Today is World Mental Health Day

Today, the 10th October, is World Mental Health Day. We wanted to do a little blog post to offer you, our students, a little bit of support if you need it and to help raise awareness of the campaign.

Issues of mental health are all too prevalent within the student community, not just now at the beginning of the academic year, but at times of revision, exams and pretty much every day. A recent survey by the National Union of Students earlier this year found that a staggering 92% of students had feelings of mental distress. 20% of respondents also considered themselves to have a mental health problem, with 13% having suicidal thoughts. 

This level of distress amongst students needs to be recognised and addressed- after all, the move to university is the start of your new life and no-one wants to begin a new journey with negative thoughts and feelings.

As a student, it is important to know that you have a strong support network around you. New flatmates and friends from your courses can be great people to turn to if you’re feeling life getting a little bit on top of you. All Liverpool universities have a great health system, which is there to help students cope with mental illness, there are people on campus you can talk to and places where you can get real advice and help.

If you have not already registered with a doctor in the city, it is important you do so. Doctors and nurses in your local surgery can always help and can refer you to specialist free counselling services that are available to you.

If you, or someone you know, suffers from anxiety, depression or another strand of mental illness, know that you are not alone and that it won’t necessarily affect your degree and time at university. We may just be your landlords but we can always direct you towards help if you feel you can not cope with your new life at university.

LIPA’s student support page can be found here.

If you study at Liverpool University, find their mental health information here.

For Liverpool John Moores, follow their health web page here.