Supporting Students at Your University

 “Over the past decade, the demographics of the student population have undergone many changes that are of relevance to the provision of mental healthcare. The numbers of young people in higher education have expanded and they have become more socially and culturally diverse. There have been increasing numbers of students drawn from backgrounds with historically low rates of participation in higher education and growing numbers of international students. Social changes such as the withdrawal of financial support, higher rates of family breakdown and, more recently, economic recession are all having an impact on the well-being of students and other young people.”

The Royal College of Psychiatrists
We work to promote, encourage and enable the provision of informal peer to peer support networks. We know that when facing mental health problems, students are most likely to turn to their peers for support and friends have a vital role to play in supporting students with mental health problems. 

We facilitate peer support groups to enable students to support each other and run training workshops to give students the skills and confidence to support friends with mental health problems.
Supporting Student Mental Health
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Student Mental Health

Young adults are at high risk of developing serious mental health problems. Such problems occur along a continuum, and the symptoms of serious mental health problems (including worry, high levels of stress, low self-esteem and disrupted sleep) are aspects of poor mental health that any student may experience. A quarter of all students are experiencing worrying levels of psychological distress [1-6]. If tackled early there is an opportunity to prevent the development of more severe mental health problems. 

Why the mental health of students matters

A study looking at students in their second year of university, found that those experiencing depression in the middle of the academic year, did significantly worse in their exams at the end of the second year than students without mental health problems. On average students without mental health problems achieved a low 2:1, while students with experience of depression achieved a 2:2. [7]

Mental health problems are also associated with increased risk of acute infections illness [8], increased self-harming behaviours [9], suicidal ideation [10], suicide [11], and withdrawal from college [12]. All of these factors have a substantial negative impact upon the wellbeing and academic success of a student and their peers. 
“Mental disorders create a substantial economic burden on our society. Students with unrecognised and untreated mental illnesses are likely to increase these costs in a number of ways. There will be a loss of return on the public investment in higher education. Drop out from education will lead to diminished earning capacity and an increased risk of dependence on state benefits.”
Royal College of Psychiatrists

Providing Support: 
The state of current service provision

Student service managers, counsellors and mental health advisors report increasing numbers of clients and an increase in the severity of the problems that trouble them [13]. There are concerns that, due to problems accessing specialist services, University Counselling services are under pressure to provide students with support that would normally be expected to be provided by the NHS [14]. NHS provision is very limited and services are not usually adapted to the timescale of student life [14-16]. 

Studies from the USA and Australia suggest that less than 25% of students experiencing psychological distress receive counselling [17, 18] and a recent report published by NUS Scotland revealed that less than 20% of students would consider approaching university counselling services when they suffered from stress [19]. Barriers preventing students from seeking support from such formal services include lack of time, privacy concerns and being unaware of service [20-22].  The stigma attached to seeking support for a mental health problems is a further barrier.

A role for informal support 

Most of the service providers interviewed as part of a study into a City-Wide Approach to working with students with mental health needs, identified that individuals experiencing mental distress were affected by social issues and needs which could not be met within treatment services [14]. The study recommended that the establishment of services promoting informal social and peer support could be beneficial to students experiencing a wide range of mental distress. 

SRSH works to promote, encourage and enable the provision of informal peer to peer support networks. We know that when facing mental health problems, students are most likely to turn to their peers for support [23, 24] and that friends have a vital role to play in supporting students with mental health problems [14]. We facilitate peer support groups to enable students to support each other and run training workshops to give students the skills and confidence to support friends with mental health problems. 
1.             Monk, E., Student Mental Health. Part two: the main study and reflection of significant issues. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 2004. 17 : 
2.             MacCall, C., J.S. Callender, and W. Irvine, Substance misuse, psychiatric disorder and parental relationships in patients attending a student health service. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clincal Practice, 2001. 7 (137-143).
3.             Bewick, B.M., J.A. Gill, and B. Muhern, Using electronic surveying to assess psychological distress within the UK university student population: a multi-site pilot investigation. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 2008. 4 : p. 1 - 5.
4.             Webb, E., et al., Alcohol and drug use in UK university students. Lancet, 1996. 348 (9032): p. 922-925.
5.             Eisenberg, D., et al., Prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality among university students. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2007. 77 (4): p. 534-542.
6.             Association, A.C.H., American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment: Reference Group data Report , 2008: Baltimore.
7.             Andrews, B. and J.M. Wilding, The relation of depression and anxiety to life-stress and achievement in students. Br J Psychol, 2004. 95 (Pt 4)
8.             Adams, T.B., et al., The association between mental health and acute infectious illness among a national sample of 18- to 24-year-old college students. J Am Coll Health, 2008. 56 (6): p. 657-63.
9.             Serras, A., et al., Self-injury, substance use, and associated risk factors in a multi-campus probability sample of college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 2010. 24 (1): p. 119-28.
10.          Arria, A.M., et al., Suicide ideation among college students: a multivariate analysis. Arch Suicide Res, 2009. 13 (3): p. 230-46.
11.          Suicide Prevention Research Center, 2004.
12.          Meilman, P.W., et al., Medical withdrawals from college for mental health reasons and their relation to academic performance. J Am Coll Health, 1992. 40 (5): p. 217-23.
13.          Grant, A., The Growth and Development of Mental Health Provision in UK Higher Education Institutions , U.U.G.H.W.G.f.t.P.o.M.W.i.H. Education, Editor 2011.
14.          Leach, J. and J. Hall, A city-wide approach to cross-boundary working with students with mental health needs. J Interprof Care, 2011. 25 (2):
15.          Callender, J., et al., Mental health of students in higher education: Royal College of Psychiatrists Report 2011, Royal College of Psychiatrists.
16.          Quinn, N., et al., People Look at You Differently: Studnets Experiences of Mental Health Support within Higher Education. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 2009. 37 (4): p. 405-418.
17.          Storrie, K., K. Ahern, and A. Tuckett, A systematic review: Students with mental health problems--a growing problem. Int J Nurs Pract, 2010.
18.          Rosenthal, B. and W.C. Wilson, Mental health services: use and disparity among diverse college students. J Am Coll Health, 2008. 57 (1) 
19.          Scotland, N.U.o.S., Silently Stressed; A Survey into Student Mental Wellbeing , in Think Positive about Student Mental Health 2011.
20.          Hunt, J. and D. Eisenberg, Mental health problems and help-seeking behavior among college students. J Adolesc Health, 2010. 46 (1): p. 3-10.
21.          Chew-Graham, C.A., A. Rogers, and N. Yassin, 'I wouldn't want it on my CV or their records': medical students' experiences of help-seeking for mental health problems. Medical Education, 2003. 37 (10): p. 873-880.
22.          Roberts, L.W., et al., Perceptions of academic vulnerability associated with personal illness: a study of 1,027 students at nine medical schools. Collaborative Research Group on Medical Student Health. Compr Psychiatry, 2001. 42 (1): p. 1-15.
23.          SRSH, Mind the Gap , 2012.
24.          Scotland, N.U.o.S., Breaking the Silence , in Think Positive about Student Mental Health 2011.