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Student mental health: the situation is more nuanced than it seems

If the media portrays student life as a hell on earth with no support available, it will only make students feel worse

Alan Percy

The increase in students using university welfare support should not be oversimplified. Photograph: Kproeith Morris/Alamy

There has been much publicity and concern about student mental health in recent months. This partly reflects the rise in students accessing university welfare support and counselling services, with most services experiencing a large increase year on year.

A significant proportion (between 5-10%) of the student community at universities in the UK uses the counselling services, according to the Heads of University Counselling Services (Hucs). However, it would be incorrect to accept overly simplistic explanations for this phenomenon.

It is obvious that in many ways life is extremely pressurised and stressful for university students today, but this is not just caused by the demands of academic life or the lack of support from universities. It is equally simplistic to say that this is all due to increased tuition fees and the pressures they put on students to succeed academically, so they can then go on to get a good job.

That is not to say that the uncertain economic future does not amplify the pressure on young people.

One of the ironies of increased student fees is that they can heighten student expectations (often unrealistically) about the support services at their institutions.

Although students are contributing more, the reality is that there has been no real increase in university funding, as central government funding to higher education has been dramatically cut.

A negative consequence of this cut could be for universities to cut back support services or replace experienced and effective counselling services with generic “wellbeing support workers”.

Social and mass media: driving unrealistic life expectations

There is a whole range of cultural and sociological issues affecting young adult psychological development today.

Social and mass media often promote unrealistic life expectations and engender a persecutory perfectionism within young adults. This can create a self-bullying mentality which can make students feel dissatisfied with their own achievements and experiences while also heightening expectations of others.

Unrealistic perfectionism is a key driver for more serious problems such as depression, anxiety, self-harm and eating disorders. Despite being more connected in a virtual way, many students feel more isolated, as they believe they have to hide their true self and present a perfect image to others.

Changes in secondary education have made the transition to learning at higher education much harder and more emotionally challenging for many students.

Real learning at degree level often involves going through periods of not knowing, being confused, until new knowledge emerges. However, some students may sense that if they don’t understand something immediately they are failing or being failed by their tutors.

Changes in family structure and parenting styles often lead to closer, friendlier and more positive relationships between parents and young adults, but this can also generate mixed messages for young adults, sometimes leading them to feel more anxious about separating from their parents and facing the challenges and risks of the outside world.

Using labels such as “depression” can make young adults feel trapped in a “passive sick role”

There is greater awareness – but not necessarily understanding – of mental illness. This often leads to an over-medicalised and symptomised view of normal life difficulties, challenges and struggles. Much of the data cited by student journals has no statistical validity. Figures are usually based on impressionistic and subjective questionnaires rather than rigorous clinical evidence or diagnosis.

Many students can feel they are “depressed” in a common-sense way when they are going through difficult life struggles, but this is different from clinical depression and anxiety disorders. The use of labels such as “depression” or “anxiety disorder” can have the effect of making young adults feel trapped in a “passive sick role” rather than helping them to develop the internal skills and resources to cope with life challenges.

According to psychological and therapeutic models, the way people make sense of their experiences has a fundamental effect on how they feel and act. Seeing life in simplistic “all or nothing” categories can have a detrimental effect on how people feel, as it stops them from understanding and engaging with the complexities of life.

If student life is constantly portrayed as being some kind of hell on earth, where most students are depressed with no one to help them, this creates a self-fulfilling prophesy making students feel worse and reluctant to seek help.

University counselling services are highly effective

University counselling services have been developing evidence-based therapeutic interventions, and using professional clinical experience, for many years.

 

Evidence from university counselling services across the UK demonstrates that they are highly clinically effective, with rates of significant and reliable improvement at 75% or above for service users. This not only reduces distressing psychological symptoms but also helps students to function better at university.

After using their universities counselling service, the majority of students report they are less likely to withdraw from their course, feel better able to study and feel better equipped to seek future employment. Evaluation of counselling services by students, through local and national studies, such as the national student barometer survey, show very high levels of satisfaction rates of above 90%.

Obviously not all students will find counselling services beneficial, but those who do not form a relatively small proportion of service users. Through a variety of interventions, such as individual and group counselling, psycho-educational workshops, and interactive self-help resources, university counselling services can help students in a professional, empathetic and non-judgmental way gain insight and awareness into their difficulties.

From this perspective students can then make realistic life changes and build the internal skills which will enable them to develop the emotional resilience required to face the normal difficulties and challenges of life.

The vast majority of students have a largely positive experience at university, although at times they will face very difficult and distressing periods.

Doing a degree should be a challenging process as young adults develop knowledge, skills and resources. But it should be a largely enjoyable and creative time. However, if students are having a distressing time there is a great deal of support available, both through professional clinical services and also the many student-led support groups.

It is always best if students who are having difficulties reach out for the support available, sooner rather than later. Counselling and support services cannot take away all life problems, or make people happy all the time, but they can provide the appropriate support that for many students will make all the difference.

* Alan Percy is head of counselling at the University of Oxford and media spokesperson for the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy: Universities and Colleges.

• This article was amended on 17 October to correct a statistic that said 80% of students showed significant improvement from attending university counselling services across UK higher education. The correct figure is 75%. The 80% figure is the average across the Russell Group universities.