Health and Wellness Resources

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 Live Well podcast

The Live Well podcast explores the voices and experiences of students, staff, and faculty at Mount Royal University. This podcast is intended to be conversation-based, informal, and all about hearing from our MRU community. We will cover a range from health topics and invite people from all across campus to share their experiences and insights. This podcast is hosted by the Healthy Campus Team of Wellness Services.

Or listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more: Listen now

 


Looking for quick tips, access to online or external resources on specific health topics? Browse our health resources organized by topic below to get useful information now.

NOTE: These resources are suggestions and are not intended to replace therapy or medical care. Links found on our website should not be considered as endorsements of all of the content. We do not monitor external websites.

 


Substance use

Being educated on substance use can help keep you safer and help you support those around you. Find resources relating to various substances, addictions support and tools that can help you help others.

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Addressing symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges

If you’re dealing with mental illness, it’s important to know that you’re not alone. Explore campus, community and online resources to help manage, maintain or improve your mental health.

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AD/HD

Unmanaged ADHD can negatively impact well-being and academic performance. However, there are many student-related practices and external supports that have a positive impact on grades, prevent the need for repeating courses and improve graduation rates. 

Learn more.


Dating, domestic and sexual violence

Working through the impacts of dating, domestic and sexual violence can feel overwhelming. Find out more about what resources and information are available to support you or someone else.  

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Food and nutrition

Eating well and properly fuelling your body can help keep your mood, energy and concentration levels up. Learn more about what good nutrition looks like and what it can do for you.

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Helping others

Being able to reach out and help someone is an extremely meaningful step that can make a huge difference to people that are seeking support. Learn more about what helping others can look like and different strategies you can use to support those around you. 

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Managing stress and building resilience

Learning how to manage stress early in your academic career will serve you for a lifetime. Since resilience is something each of us can develop, look for opportunities to stretch yourself just a bit beyond what is comfortable and gradually build your resilience.

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Managing your money

Being a student is a big investment, but your finances shouldn’t be negatively impacting your health and well being. Discover resources and supports for managing your money and reducing financial stress.

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Physical activity

There are plenty of reasons to get moving including elevating your overall health, battling stress and improving your mood! Explore resources for starting, maintaining and making the most of an active lifestyle.

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Making social connections

While there’s no one-size-fits-all guide for relationships, there are steps you can take to help nurture trust and respect. Explore tips and resources for building healthy relationships, including those with partners, peers and yourself.

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Sexual health

Sexual health encompasses a wide-range of topics from healthy relationships and pleasure to sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy prevention. Find resources and supports for these sexual health topics and more.

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Sleep

Sleep is a vital part of life, but getting the rest you need can be difficult. If you’re struggling to catch enough z’s, explore our tips and resources to help you achieve better sleep.

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  Substance Use

People decide to use substances for a variety of reasons, from the excitement of trying something new, to the promised effects like euphoria or relaxation, to a desire to get away from whatever they are thinking or feeling in the current moment.


Regardless of why people use substances, and how much they use, any substance use comes with its risks. Harm reduction strategies can be used to reduce those risks and keep people safer. Harm reduction is a broad term that refers to policies, practices or approaches that are used to reduce the risks of substance use without requiring the person to stop using substances; like having a designated driver when drinking alcohol, using cannabis products lower in THC or with a higher CBD to THC ratio, not using substances alone and carrying a naloxone kit.

 Addressing symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges

Taking care of our mental well-being is as important as taking care of our physical health. Feeling hopeless, unmotivated, overwhelmed, and anxious are top concerns for MRU students and these interfere with academic success and personal health. If you are struggling with your mental health, you are not alone, and there are supports available to help you. 

 

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  ADHD

Between 6-8% of MRU students indicate they have sought professional help for ADHD. While the neurodivergence known as ADHD can be leveraged in particular contexts and for certain tasks, it is well recognized that unmanaged ADHD negatively impacts well-being and academic performance in the post-secondary context. However, there are many student-related practices and external supports that have been shown to have a positive impact on grades, prevent the need for repeating courses and improve graduation rates. 

 

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  Dating, domestic and sexual violence

Dating, domestic and sexual violence can jeopardize the mental, physical and emotional well-being of a person and a community. If you have been impacted by dating, domestic or sexual violence, you are not alone and help is available. 

 

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  Food and nutrition

Eating well can have a tremendous impact on our overall health, but we tend not to think of food this way. We either don’t give it much thought at all, or we only think of it as a means to control weight or appearance. When we do this we are really missing out on what food is all about! At its foundation food is about nourishing us. It provides us with the energy to get through the day.


Food can also be very nourishing to us when shared with those we care about. It can be hard to find ways to share a meal when you’re a busy student, but remember that eating with others helps strengthen your relationships, gives you a much-needed break, and has even been linked to improved problem-solving skills, and stress reduction!

 

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  Helping others

When someone needs support, their family and friends are often the first people to recognize that need. Being able to reach out and help someone is an extremely meaningful step that can make a huge difference to people that are seeking support.

 

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  Managing stress and building resilience

Stress from the demands in our lives is something that can support us to thrive and grow. However, we can experience stress overload when we don’t have the resources to meet the demands (not enough time, out of energy, don’t have the skills). Stress overload can also emerge when we have the time, energy, and skills, but we perceive we don’t.

 

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  Managing your money

Being a student can be an expensive phase of life. There’s tuition, your books, and if you’re not living with your parents, you’ve got rent and groceries as well. You likely also want to spend some money on social activities and may need to eat out now and then if your schedule is really busy.

Money can be a very large source of stress for many people, student or not, and we often don’t get a lot of good guidance on practical steps to take to reduce this stress.

 

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  Physical activity

Being active is not just about going to the gym! Your body is made to move, and whether you enjoy a heart-pumping sweat, or a more leisurely activity, the important thing is that you do something to get active and get your heart rate up. Studies suggest that even engaging in light activity throughout the day (such as taking the stairs or walking around the block) can have a positive impact on your health. Besides the obvious impacts on your heart and muscles, regular exercise has also been shown to increase energy, decrease stress, and prevent chronic disease (Public Health Agency, 2018).

 

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 Making social connections

Most of us realize the importance of having some form of community or friendship in our lives, but when you are starting something new, like university, it can be hard to establish these connections. You’re busy rushing from class to class, or studying, or working. Sometimes it can be hard to realize the importance and necessity of making a bit of time here and there to spend time with friends. But study after study proves that meaningful social connections help us all - they give us a support network when things are tough, give us a break from the books so our brain has a chance to recharge, and give us ample chances to laugh and remember that life is about more than just our grades, alleviating a lot of our stress.

 

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  Sexual health

Your sexual health involves more than just STI protection or birth control methods. While these are important areas to consider, you should also be aware of the intersections of your sexual health with other areas of your wellness, like your emotional well-being, your physical well-being, your spiritual well-being, and even your social well-being. Unlike a lot of other areas of health, your sexual health can have a very serious impact on not only you, but those you have sexual interactions with. This makes good communication a top priority when it comes to any sexual activity with another person.

 

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  Sleep

If you are a university student then you’ve likely already heard a lot of talk about “the importance of sleep.'' When you go to sleep, that is your body and your mind’s time to refresh, reset, and do a lot of important maintenance to keep you healthy and ready to go the next day. We all know sleep is important, but when we’re not getting enough, the knowledge of how important it is can just frustrate us more. What we need are some strategies, and that’s what we’ve provided here.

 

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