Mental health services at the UoE – are they doing enough?
Anna Romanovska takes us through the good, the bad and the ugly of the University Mental Health resources
It’s no secret that there is an ongoing mental health crisis happening across all major university campuses. In a bid to help universities spot those who need help, senior coroner Maria Voisin called on UCAS to encourage “more disclosure on UCAS application forms.” Exeter University has had this feature for a while now. When registering on the Student Record System at the beginning of the academic year, there is an option to declare your mental health issue. But is that enough?
Many well-being services within UK universities lack the funds to support the ever-increasing demand for mental health support.
Many well-being services within UK universities lack the funds to support the ever-increasing demand for mental health support. During the academic year of 2016/2017, 113,644 students across the UK contacted the counselling services within their universities. Mental health issues are already sensitive as it is, and most universities are struggling to provide the support students need.
At the beginning of my second year I myself had experienced some mental health issues and was very close to dropping out of university. I contacted the services, got my Individual Learning Plan (ILP) sorted and applied for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Unfortunately, my name got lost in the system and it was not until a couple of weeks later that, after chasing my application up, I received my first appointment. The Health, Wellbeing and Support for Study Procedure (also known as HWSS) and the ILP work great, and I have been incredibly grateful for all the support I have received so far. However, getting support outside of these programmes is tricky. My first-year application for mitigation fell through because I was abroad at the time and the services cannot accept non-UK phone calls.
My first-year application for mitigation fell through because I was abroad at the time and the services cannot accept non-UK phone calls.
There is lots of support available for your studies, yet information about them is not circulated enough. ILPs, online CBT, counselling, group therapy, mitigation and college-specific welfare advisors are just some of the types of support systems that are available. Yet, many students do not know about the support available, and it is not exactly easy to find your way around the swamps of information that are thrown at you by the university. I constantly get asked what an ILP or HWSS is. If you want people to reach out, surely you should sign-post them in the right direction first? In order to truly battle stigmatisation, the university and its colleges need to step up and be more transparent about any support that is available at the university and in Exeter.
In order to truly battle stigmatisation, the university and its colleges need to step up and be more transparent about any support that is available at the university and in Exeter.
Help outside of the university is available as well, however these services are usually private or spread thinly. Despite the local NHS service aiming to book an appointment within six weeks’ time, it took me two months from my initial appointment to secure a Telephone Referral call.
The shocking numbers of lives lost to mental health issues at university should have been a wake-up call years ago
Perhaps instead of laying the foundations for new buildings and accepting more students every year, universities should look at solutions to tackle this crisis. The shocking numbers of lives lost to mental health issues at university should have been a wake-up call years ago. Funding and accessibility are essential in the provision of mental health support.
