precautionary measures)
• Talk about or express your feelings regularly
• Avoid alcohol consumption
• Avoid illicit drug use
• Keep active and eat well
• Develop new skills and challenge your capabilities
• Relax and enjoy your hobbies
• set realistic goals
• take time out
• get enough sleep.
• Stay positive in all situations

Our Wellbeing initiative is designed to support you to the hilt, whether you’re a student or member of staff, in improving your mental and physical wellbeing. We want to encourage everyone to think about how you manage your own wellbeing, steps you can take to recognize and reduce stress, and how you can take time out to reflect, relax and find balance in your daily life.
It is expected that individuals are experiencing stress, or uncomfortable emotions accompanied with physiological and behavioral changes, as we navigate what is an uncertain time for many of us. Stress also can be helpful, but only up to an optimal point, after that it can negatively impact our health, performance and level of distress. Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity or significant sources of stress. Experiences like anxiety, sadness, and grief are normal reactions to an acute stressor, like a pandemic. Our goal is to give you tools to move toward resilience and to help you cope with these normal reactions.

Individuals may find themselves worrying, either in productive or nonproductive ways – Worries are cognitive processes. Helpful worries can motivate us to take action (e.g.; protecting ourselves and others, gaining empowerment through knowledge, making rational decisions, problem solving). Unhelpful worries tend to paralyze us or escalate anxiety. The more we concentrate on our wellbeing, the better able we are to fight the potential negative outcomes of stress and anxiety.

Talk
Tell the person you are concerned. If you anybody going through stress and anxiety related issues, please reach out on behalf of her/him at the following email: a_alhelo@du.edu.om or by phone at: 23237123
Call
If you think someone is at immediate risk call +96899496766 (or 9999) and ask for an ambulance. If you are on campus, call security on 7397. Tell them an ambulance is on the way and give details of your location.
Reassure
Reassure the person that help is on the way and wait with them.
Take care
If you are upset by what has happened, talk to a friend or colleague, or contact the Counselling Service or email: counselling.service@du.edu.om