This is the message at today’s webinar organised by the School of Psychology, SEGi College Subang Jaya. We believe that mental health matters and today’s session is the latest in our series of efforts to promote mental well being.

The session defined stress, types of stress, how stress can be triggered and how we know when stress hits us. Signs of burnout can be at the physical, emotional or mental level. We may notice this ourselves or others may pick out the changes they see in us – when our bodies slow down physically, when we get easily agitated or are less alert mentally.

Life will come with stress. We cannot avoid life, but we can choose what we want to do with the stress that comes with life. Our speaker, Clinical Psychologist Ms Raagidha, reminded us that “I am the only person who can allow myself to be stressed”.

We need to be aware of what causes us stress, and being alert is being alive. We need to organise our lives and make time for me-time as self-care is critical. Ms Raagidha shared on the importance of me-time, which many of us tend to overlook.

  • 85% of us don’t make enough time for ourselves
  • 1 in 2 people feel guilty in having me-time
  • 4 out of 5 people often feel burnt out
  • 84% of people wish they spent more time caring for themselves
  • 44% are not satisfied with their work-life balance

During the session, the audience were given practical ideas on how we can practise me-time including exercising, power naps and having a really good laugh. We also experienced some me-time activities such as deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. These can be easily carried out at our work stations.

The session reminded us that “nothing changes when nothing changes!” We need to break bad habits and start to create me-time, if we have not done so. How much is me-time? This is at least 30 minutes per day.

Today’s session on Me Time featured Ms Raagidhasakti Ravi, our industry advisor who is a clinical psychologist with Serene Retreat. It was moderated by Valar, our Lecturer cum Programme Leader for Diploma in Psychology and Theva, our Lecturer cum College Counsellor.

SEGi College Subang Jaya offers the Diploma in Psychology and the BSc (Hons) in Psychology, in collaboration with the University of Greenwich. Psychology at Greenwich is one of the top two universities in London for student satisfaction with learning resources (2019 National Student Survey).