Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Not Another Yoga Session: University Wellbeing Programs and Why They so Often Miss the Mark

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Managing your Mental Health during your PhD

Abstract

This chapter explores university wellbeing programs: when they work, when they don’t, and finding value in wellbeing sessions as a PhD student, alongside the importance of resilience building.

(Trigger Warnings: discrimination, harassment)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 24.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    I want to take a moment to recognise that there are amazing individuals within university mental health services who are working towards change and doing their absolute best to keep you well during your PhD, and genuinely care about your welfare. These people are phenomenal and are often doing a superhuman amount of work within a restrictive and underfunded system.

  2. 2.

    It is not okay that the situation that you find yourself in has led to you reaching breaking point and having no more resilience left to give, but it is okay to prioritise your wellbeing.

References

  1. Woolston C (2019) PhDs: the tortuous truth. Nature 575(7782):403–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wally Y (2009) Disability: beyond the medical model. The Lancet 374(9704):1793

    Google Scholar 

  3. Barnes C (2019) Understanding the social model of disability: past, present and future. In: Routledge handbook of disability studies. Routledge, Abingdon

    Google Scholar 

  4. Williams M, Coare P, Marvell R, Pollard E, Houghton AM, Anderson J (2015) Understanding provision for students with mental health problems and intensive support needs: Report to HEFCE by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and Researching Equity, Access and Partnership (REAP)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Priestley M, Broglia E, Hughes G, Spanner L (2022) Student perspectives on improving mental health support services at university. Couns Psychother Res 22(1)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hughes G, Spanner L (2019) The university mental health charter. Student Minds, Leeds

    Google Scholar 

  7. Berglund J (2014) Princely companion or object of offense? The dog’s ambiguous status in Islam. Soc Anim 22(6):545–559

    Google Scholar 

  8. Herrman H, Stewart DE, Diaz-Granados N, Berger EL, Jackson B, Yuen T (2011) What is resilience? Can J Psychiatry 56(5):258–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Casey C, Harvey O, Taylor J, Knight F, Trenoweth S (2022) Exploring the wellbeing and resilience of postgraduate researchers. J Further High Educ:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  10. Brewer ML, Van Kessel G, Sanderson B, Naumann F, Lane M, Reubenson A, Carter A (2019) Resilience in higher education students: a scoping review. High Educ Res Dev 38(6):1105–1120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hinton AO Jr, McReynolds MR, Martinez D, Shuler HD, Termini CM (2020) The power of saying no. EMBO Rep 21(7):e50918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Grzyb JE, Chandler R (2008) The nice factor: the art of saying no. Fusion, London

    Google Scholar 

  13. Grenny J (2019) How to be resilient in the face of harsh criticism. Harvard Business Review

    Google Scholar 

  14. Topalidou I (2018) Teach undergraduates that doing a PhD will require them to embrace failure. Nature

    Google Scholar 

  15. Mahdiani H, Ungar M (2021) The dark side of resilience. Advers Resil Sci 2(3):147–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Britt TW, Shen W, Sinclair RR, Grossman MR, Klieger DM (2016) How much do we really know about employee resilience? Ind Organ Psychol 9(2):378–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Gillberg C (2020) The significance of crashing past gatekeepers of knowledge: towards full participation of disabled scholars in ableist academic structures. In: Ableism in academia: theorising experiencies of disabilities and cronic illnesses in higher education. UCL Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  18. Begum N, Saini R (2019) Decolonising the curriculum. Polit Stud Rev 17(2):196–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Gabriel D, Tate S (2017) Inside the ivory tower: narratives of women of colour surviving and thriving in British academia. Trentham, UCL IOE Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  20. Schueth A (2022) Reducing the stigma of academic mental health can save lives. Nat Rev Urol 19:129–130

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rugby, UK

    Zoë J. Ayres

Authors
  1. Zoë J. Ayres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ayres, Z.J. (2022). Not Another Yoga Session: University Wellbeing Programs and Why They so Often Miss the Mark. In: Managing your Mental Health during your PhD. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14194-2_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation