Almost every student (97 percent) experiences stress, according to the Monitor Mental Health and Substance Use of Students in Higher Education, by RIVM, the Trimbos Institute, and GGD (in The Netherlands). The primary source of stress seems to be the study itself, but the corona crisis and pressure to perform contribute to it as well.

Half of the students (51 percent) experience psychological challenges such as anxiety and depression, and 12 percent in a serious way. In addition, 41 percent say they have many sleep problems, which the researchers say is not surprising, given the amount of stress and psychological challenges reported (source).

Moonbird is an ideal tool for anyone to support stress, anxiety, and sleeping problems. Many students have already discovered this as well. We asked Arno, a moonbird user and student in his senior year of higher education, about his experiences.

“Personally, I felt it was a big step going from secondary to higher education. Suddenly I was given a lot more responsibility and more is expected of you. The study load is a lot higher, and also at a higher level. Because I was sick of school when I graduated high school, I started college with little motivation. The accumulation of all these things caused me to get bad results.

Due to my poor results, I started doubting myself, which led to some difficult years. To this day I quickly worry about small things and my mind rarely finds peace. When I have deadlines I am easily afraid that I will not meet them, and I quickly suffer from stress.

At other times, such as during exams, presentations or job applications, my body always shows stress signals such as sweating and an increased heart rate, but emotionally I can remain calm.”

“At such moments I try to find as much distraction as possible. For example, I watch an episode of a series or try to read a book. Before I had my moonbird, I once happened to notice that I calmed down when I took a deep breath in and out. I was not familiar with the calming power of breathing exercises until I noticed this. It is also thanks to this discovery that I started looking around, and found moonbird.”

“When I have to work on a deadline or study, I often use my moonbird as it helps me to get started. When I notice that I suffer from stress while working or studying, I grab my moonbird to relax as well. In addition, I also use it when it gets too busy in my head and when I want to relax completely.”

“I like it that you can hold moonbird in your hand and it contracts and expands, in that way it is easy to take over the slow rhythm. While using it I also notice very quickly that I destress, all my muscles relax and I have no (or very few) thoughts in my head. When using the app, you also get to see some graphs with which you can track your heart rate, heart rate variability and coherence.”