Written by Zermina Khan
Every university student knows the stress of university, whether is handing in assignments, upcoming exams or even attending lectures, it all gets extremely stressful to the point where it’s difficult to handle and can really affect those with severe mental health issues.
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According to an article from Save the Student (Murray, 2018) one in four students experience mental health problems while at university - and numbers are only increasing. With rising tuition fees, insufficient maintenance loans and the pressure to succeed, students are under more stress than ever before.
One of the issues could be finance. Regardless of student finance, for those in student accommodation, it still isn’t enough and as well as that, students are also under stress learning to be independent which isn’t easy for everyone as it may be their first time away from home.
How are universities supporting students?
All universities must offer some sort of support regarding any kind issue. An article from The Guardian (Thomas,2018) mentions a student at a university who struggled and began missing lectures followed by having “manic episodes in which he couldn’t concentrate or sleep, as well as episodes of very low moods”so he approached the university medical centre which had him referred to the local NHS community mental health team. The article urged readers to talk to a member of the department at university such as a personal tutor.
However, the health manager at the student’s university advised those who already had a diagnosed mental health condition to register with a GP as soon as possible so they can refer them to appropriate specialist support.
Rosie Tressler from Student Minds who are the UK’s student mental health charity was interviewed for the same article and included how “75% of mental health difficulties start before the age of 24”. Student Minds launched free online resources to help students through the transition from school and college to university.
The University of Wolverhampton have something called the Exam De-Stress Week which supports students who are under stress and those have a lot going on by taking their minds of things. These sessions include workshops such as a Candle making workshop, seated massages, drumming workshop and animal sessions such as Doggy De-stress and The Animal Man.
I attended a session called “The Animal Man” which involved a mobile petting zoo and was held at the Students’ Union. The session allowed students to hold different kinds of animals such as snakes, reptiles, spiders and owls.
I asked Spike Riley who is member of The Animal Man Company more about the service. “I take animals around schools, colleges, old people’s homes and care homes for people to look at and pet the animals. They get to learn some stuff about exotic animals, maybe animals they haven’t seen before” he also talked about the purpose of the session, “this is a chilling out exercise before exams so students are getting ready to hold the animals to make themselves feel calm and anti-stressed”.
Personally, I thought this was a brilliant way to release tension and just enjoy holding animals, especially the snake. Students had a chance to do something they hadn’t done before and this really put a smile to their faces.
An article from The Times (Thomas and Sahota 2018) discusses the Student Minds charity is pushing universities to improve their mental health services. The article stated how “There has been a fivefold increase in the number of students disclosing mental health conditions since 2006-7, with 15,395 undergraduates across the UK in 2015 reporting some form of mental health concern”according to the Institute for Public Policy Research. This shows that mental health still affects students and their studies, also universities need to offer more support to make a difference.
As mentioned before, all universities, schools and colleges MUST offer mental health support or should have someone who works around that issue like a community officer. Some universities may offer more support rather than others, therefore the websites or charities like the Mental Health Foundation or Student Minds are always available to guide students and offer support. If you feel like uncomfortable talking about the situation, email your tutor or speak to your GP.
Look after your wellbeing.
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