Improving Resilience

Resilience is the process by which individual's, manage, cope and bounce-back from challenging life experiences.

What is Resilience?

College and university students, especially first-year students who are beginning their new chapter of independence, may feel overwhelmed in university. Students might experience difficulties, setbacks, and frustration if they are dealing with a variety of new stressors at once, including busy class schedules, extracurriculars, completing assessments, studying and social demands. This is why building resilience is crucial - it is the key to assisting students in developing the capacity to cope with stressful and challenging circumstances.

A number of factors contribute to how well people adapt to adversities, predominant among them:

There may not be a fixed route through life, but everyone will encounter obstacles along the way, from everyday difficulties to more serious traumas events. Even though these adverse events can be painful and challenging, they don't determine the future of your life. Although resilience won't solve your problems, it can help you ‘bounce back’ from these difficult experiences, empowers you to grow and even improve your life along the way.

While certain factors might make some individuals more resilient than others, resilience isn’t necessarily a personality trait that only some people possess. Resilience, on the other hand, involves attitudes, behaviours, and actions that everyone can learn and develop. And it's not always present; for example, you might show a lot of resilience when dealing with one obstacle, but have more difficulty being resilient when coping with another adversity. If you think that your resilience isn't as great as you'd like it to be, you can practice improving it.

Strategies to Improve Resilience

The resilience process involves all stages of an event and equips you with the skills to deal with problems more effectively in the future.

Not sure where to start? Here are some tips and suggestions to improve your resilience.

Improving Resilience and my studies

Reslience at university is a specific type of resilience that refers to ones ability to achieve academic success, despite the presense of stressful events and adversity.. Academic resilience is also the ability to learn from mistakes and failures to bounce-back when things may not have gone as planned.

University Support

If you are experiencing barriers that may affect your study or you want support to optimise your study then the WSU Counselling Service, Disability Service, or Student Welfare Service may be able to help.

Students can access free, short term, confidential counselling services. Face to face, Zoom or phone appointments can be made by telephoning 1300 668 370. Our office hours are Monday to Friday 9:00am - 4:30pm. Alternatively, or email counselling@westernsydney.edu.au

The Disability Service is free to access with Disability Advisors assisting students to meet their full potential. If you have a diagnosed physical, psychological or medical condition that impacts on your studies, you may be eligible for an Academic Reasonable Adjustment Plan (ARAP), developed by the Disability Service. Contact the Disability Service on 1300 668 370, email disability@westernsydney.edu.au or make contact via WesternNow.

For assistance regarding academic, personal and financial hardship, international support or accommodation, call 1300 668 370 or make contact via WesternNow.

Multifaith Chaplaincy can provide confidential conversation and care and support for stress management and anxiety with links to religious groups and faith communities. For more information, please call Daniel Jantos on 0402 771 543 or email d.jantos@westernsydney.edu.au.

WesternLife - Join thousands of students at Your Virtual Community to share experiences, learn new things, connect with new friends, and engage with events or discussions that interest you!

Consider applying for Disruption to Studies and Requests for Extension if you feel as though your studies have been significantly impacted.

Deferred Exam – You can apply for a Deferred Exam no later than 5:00pm on the second working day after your scheduled exam if you are unable to attend a final exam due to serious illness, misadventure or other exceptional circumstances beyond your control. Submit a Student Form and attach supporting documents online for application.

Withdrawal Without Academic Penalty is an option available after the Census Date of the teaching term provided that you meet eligibility.

A Leave of Absence is a temporary break from studying. Once you have completed one or more subjects in your enrolled program, you can apply for a Leave of Absence. A Leave of Absence can be taken as either six or twelve months. The maximum amount of leave you can take during your program is twelve months. Please note, you must submit your application before the relevant census date

If you are considering any of these options, please reach out to the counselling service for support and guidance. If you are an international student, please make sure you seek advice particularly if you are considering withdrawing without penalty or taking a leave of absence as these may have implications for your visa conditions.

Community Support

If you are really struggling during the night when completing assessments or feel most alone, contact Lifeline (24 hours crisis counselling) - 13 11 14 or,

Lifeline SMS Counselling Service - Between 6pm and midnight you can text 0477 13 11 14 and somebody will text you back!

Mental Health Telephone Access Line - 1800 011 511

This Mental Health Line is staffed by mental health professionals that can help and provide you advice about your needs and discuss referrals to local mental health services. It is available to everyone in NSW and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Be you – Beyond Blue: General information about building resilience and facing adversity.

THIS WAY UP – Self-paced online programs that teach clinically-proven strategies to help you improve the way you feel.

Therapist Aid – Free evidence-based education and therapy tools.

Reach Out Australia helps young people to recognise signs and symptoms of mental health issues, understand mental health concepts, and get guidance on how to seek help or build skills for coping and resilience. Our trusted self-help information, peer-support program and referral tools save lives by helping young people be well and stay well. Accessed by more than 2 million people in Australia each year, ReachOut is a free service that’s available anytime and pretty much anywhere.

Fostering resilience: Creating your own personal management plan.

This free online treatment program has been developed by the Black Dog Institute to help people better self-manage mild-to-moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.

Podcasts

3 Strategies To Rapidly Improve Your Resilience and Mental Strength

In this podcast episode, practical steps are offered to encourage insight on how hard times can bring strength and beauty. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Let’s Talk About…Resilience

Let's Talk About Mental Health is a weekly podcast about improving your mental health. Episode 23, explores resilience and how to build your ability to bounce back from things that go wrong. Listen on Spotify.

Boosting Resilience

This podcast episode discusses ways to bounce forward when faced with adversity and challenging suitations to boost resilience. Listen on Spotify.

Videos

Still struggling?

Asking for help is an important step in managing these feelings and realising your full potential!

If you are still struggling, reach out to the WSU counselling team for support and advice. If you prefer to seek support from a service outside of the university, it may be helpful to speak to your General Practitioner regarding a Mental Health Care Plan and referral to a psychologist, or you can speak to a counsellor or other health professional. Remember you are not alone and there will always be someone out there who is willing to stay with you through your hard times.