Mental Health

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1 in 4 people in the UK are affected at some point in their life by mental illness.

This can range from mild anxiety and low mood all the way to disorders such as bipolar, schizophrenia and eating disorders. Increasingly, students are more at risk of being affected by mental health problems during their studies.

Knowing how you can access help and support if you are worried about your mental health, struggling to cope, or have a diagnosis of a mental health condition is a great start and can help make that journey to support a little smoother.

What should I know about mental health support?

If we could give one piece of advice to anyone struggling or worried about their own mental health, or the mental health of someone they know, then it would be to reach out and talk to someone about it. Talking about it as soon as you realise you might need a little support is the starting point for accessing help and treatment if necessary. Sometimes talking to a friend or loved one can be enough to help you get through a difficult period, but sometimes we need some professional support to help us out.

It can often be hard to determine if what you’re dealing with is normal, healthy levels of stress (which can be beneficial for keeping us motivated!) or when things have gotten a bit tougher and are impacting on our day to day lives in a negative way. The NHS website has really comprehensive information on specific mental health conditions, but also some of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that can arise in common issues like high stress, anxiety, and low mood.

Of course, you don’t need to try and pin down what you think might be wrong before you speak to someone. The earlier you reach out then then earlier you can access support and you don’t need a formal diagnosis to do this. It’s also really common when we feel low to think that there are others who need the help more or who are “worse off” than us. This is simply not true. You deserve the same support and care as anyone else, regardless of how bad it does or doesn’t feel for you.

NHS Mental Health Support

What is the process for accessing mental health support?

If you are looking for someone to talk to urgently, are experiencing distress, despair, or thoughts of suicide, we would encourage you to contact Samaritans urgently for free 24/7 on 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org. If you are at risk of harm, please phone NHS 24 for free on 111. If you are at immediate risk of harm to yourself or anyone else, please contact emergency services on 999.

Strathclyde’s Disability and Wellbeing Service comprises of expert staff to help you with your mental health, whether you need advice on what you’re experiencing or aren’t sure what might help, individual counselling from CBT or person-centred trained therapists, mental health needs assessments, or support with returning to study after periods of time away for mental health issues. They also offers loads of online resources and an online CBT programme called SilverCloud if you want to give self-directed support a shot – it can be a great way to work through some exercises in your own time!

Strathclyde is also partnered with Spectrum.Life who offer 24/7 support via an online platform and mobile app, or by phone. Their online and app platforms give you access to lots of eLearning content to help you self-manage your mental and physical health, and their phone line offers direct one to one support any time of day. They can help you with a direct referral into the Disability and Wellbeing Service for some more ongoing support.

Of course, speaking with your doctor/GP is also a really valuable option, especially if you think you would like to be referred for NHS counselling or are looking for support accessing medication or a mental health diagnosis. Registered with a local doctor’s surgery, especially if you’re not from or living in Glasgow prior to your studies is a really important step to make sure you can easily access support from a doctor if you need it without having to go through any additional hurdles.

How can the Advice Hub help me with mental health support?

Although we are not mental health advisers or counsellors, it’s common for students to approach the Advice Hub with issues where their mental health has impacted on them. We can talk to you about what’s been going on for you, how you’ve been feeling, and what support you think you might like to access. If you’re not sure, we can tell you about different options, give you resources for lots of different support organisations, and if it’s helpful we can make a referral for you into the Disability and Wellbeing Service to help make those first steps a little easier.