An Attitude of Gratitude: Tools to Combat Depression and Anxiety in Students
Mental health has been declining worldwide in recent years, especially with the onset and after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of the rise of depression and anxiety has been seen across all demographics, but especially in students. There is a large percentage of students who were unable to have graduation ceremonies from high school or college due to community lockdown regulations in response to the pandemic. Even for those students who were not graduating, all students were required to suspend their typical school routines and instead were required to do all of their learning online from their own homes. They were forced to give up the communal aspect of learning and their entire worlds became secluded to one building. The lines between home life and academics became blurred beyond belief and the communal aspect of life which is so essential to development and human wholeness was stripped away. In the face of such difficult and unexpected circumstances, it’s no wonder that students would be dealing with more depression and anxiety as a result.
Thankfully, our understanding, approach to, and acceptance of mental illness as a society has changed drastically over the years, largely in a positive direction. Medication and therapy are available and incredible tools to make coping with depression and anxiety easier, but there are other tools at students disposal that, while they may seem small, have the potential for a powerful impact. One of those tools is the practice of gratitude.
Gratitude is, in simple terms, an intentional focus on thankfulness that can surpass immediate circumstances. The real power of gratitude lies in its action as a perspective-shifter. Even in the midst of incredibly difficult circumstances, gratitude is always an option. No matter what an individual might be facing, whether that be present hardship or anxious worry for future events, gratitude has a way of acting as an anchor of hope. Gratitude forces an individual to look beyond what threatens to overwhelm them in the here and now to what good there still is in the world and in their own life especially in the midst of it. This is so important for students who are still outside of the context of normal adult life but quite frequently dealing with challenges big enough to rock their worlds on a significant level. When life feels like it is spinning out of control, often the only thing a student (or any individual) can control is their own attitude. It is right and normal to experience the entire spectrum of human emotion, especially in response to difficult life circumstances, but when it is time to move on, gratitude can be the catalyst to do so.
Now even once one understands the power that gratitude holds, it can still be difficult to practice, especially if they are currently in the midst of hardship, depression, or anxiety. It is important in that case to have simple practices at one’s disposal that are easily accessible and already compiled in one place, so here are three suggestions for students to encourage practicing gratitude, whether it is on an everyday basis or as a lifeline to hold onto when life gets really difficult.
Gratitude Journaling: This practice can be as simple as writing a set number of things to be grateful for every single day. It can be one word items, like a “bed” or “coffee,” or it can be a more poetic statement such as “when it is so cold that I can see the air I breathe hanging, frozen in time and space.” This provides the student with a more tangible (and growing) list of things to hold onto within their gratitude practice. It is most effective when done consistently on a schedule, but still holds power if only pulled out in those moments of desperation.
In Awe and Wonder: This practice brings the student more into the present moments as they happen and entails engaging in an active state of mindful gratitude in the form of awe or wonder in the moment. It is easy to be wowed by the loud and flashy things in life, but what about the little moments which truly makeup everyday life like a slice of chocolate cake or playing with a yoyo? When we re-frame the little moments and approach them like gifts, it restores that sense of awe and wonder to the seemingly mundane and ordinary.
Thank Others Intentionally: This practice can range from simply bringing more attention (and therefore intention) into thanking people when they serve you in any way, to going the extra mile and intentionally finding the good qualities you love in other people and, in gratitude, acknowledging and honoring those people and the qualities they possess that bring life and bless others. This brings the focus off of the self and focuses it on seeing the gold in others. The lenses you use determine what you will see, and the lens of gratitude allows you to see the good things, the light, the hope that is still in this world.
Gratitude will not fix the problems that students face, but it does have the power to change their experiences, perceptions, and responses to the hard things of life. Here at our community learning centers (CLCs), we place a great emphasis on the importance of attitudes with the students we serve; it’s actually one of our four pillars of intention. Having a resilient attitude goes hand in hand with our promotion of growth mindsets. It isn’t about always having the right response at the right time, but having the capacity to learn and grow in our approach to processing and coping with real life situations. While we encourage honesty and space for hard emotions, we are equally intentional about cultivating the attitude of gratitude in our students which will carry them throughout the difficult school years and beyond as they enter the adult workplace.