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Movement is important for our mental health, but there are many different reasons why people struggle to move enough. That is why the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (13- 19 May) is “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”.

This Mental Health Awareness Week we want to help Sussex students find moments for movement in their daily routines. Whether that’s going for a walk across campus, joining an exercise class, or putting on your favourite music and dancing around the living room – it all counts!

Physical activity has lots of benefits for our mental and physical wellbeing. It can help with things like:

• Managing stress
• Improving sleep
• Improving your mood
• Improving confidence
• Connecting with nature
• Socialising and meeting new people
• Managing symptoms of depression and anxiety
• Memory and brain functioning
• Heart, muscle and bone health
• Reducing the risk of developing some long-term health conditions, such as heart disease.

But there may be times when physical activity doesn’t help our mental health, or makes us feel worse (eg. if we don’t enjoy the activity we’re doing, or if we over-exercise).

There may also be things out of our control that prevent us from being active, such as:

• Living in area with limited access to safe places to be active
• Not having enough money to engage in the activities we want to do
• Our physical health, including the side effects of medications
• Negative experiences of physical activity, such as facing stigma, discrimination, or lack of understanding from people around you.

When things feel difficult or out of our control, it can be frustrating when people tell you about the benefits of being more active. Mental health charity Mind have some great advice on overcoming barriers to getting active to help when you’re finding things difficult. Sussex Sport (and the Active US social sports programme) are friendly and supportive ways to get moving with other Sussex students, at a reasonably low price too!

There are lots of things that can help with including movement in our routines. These things will differ from person to person and there is lots of support available at University of Sussex including short-term counselling, group workshops, Students’ Union events, clubs and society opportunities, and regular wellbeing events across campus.

Keep an eye out on social media for events and support available through your academic schools student experience teams too. There will be events happening throughout the week across campus which you can join in with. There will also be a dedicated Wellbeing Stall on Thursday 16 May (12-2pm in the Student Centre Atrium) where students can drop by to ask any questions about their mental health, the support available and get some quick practical tips to help manage things.

For further information you can also see pages on looking after your mental health and what the therapeutic services team offer. If you’d like to find out more about the links between physical and mental health, Mind have lots of information and self-care tips here, and Young Minds have a useful article on navigating university if you struggle with your mental health here.

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