Having the time of your life?
The stress of University life is often ignored, yet one in four students will suffer from mental health problems during their time at York. Toby Green talks to sufferers of these illnesses and discovers that despite an increased awareness, they are still haunted by stigma and a lack of knowledge
The appeals of University life are clear for everybody to see: minimal hours in the lecture theatre, constant drinking in cheap bars and late mornings, all resulting in an easy route to an eminent and well paid job. Even top up fees and the increased competition in the graduate job market have done little to dispel the myth that students are lazy tax-dodgers, whose biggest worry is how to avoid their drunken fling the morning after.
Yet the reality is very different, and many students are finding University life an increasingly stressful and worrying experience. The NUS, in conjunction with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, revealed in 2003 that one in four students suffer from mental health problems whilst at University, and that students are more likely as a group to suffer mental illness than any other group of young people. It was also revealed that from 1984 to 1994 student suicides rose by four times.
So why is University proving to be such a difficult time for some students? For Rachel*, a third year York University student, her problems with self harm and depression reappeared when her flatmates started to exclude her after Freshers’ week.
“Self harm was my way of punishing myself for not being likeable, which also linked in with the fact that unlike all my flatmates I didn’t have a boyfriend. At school I was used to being the cleverest person in all my lessons. Here, I sat in lectures of 140 people and felt like the stupidest person there. Everyone else seemed so much more confident in seminars and was able to get all the reading done and still have a packed social life.”
For most students, especially those that chose not to take a gap year, going to University will be their first time moving away from home and spending a significant amount of time in a new place. Not only can this be an extremely lonely and isolating experience, it can also aggravate and bring back problems that were able to be managed whilst at home.
Michelle*, a 2nd year Psychology student, came to York having seemingly beaten her struggle with anorexia. “I’d never lived away from home before and although I came to university having recovered, the moment I was given complete control of my food I relapsed. I found being in a strange environment really stressful and though I realise it is something every student goes through, for people more vulnerable to mental health issues it is a real strain.
“I think my eating disorder had a lot to do with being the only thing in my life I felt I could control and achieve anything with. It wasn’t helped as the people I lived with hadn’t had much experience living with someone with a problem like this, so when I wouldn’t eat for a few days or eat very little they assumed it was normal behaviour. At home my friends and family would have immediately recognised the warning signs of a relapse.”
Amy Foxton, Academic and Welfare Officer elect and former coordinator of Nightline, has worked to highlight the specific problems students can face with regards to mental illness and made it a key component of her recent election manifesto. “There’s a lot of pressure on students to succeed academically, to participate in as many extra-curricular activities as possible (because these days ‘a degree isn’t enough’), to have an amazing social life and to fund their studies if they don’t have financial support from their parents. This all creates a stressful environment, which can only aggravate mental health problems.”
The NUS has also singled out rising student debts as a cause for worry, publicly stating that student stress is “largely due to the ever increasing debt and hardship that students face.” The issue of fees can also put students off confiding in parents who have financially contributed to their education, feeling that they have a duty to present a rosy picture even when university is proving an ordeal.
Self harm was my way of punishing myself. At school I was used to being the cleverest person in all my lessons. Here I sat in lectures and felt like the stupidest person there.
However, alongside work and financial stresses comes an emphasis on the social side of university that can leave students feeling inferior and lonely. This aspect, particularly in Freshers’ week, often concentrates on the consumption of alcohol as a method by which to attract friends. This can cause serious problems; for example, students who are taking medication will be loathe to explain to people they have just met why they are not drinking. In particular, this creates an unfair disadvantage for those who can’t or won’t drink. These students can often find it harder as a result to make friends and fit in, not only during the first weeks of term but when joining societies and sports clubs.
Neil Barnes, the current Academic and Welfare officer, feels some of the blame for this should be taken by the Students’ Union. “The University creates the amount of studying that needs to be done, but the Students’ Union have a large hand in creating a ’standard’ for social life. We organise alcoholic events, encourage clubbing and spending money, which all contribute to mental illness, so we have to take some responsibility.
“New students arrive and are told from the word go by some JCRC reps that they have to do this or that, or they’re not ‘cool’. If a new student doesn’t down 8 pints of snakebite on their first night, then they don’t become part of the ‘in-crowd’. This behaviour is then repeated every night for a week. However, if one student finds that they need more time to acclimatise then they are left behind by those who are over-excited and fit in straight away.
“Homesickness and a feeling of loneliness starts to set in and all because some of the JCRCs who are supposed to make students feel welcome have set an impossible standard for everyone to follow. What kind of responsible person thinks it’s reasonable to drag everyone out clubbing in the Gallery, plastered in a strange city they’ve not been in before, 5 hours after they’ve arrived?”
The statistics are continuing to pile up with worrying regularity. A two-year study conducted by the Camelot Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation, entitled ‘Truth Hurts’, has just been published showing that a startling 1-in-15 youngsters is believed to have self-harmed and the amount of students needing help has meant that the system is starting to struggle to cope. A lack of resources remains a problem, despite the fact that, since 2000, £440m has been spent in England on services for young people with mental illness. Health professionals still aren’t satisfied that they are able to provide enough help for those that need it. Dr Caroline Hall is the head of the University Counselling Service for Students and is increasingly worried about the students that she sees.
“We are simply not able to cope with all the people who have requested help, and we have a very large waiting list. Nationally, there’s a big concern and we professionals working in the field feel these problems have got worse. We’ve asked for more money from the University, but obviously they’re in a tight situation at the moment financially. However, we simply cannot cater for the amount of requests we receive for support.”
