Saajan's story

“I use my Brain in Hand every day, I mostly use the Traffic Light System. I set prompts on my app to remind me to regularly monitor how I am coping and record how good my solutions are. Most of the time I press green to reassure myself, but just knowing someone is there if I need them is the main thing that makes me feel a lot more confident.” 

Developing strategies

 “Last year I was preparing for a coursework presentation, and I was extremely nervous. I pressed three amber Traffic Lights in a row when monitoring my anxiety. Someone from the Student Services team saw this and got in touch with me; they enabled me to settle myself down so I could get my work done and meet my deadline. A week later, at a scheduled support session, we developed more solutions to put into my Brain in Hand so that the next time I get stuck with a deadline I will have those solutions available to me and know exactly what I can do to help myself."

I feel a lot more settled and confident knowing someone is always there to help and will respond if I need them.

"Although the Traffic Light feature is my favourite, I find the entire system easy to use. I also use the diary and unplanned events on my website to help me organise my time. I update these when I meet my Brain in Hand supporter, which is usually about twice a month."

Positive impact

“Brain in Hand has had a huge impact on my life. When I look back at my Brain in Hand timeline and see the green Traffic Light presses, I realise that I have been able to manage in situations that I would have struggled with before and can see how far I’ve come.” 

Knowing I will have Brain in Hand in year two, when the course is going to be more intense, is already making me feel calmer and more positive.