Thursday 10-10-2019 - 12:42

Winchester Student Union proudly supports World Mental Health Day. Student Officer, Olivia Rooke shares her thoughts:

 

Everyone has mental health, the barista in the Learning Café, the friend you’ve sat next to in lectures since the beginning of semester, the members of staff you pass when you walk around campus. It’s our emotional wellbeing, our social interactions, our perseverance, our conscience, our obstacle, and our saviour. However, when our mental health begins to interfere with our everyday lives and impact us negatively, that is when it becomes a mental health issue.

 

1 in 4 people experience mental health problems each year in the UK and a report from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in 2015 shows that 29% of students experience clinical levels of psychological distress usually associated with increased risk of anxiety, depression, substance use and personality disorders. This statistic is alarming and troublesome, but it is a general conversation that is required for everyone. For a large part of history, there has been a stigma surrounding mental health issues, and because of this, they were rarely discussed openly, for fear of repercussion.

There are, however, reasons to be optimistic: with the number of national campaigns and organisations set up to combat this, mental health has become a national agenda, and more and more people are speaking out about it. Whether you are new to Winchester this year or have been here for a longer period of time, when you come to the university, when you enter the campus; a number of changes happen to your life; they can be enjoyable but also challenging.

- Exams, deadlines and balancing other commitments, such as societies and sports teams

- Meeting and working with new people 

- Coping with homesickness

- Maintaining relationships with family and friends

- Finding housing and managing your finances

 

Starting university life can seem, admittedly, daunting. Facing these new challenges can an adverse effect on your mental health to an extent across your time studying.

Personally, when it comes to my own mental health, I believed for the most part, naively, that because I was content all the time:

‘Surely, I couldn’t suffer from mental health?’

 

I spent the majority of my teenage years seeing some of my closest friends experience their own battles with mental health issues - the doctors trip, the prescription medication and the ever changing diagnoses.

To me, mental health became synonymous with an idea of the requirement of medical help to get better or stabilise yourself. My time as a student has shown me this may not always be the case. I can say very openly that, from the list I previously mentioned earlier about challenges you can face, I have faced many of the examples at least once in my time as a student.

 

I have come to learn about myself and how I react when my own mental health may dip. I have become more aware of myself and more introspective. I recognise the early signs of my general demeanour and can, therefore, fix it with self-care. I have also learnt that mental health is a very subjective experience. No one person’s experience matches another. One thing I want to communicate to anyone who believes they are struggling is to never suffer in silence.

 

Creating an open dialogue, whether it is with your friends, family, a member of student services, or our Student Advice Centre advisor Rhian is important. Being able to vocalise and recognise when you are not at your best is important for your own self help.

An idea would be to start creating an action plan to know how to deal with your mental health, it may not help everything, but it can be one small step in the right direction of dealing with whatever issues you face.

 

Everyone has mental health; As a campus, a community, we can help open that dialogue further to everyone and destigmatise it. We can share ideas, knowledge, and begin to educate on the ways our campus intends to battle mental health. I believe this is a step in the right direction.

 

Remember, don’t suffer in silence. 

 

Nightline is a confidential listening service, run for students by students. Lines open from 6pm-8am during term time.

Call: 0207 631 0101

Text: 07717 989 900

 

Samaritans provide support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Call: 116 123 for free

 

Student Listeners is a peer support scheme, enabling you to have 1:1 peer support with a fellow student who has received training in listening and support skills.  

Email: studentlisteners@winchester.ac.uk 

 

University Security urgent matters on campus out of hours.

Call: 01962 827666

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Olivia Rooke