The government’s push to get more young people into education has not helped the situation, with a degree being pushed as the only means by which to get a decent job.
“The university experience can be wonderful for some people, and working here I tend to forget that as I only hear the negative aspects. However, I do get angry at the government for sending so many people into higher education as it doesn’t suit everybody. They link it to a good job, yet if everyone is doing it then it doesn’t make sense.
“Since I’ve been working here (20 years), the proportion of students seeking help has stayed around the 5% mark. However, already this year has seen a 30% rise on that figure and it’s not just the numbers that have increased but also the distress of the students we are able to see.”
And these are just the students who have decided to seek help and therefore have been officially recognised. The stigma around mental health is, if anything, growing and many find themselves unable to understand their problems and unwilling to seek help or advice.
Dr Hall has revealed that these problems are indicative of the situation across higher education institutions in the United Kingdom.
“I’m chair of Heads of University Counselling Service (HUCS), and there’s a big concern about what’s happening nationally. We’re trying to be a public voice and want to continue bringing up the agenda of student mental health problems.
“We need to try to understand that by calling it ‘mental illness’ we almost add to it by saying there’s something wrong with it. There is a huge stigma about being mentally ill, yet the problems suffered are perfectly normal and are expected reactions to the situation of a student and doesn’t mean they are ‘mad’.”
Freshers’ week often focuses on alcohol as a method by which to gain friends, which can leave students who don’t drink feeling inferior and lonely.
YUSU currently offers significant support for students suffering mental health problems but Amy Foxton has highlighted the problem of tackling the stigma attached to it, making it a key objective for when she takes charge of Welfare next year. “I would like to make York students aware of NUS campaigns and to work to remove prejudice about mental health. People who would never make racist or homophobic remarks still think it’s perfectly acceptable to label someone who’s having counselling as a ‘psycho’. Some people perceive depression as a weakness, and are afraid of disorders like schizophrenia because they don’t understand them.
“I’d like to create an atmosphere where people who have mental health issues can feel free to disclose this without fear of being labelled or shunned. The media can also work to raise awareness and in recent years Hollyoaks has covered the issues of self-harm and alcohol addiction. The important thing is to realise that mental health problems can affect anyone; Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Princess Diana and Kelly Holmes have all admitted to self-harming.”
Sophie*, a third year student who has suffered from depression, advises people to take seeking help into their own hands. “Demand treatment - you will not get better by yourself. Get therapy and if a certain form or therapist isn’t working, switch. Also tell your supervisor – I didn’t and it only caused me trouble with tutors when I missed classes.”
A new site, www.duckslife.org, has been set up by York student John Campbell to help those with problems to discuss them with others in the same situation and Amy Foxton recognises the positive benefits of self-research. “Some people may find that looking online helps them to understand what they’re going through.
“I want people to realise that they’re not the only person going through what they’re currently experiencing and that across the University there are people who care about them and want to help them.”
‘Self-harming helped me to cope’ - students’ experiences of mental illness
Rachel, third year
I self-harmed from about sixteen and tried to give up several times, but I started it again in my first year at York. I used to count down the days until I could go home. My best friends from home knew that I self-harmed but at University I just hid in my room and no one came to see me.
Self-harming helped me to cope when I couldn’t sleep because I was crying so much. Eventually I managed to stop after going online and reading up on self-harm. I realised that I was lucky compared to others who self-harmed.
I started doing volunteer work, began to enjoy uni and although I sometimes still feel depressed I haven’t self-harmed in the last year. My second and third years have been the best of my life and looking back it feels like I’m talking about a different person.
Katie, second year
In my first year, I was depressed and was self - harming regularly. This year, I’ve had occasional bouts of depression, with limited self -harming.
A lot of the issues I had were to do with events before I came to university. When I was in 6th form, I was a Child and Adolescent Mental Health service user - receiving counselling and seeing a psychiatrist. The main issues I had in the first year were to do with making the transition from being a service user to not receiving any help.
I was aware of the counselling service (which I didn’t view as particularly accessible) and nightline, which is quite well publicised around campus. I also found my personal supervisor to be a great source of support, but not for personal issues. I didn’t really use any of these forms of support.
Sophie, third year
I told my tutor about my problems but she really played the issue down. Another tutor told me that it would put potential employers off, particularly in my area of psychology.
People like myself are treated as an annoyance or just plain weird. To the general public, suffering depression, self harm or a mood disorder just means you are crazy and lumped into the same category.
A friend of a friend did consult the University doctors about her eating disorder and the doctor was very negative. She was basically told tough luck and she wasn’t the only student to be experiencing such distress.
People with eating disorders are often treated by others as time wasters with self inflicted problems. This really is a step backwards for them as it makes them feel worthless.
Michelle, second year
My experience of mental health problems was stressful, exhausting, lonely and scary. It was so confusing because people told me I should be having the time of my life at uni, and I felt nothing.
Everyone around me seemed so happy, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t be normal like them. York is full of intelligent, well-off and successful people and while that motivated me to work harder, it also made me feel worse about myself.
However depression is an illness and one that some people are more prone to than others. Whilst I feel my circumstances contributed to my depression, I probably could have been really successful and still would have got sick, In fact, my friends couldn’t understand the criticisms I levelled at myself: it’s about perception.
* all names have been changed
Sources of support and information
JCRC and YUSU Welfare Reps
Counselling service
Nightline
www.studentdepression.org
