The Student Room Group

Let down by uni mental health

Is anyone else extremely let down by their universities mental health help. My first year of uni I expected it to be amazing, I would consider myself before uni a sociable person who loved going out with friends. However this quickly changed. Few weeks into uni I became incredibly depressed. It hit me so hard I didn’t know it was happening. I have always been one of these people who honestly thought depression was just a thing people could get over and never really understood it. Boy was I wrong. I couldn’t bring myself to make friends with anyone, I felt so gross and ugly all the time. I couldn’t get out of bed, many days I didn’t see sunlight during winter time. I was drinking bottles of wine on my own every night just so I didn’t get to feel like myself. My point is not to go on about my actual depression but rather the help or in fact no help I received for it.

My friend contacted the universities mental health service saying she was extremely worried about me, my friend received an email with little information (literally just a leaflet on how to help people with depression). This was my first attempt of reaching out for help, my second attempt was contacting my academic adviser to say that I wasn’t coping very well, yes she emailed me back saying she wishes me the best but she didn’t follow up on this at all. I only went into 4 lectures the whole of my first year, received no emails about my attendance at all. I mainly feel let down as I felt no one cared. I felt no one cared that I was genuinely suffering so badly. Later in the year I heard news that someone on my course had taken her life, yet my uni had sent no email round about this, almost like they didn’t acknowledge it or offer any support. Am I expecting more from my university in terms of how they should deal with mental health and is this level of help acceptable?

I’m not trying to look for sympathy but it is rather an angry rant about universities mental health services and how it is close to impossible to live a normal, healthy university life if you are suffering from a mental illness.
Reply 1
Original post by h000000d
Is anyone else extremely let down by their universities mental health help. My first year of uni I expected it to be amazing, I would consider myself before uni a sociable person who loved going out with friends. However this quickly changed. Few weeks into uni I became incredibly depressed. It hit me so hard I didn’t know it was happening. I have always been one of these people who honestly thought depression was just a thing people could get over and never really understood it. Boy was I wrong. I couldn’t bring myself to make friends with anyone, I felt so gross and ugly all the time. I couldn’t get out of bed, many days I didn’t see sunlight during winter time. I was drinking bottles of wine on my own every night just so I didn’t get to feel like myself. My point is not to go on about my actual depression but rather the help or in fact no help I received for it.

My friend contacted the universities mental health service saying she was extremely worried about me, my friend received an email with little information (literally just a leaflet on how to help people with depression). This was my first attempt of reaching out for help, my second attempt was contacting my academic adviser to say that I wasn’t coping very well, yes she emailed me back saying she wishes me the best but she didn’t follow up on this at all. I only went into 4 lectures the whole of my first year, received no emails about my attendance at all. I mainly feel let down as I felt no one cared. I felt no one cared that I was genuinely suffering so badly. Later in the year I heard news that someone on my course had taken her life, yet my uni had sent no email round about this, almost like they didn’t acknowledge it or offer any support. Am I expecting more from my university in terms of how they should deal with mental health and is this level of help acceptable?

I’m not trying to look for sympathy but it is rather an angry rant about universities mental health services and how it is close to impossible to live a normal, healthy university life if you are suffering from a mental illness.


Wow...this is awful. And no, you should expect more. Not to make you feel worse, but the MH help I got whilst I was in my second year and final year from my university was outstanding. I wouldn't have graduated without their support. I'm so sorry your university was so awful and useless with regards to this. How are things now? Are you getting any medical input? Are you still enrolled at the university?
Original post by h000000d
Is anyone else extremely let down by their universities mental health help. My first year of uni I expected it to be amazing, I would consider myself before uni a sociable person who loved going out with friends. However this quickly changed. Few weeks into uni I became incredibly depressed. It hit me so hard I didn’t know it was happening. I have always been one of these people who honestly thought depression was just a thing people could get over and never really understood it. Boy was I wrong. I couldn’t bring myself to make friends with anyone, I felt so gross and ugly all the time. I couldn’t get out of bed, many days I didn’t see sunlight during winter time. I was drinking bottles of wine on my own every night just so I didn’t get to feel like myself. My point is not to go on about my actual depression but rather the help or in fact no help I received for it.

