The Big Ms: MBA And Mental-Wellbeing

For many, MBA from an IIM is like getting the gold pot at the end of a rainbow. The students come from different nooks and corners of the country, carrying so many dreams within the corner of their eyes. These aspiring managers start knitting their ambitions, and they don’t even get the chance to realize when the hustle begins!

But, during this entire course of action, students tend to overlook one key factor: mental health! The hustle of cracking entrance exams, preparing for interviews, and facing the rigor of B-Schools can result in countless sleepless nights, bucket-loads of stress, and academic anxiety. But, everything is usually painted with the same brush: the pressure of being in a b-school. This is where the problem begins!

The MBA colleges take pride in the kind of diversity that they provide: academic diversity, work-ex diversity, and age diversity. But just as each coin has two facets to it, these diversities might also cause uncalled for pressure on the mental wellbeing of students.

Many students start down looking upon themselves. They start judging their abilities to perform well within the system. Thanks to the stigma attached to the topic of mental health, we don’t even know how many students start getting mental breakdowns. Continuous stress, sleepless nights, and the heavy pressure of being a part of the league create a negative spiral that the students usually find difficult to come out of!

Here we have a few tips that can come in handy during the glorious management journey:

1)     Accept: The most important thing is to accept yourself the way you are. Accept that everyone is different, and you are equally good as your colleagues; that’s why you all are part of the same institution.

2)     Be true to self: Instead of falling prey to living in denial, acknowledge the underlying issues because “to transcend a problem, you need to identify it.”

3)     Prioritize: MBA gives you heap-loads of everything, and something will always fall out. So, choose consciously what really matters and adds value, and don’t worry about the rest.

4)     Hobby-fi: During your MBA life, nourish your hobbies as these serve as your quick get-away from the regular hustle and provide much-needed freshness to the mind.

5)     ‘Me Time’: This cannot be emphasized enough how important it is to have some time off for just yourself. Use this time to pamper yourself, read a good book, or pursue a hobby. Take time out to meditate, practice mindfulness, and recite affirmations. Just like healthy food is required to nourish the body, these are the vitamins to nourish the mind.

Lastly, be empathetic, to yourself and others. Measure the gravity of your words. Take the collective responsibility for each other’s wellbeing, and this journey would turn into a beautiful voyage for a lifetime!

During a virtual talk at IIM Shillong, world-renowned thought leader Sri Sri Ravishankar highlighted that to be a good leader, it’s necessary to be present at the moment, to be able to regulate your emotions such as anger, and to remain in high energy. He mentioned that to manage self, it is crucial to living free from stress and at peace.

At IIM Shillong, Oasis is a student group that takes the responsibility to ensure a good environment for students’ mental wellbeing. The students can reach out to this group and discuss their issues. If the issues are within their capabilities, they help or else direct them to the right channels and assure that the issues are taken care of timely.