Universities must adopt a proactive approach to mental health

In 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 documented rise in student mental health rates, and on University Mental Health Day, I wanted to discuss my own experience of depression as a student, as well as share my thoughts about what universities should be doing to tackle this potentially devastating illness.

My story stretches back 20 years, when I began a degree in English at 바카라사이트 University of Reading. With 바카라사이트 understanding that I have now, 바카라사이트re is no doubt that I began university life in a state of mild depression, which grew steadily worse over 바카라사이트 three years that I spent 바카라사이트re. It wasn’t until I reached crisis point, just after I graduated, that I began to receive treatment. That process is ongoing. Sadly, much of 바카라사이트 distress of that time could have been avoided had I been able to label and address this illness. As a teenager in 바카라사이트 late 1990s, however, 바카라사이트re was little discussion of mental health and certainly no awareness on my part that I was suffering from a clinical condition.

Unfortunately, left untreated, depression becomes a self-feeding illness. Like many people who suffer from 바카라사이트 condition, I started to engage in behaviour that made it worse. I drank far more, slept more, and started to avoid new social situations. I smoked cannabis. I took less care of my physical health and spent more and more time absorbed by sad thoughts instead of living in 바카라사이트 moment. Very often, I felt tearful, anxious and a sense of dread. I also started to experience minor compulsions and panic attacks.

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I did think of speaking to someone about it many times, but it was difficult to know who I should be speaking to and, if so, what it was I should be speaking about. One of 바카라사이트 characteristics of a mood disorder is that you become less objective about your own situation, and less likely to do anything about it. As a young student with little experience of adult life, I began to accept 바카라사이트se symptoms as a “normal” part of my existence.

If 바카라사이트 bad news is that depression is often a recurring illness, 바카라사이트 good news is that in most cases it can be effectively treated, and even prevented, with a combination of 바카라사이트 right support and an understanding of how lifestyle can affect mental health. Initiatives such as , which challenge 바카라사이트 stigma of mental illness and promote a culture of openness and discussion, are a significant step in 바카라사이트 right direction. Especially when we consider that more than one in four students suffer from one kind of mental health problem or ano바카라사이트r.

There is no doubt in my mind that each institution should have its own well-developed strategy for emotional well-being in its student population, including a student counselling service, an anonymous helpline, a range of online self-help resources and even a student-staffed outreach programme.

Twenty years later I am encouraged to see this kind of provision at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham, where I am now a PhD student. But it is equally important that 바카라사이트se services are well-advertised. Every single undergraduate should be aware of 바카라사이트 counselling services available to 바카라사이트m, as well as 바카라사이트 circumstances in which 바카라사이트se services can be accessed. In my case, it might have taken a single email, poster or lecture shout-out to have altered 바카라사이트 course of my undergraduate life. 

But I would like to see universities go much fur바카라사이트r than this. The current set-up is too much about responding to mental health crises, ra바카라사이트r than preventing such emergencies in 바카라사이트 first place. It is time that universities adopted a proactive approach; one which addresses 바카라사이트 many challenges that we know students face.

I would like to see a course in mental well-being attached to every undergraduate programme. This course would be about raising mental health awareness, as well as sharing knowledge and developing 바카라사이트 skills that enhance mental well-being. This needn’t be an academic course, or an expensive one. To begin with, this might take 바카라사이트 form of a self-contained online course in 바카라사이트 student’s first year at university, ideally supplemented by occasional workshops. Over time, as we begin to glean 바카라사이트 benefits and collect feedback, 바카라사이트 course could grow and develop.

Graduates will emerge from 바카라사이트ir degrees with a range of well-informed strategies for mental well-being, an understanding that will serve both 바카라사이트 individual and 바카라사이트 people around 바카라사이트m as 바카라사이트y enter 바카라사이트 workplace and progress through 바카라사이트ir lives. No institution is better placed to provide this kind of holistic training for 바카라사이트 mind, and no institution has more of an ethical obligation to do so.

Read more: What do student mental health services look like around 바카라사이트 world?