My friend contacted the universities mental health service saying she was extremely worried about me, my friend received an email with little information (literally just a leaflet on how to help people with depression). This was my first attempt of reaching out for help, my second attempt was contacting my academic adviser to say that I wasn’t coping very well, yes she emailed me back saying she wishes me the best but she didn’t follow up on this at all. I only went into 4 lectures the whole of my first year, received no emails about my attendance at all. I mainly feel let down as I felt no one cared. I felt no one cared that I was genuinely suffering so badly. Later in the year I heard news that someone on my course had taken her life, yet my uni had sent no email round about this, almost like they didn’t acknowledge it or offer any support. Am I expecting more from my university in terms of how they should deal with mental health and is this level of help acceptable?

I’m not trying to look for sympathy but it is rather an angry rant about universities mental health services and how it is close to impossible to live a normal, healthy university life if you are suffering from a mental illness.


I don't go to uni but all I do is hear about students taking their life, especially from Bristol university, you're not alone trust me, try and get help from somewhere else.
Reply 3
Original post by Pathway
Wow...this is awful. And no, you should expect more. Not to make you feel worse, but the MH help I got whilst I was in my second year and final year from my university was outstanding. I wouldn't have graduated without their support. I'm so sorry your university was so awful and useless with regards to this. How are things now? Are you getting any medical input? Are you still enrolled at the university?



1.

I am extremely better now in terms of my mental health (no thanks to uni at all). I have to resit 4 exams and 1 coursework this summer but im in a better mind set now to do them than I ever was during my depression. I am still enrolled yes and want to continue because I do want a degree. My only real problem now is the mental health services because it honestly upsets me now more than ever that if someone was in the same position I was in uni they would have no one to turn to at my university.

Reply 4
Original post by h000000d

1.

I am extremely better now in terms of my mental health (no thanks to uni at all). I have to resit 4 exams and 1 coursework this summer but im in a better mind set now to do them than I ever was during my depression. I am still enrolled yes and want to continue because I do want a degree. My only real problem now is the mental health services because it honestly upsets me now more than ever that if someone was in the same position I was in uni they would have no one to turn to at my university.




It might be worth bringing this up with your university's SU. Maybe get some ideas about different universities and their MH provision? Sorry to hear about the resits, I had to do a resit in my final year due to my MH issues too. I really hope you've got more support in place when you go back. Good luck for your exams!
Original post by h000000d

1.

I am extremely better now in terms of use my mental health (no thanks to uni at all). I have to resit 4 exams and 1 coursework this summer but im in a better mind set now to do them than I ever was during my depression. I am still enrolled yes and want to continue because I do want a degree. My only real problem now is the mental health services because it honestly upsets me now more than ever that if someone was in the same position I was in uni they would have no one to turn to at my university.



Are you sure you're well enough? Will your marks be capped? Yes, your uni should have provided you with a lot more support. There's no shame if you need to take a year out or something.
Reply 6
Original post by YaliaV
Are you sure you're well enough? Will your marks be capped? Yes, your uni should have provided you with a lot more support. There's no shame if you need to take a year out or something.



Yes I'm in an extremely better place mentally, I actually leave my bed and enjoy waking up everyday. Yes my marks will be capped but Im only in first year so I'm not really worried about that as long as I pass. :smile:
Reply 7
Original post by Pathway
It might be worth bringing this up with your university's SU. Maybe get some ideas about different universities and their MH provision? Sorry to hear about the resits, I had to do a resit in my final year due to my MH issues too. I really hope you've got more support in place when you go back. Good luck for your exams!




Thank u. I would love to try and bring more attention to it at university but I honestly feel with the lack of support they have given me why would uni even care. I would email someone but I have no idea who is the right person to email.
This is gonna sound harsh, but i think the mental stress of university is something students need to be able to deal with growing up.

1) if your too fragile for day to day activities dont start uni
2) students cant expect universities to be mental asylums, they are their to help ambitious bright people reach their full potential.
Reply 9
Original post by Realitysreflexx
This is gonna sound harsh, but i think the mental stress of university is something students need to be able to deal with growing up.

1) if your too fragile for day to day activities dont start uni
2) students cant expect universities to be mental asylums, they are their to help ambitious bright people reach their full potential.



I was filled with ambition and hope before starting uni. But I ended up suffering with depression during it. I hadn't experienced anything like this before, not being able to eat or sleep or function normally. I cant tell you how much I wanted to go out with friends, go to lectures or function normally but I just couldn't and it wasn't my choice.

