The invisible problem? Improving students’ mental health

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etter way to raise awareness is to challenge stereotypes, for instance stressing that those with a mental illness are no more likely than anyone else to be violent and that individuals with depression are not just lazy. Finally, we discourage the use of Fit to Sit policies that prohibit the submission of extenuating circumstances after a student has sat an exam. These policies state that by sitting an exam you are declaring yourself fit to sit it, therefore cannot be given any special consideration. However, mental illnesses can be highly fluctuating and unpredictable. A student may suffer a panic attack during an exam despite not having experienced one for many months or indeed ever. Not being able to apply for special consideration in such circumstances puts those with mental health problems at a disadvantage. 52 The invisible problem? Improving students’ mental health
Conclusion Mental health and even life expectancy are better for people who have attended higher education compared to those who have not. 88 But greater support is required to ensure students are cared for mentally and physically before they graduate. The policy recommendations in this paper respond to two problems. The first is that students with severe mental disorders are struggling to bridge the transition into higher education due to the poor communication between different support services. This is primarily for government organisations such as the NHS to tackle. The second problem regards students who suffer from poor wellbeing, or what might be described as mental health problems. Universities need to act to improve support for these students by increasing funding for their counselling services and reviewing their policies to see what is lacking and what can be improved. There is a link between poor mental health and student retention. So the emphasis on student retention in the current higher education reforms will, we hope, provide one further reason beyond those mentioned above to support and nurture all students. www.hepi.ac.uk 53
Page 1 and 2:
The invisible problem? Improving st
Page 3 and 4: Terminology Mental health and menta
Page 5 and 6: Foreword The Rt Hon. Norman Lamb MP
Page 7 and 8: Contents Acknowledgements 6 Executi
Page 9 and 10: Executive summary •• We might e
Page 11 and 12: •• Providing training on mental
Page 13 and 14: Mental, neurological and substance
Page 15 and 16: ecently completed counselling with
Page 17 and 18: of Reading found that, upon startin
Page 19 and 20: Mental and substance misuse disorde
Page 21 and 22: 3. Vulnerability factors A study by
Page 23 and 24: Moreover, some students are used to
Page 25 and 26: Rising living costs are a source of
Page 27 and 28: Students and waiting times A survey
Page 29 and 30: and doing things that I enjoyed, an
Page 31 and 32: Wellbeing, by accommodation type (2
Page 33 and 34: 5. Challenges Data such as the more
Page 35 and 36: Poor staffing ratios are also prese
Page 37 and 38: The MWBHE/UUK report notes 54 per c
Page 39 and 40: Leeds has demonstrated particularly
Page 41 and 42: i. Policy to aid transitions We rec
Page 43 and 44: The University of York have done ex
Page 45 and 46: Personal tutors in particular need
Page 47 and 48: How can you Respond to a Student Ex
Page 49 and 50: from the University of Bristol Stud
Page 51 and 52: A good example of a specific volunt
Page 53: across psychological disorders, lis
Page 57 and 58: 12 Karen McKenzie et al, ‘The eff
Page 59 and 60: 33 Lorraine Khan, Missed opportunit
Page 61 and 62: 58 The Samaritans, Facts and figure
Page 63 and 64: 80 Jonathan Neves and Nick Hillman,
Page 65 and 66: Trustees Professor Sir Ivor Crewe (
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The invisible problem? Improving students’ mental health

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