Between intense mock exams, extracurricular activities and social lives, being a student in Hong Kong is no easy task. While it is easy to say you feel stressed or want to relax, top-scoring English compositions require a bit more precision.
This week on Word Up, we are upgrading your mental health-related vocabulary. Here are six useful terms to help you write thoughtfully about well-being, whether it is for a school debate or a personal reflection.
Mindfulness
noun
Meaning: a mental state achieved by focusing your awareness entirely on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting the feelings and thoughts that come to you without judgment. It is used as a technique to help you relax.
Example: My school has begun teaching us mindfulness exercises before morning assemblies to help us start our day calm and focused.
Spread yourself too thin
idiom
Meaning: to try to do so many different things at the same time that you do not do any of them well. You could use this idiom to describe juggling academic assignments, school clubs and family expectations.
Example: Between joining the debate team, playing basketball and attending weekend tutoring sessions, Jason realised he was spreading himself too thin.
Decompress
verb
Meaning: to calm down and relax after a period of intense stress or pressure; to unwind. This verb is more common in North American English but is great for personal reflections or essays discussing the importance of a healthy work-life balance, as it implies actively releasing built-up tension rather than laziness.
Example: After sitting a gruelling three-hour maths exam, Stephanie desperately needed to decompress, perhaps with a round of karaoke with her friends.
Bottle up
phrasal verb
Meaning: to hide or keep your feelings a secret over a long period of time rather than expressing them, usually leading to an emotional explosion later. This is a fantastic term for narrative essays and short stories where you describe a character’s internal struggle and emotional growth.
Example: Michelle had a bad habit of bottling up her feelings, including frustrations about the group project, so it was only a matter of time before she finally snapped.
Running on fumes
idiom
Meaning: to continue doing something despite reaching a point where you are unable to because you have almost no energy or money left, like a car driving on the last bit of fuel. This visual, relatable idiom is good for describing the chaotic, exhausting reality of exam season or busy extracurricular periods.
Example: By the final week of the school term, the entire student council was running on fumes, barely managing to stay awake during meetings.
Cathartic
adjective
Meaning: describes the release of strong feelings to provide relief from anger or mental pain. It is that “weight lifted off your shoulders” feeling you get after letting your emotions out. This adjective is perfect for descriptive writing or personal reflections when you want to describe the feeling after a good cry, a deep conversation with a friend or creating art.
Example: Finally telling his parents how much he was struggling in chemistry proved to be an incredibly cathartic experience for Nathan.