I did not expect university to be a mental asylum and it would be absurd for anyone to think that. But I did expect some kind of support. Its not hard from one human to another to offer sufficient support or guidance to someone who is struggling. I know now i am able to reach my full potential but it doesn't mean I don't need support along the way to do so.
Original post by h000000d
Thank u. I would love to try and bring more attention to it at university but I honestly feel with the lack of support they have given me why would uni even care. I would email someone but I have no idea who is the right person to email.


The SU is run by the students though, it's not run by the university, that's why they can support you at academic board meetings and whatnot. Ask your personal tutor who runs your university's SU and go from there. Might also be worth seeing who runs the disability support department at your university too.

My university had a lot of things available. Nightline was actually started at my university, we had access to group and one to one counselling, stress and MH related classes, residents support network, personal tutors, etc. If we were receiving Disabled Student's Allowance we may have been given access to a specialist MH mentor (I was given this). There are loads of things that your university could do to help you with your mental health at university, a lot of people struggle there.
Original post by Realitysreflexx
This is gonna sound harsh, but i think the mental stress of university is something students need to be able to deal with growing up.

1) if your too fragile for day to day activities dont start uni
2) students cant expect universities to be mental asylums, they are their to help ambitious bright people reach their full potential.


Yes, it does sound harsh. The OP has said that he experienced difficulties after he started university. In an ideal world, we would all sail through the university experience and walk off into the sunset with our degrees and live happily ever after. But this isn’t the case for many students and in terms of universities helping bright ambitious to reach their full potential - well, ambitious bright young people can also have mental health issues, and in the OP’s case, his difficulties had been flagged up to the university and the university should have ensured that reasonable adjustments were implemented and that he was signposted for support to reach his potential. The failure of the university to take on board his mental health issues can and do exacerbate further mental health problems. I would always advise anyone setting out on the university journey to look at what they offer for mental health support.
To be honest. I've not had much luck either. And academically the rules are so strict at my uni that even if you are suicidal they'll make absolutely zero leeway with things like deferrals and extenuating circumstances. The system in no way shape or form acknowledges mental health problems.
Original post by h000000d
I was filled with ambition and hope before starting uni. But I ended up suffering with depression during it. I hadn't experienced anything like this before, not being able to eat or sleep or function normally. I cant tell you how much I wanted to go out with friends, go to lectures or function normally but I just couldn't and it wasn't my choice.

I did not expect university to be a mental asylum and it would be absurd for anyone to think that. But I did expect some kind of support. Its not hard from one human to another to offer sufficient support or guidance to someone who is struggling. I know now i am able to reach my full potential but it doesn't mean I don't need support along the way to do so.


I too was filled with ambition and hope and my mental health problems pre-existed before I went to university, but that did not stop me. University did pose issues for me and although I attended a ‘new’ university, the pastoral care was second to none. I attended regular meetings with student services to monitor my wellbeing and to ensure adjustments were up to date.
Access any support you can get to help you to reach your full potential.
Original post by SophieSmall
To be honest. I've not had much luck either. And academically the rules are so strict at my uni that even if you are suicidal they'll make absolutely zero leeway with things like deferrals and extenuating circumstances. The system in no way shape or form acknowledges mental health problems.


I think provision varies between universities. I am an older person, 70, and I have PTSD among other mental health issues. My diagnosis for PTSD did not come until I was actually in my 2nd year and it was instigated by my specialist mentor who wrote to my GP, and was backed up by my university. I had been trying for years to access suitable counselling and to no avail until my university intervened and I now have the counselling I need. I have completed my degree this summer and it would not have been possible without the support I had at university.
Your experiences mirror my own. I’m now a postgraduate student, and doing much much better, but it took me three away-from-home, conventional attempts at different uni’ to realise my issues were, at least at that stage, too severe for me to be able to succeed. After getting help, I graduated last year, some 9 years after I did A Levels. There’s always hope. Keep going.
Original post by SophieSmall
To be honest. I've not had much luck either. And academically the rules are so strict at my uni that even if you are suicidal they'll make absolutely zero leeway with things like deferrals and extenuating circumstances. The system in no way shape or form acknowledges mental health problems.


Sorry to hear about your negative experiences.

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