The Impact of Community: University Mental Health Day

For University Mental Health Day, Katie shares the importance of community to help tackle mental health while at university.

- Katie

How do you give back to your community?

I do a lot of volunteering, campaigning, and fundraising, both inside and outside of university. Back in 2016 I signed up to skydive for mental health charity, Mind, which was such an amazing experience but I definitely prefer terra firma! Currently I am a Student Minds Press Ambassador and within my students’ union I have been President of our Mental Health Awareness and Support society (MHAS), and currently Disabled Students’ Part-Time Officer.

Who do you speak to for your mental health?

I have used a variety of services, both in and outside university. My first point of call is usually my close friends, but I am getting more comfortable with talking to my parents. I make regular use of my university counselling service, as it can be very helpful to talk through how I am feeling – especially with a familiar staff member who knows my story. They can also help me see things from a different perspective, such as how resilient and strong I am. I also have an accessibility tutor, trained to help students with mental health difficulties, who assists me with planning my time and organisation. This helps me establish routines, especially for revision or assignments. Recently, I started my own YouTube Channel which I use to talk about my mental health story among other things.

What do you do for your mental health?

One of my favourite outlets is writing. I both blog online on my wordpress site and write creatively - stories and poems. I’m also pretty much never seen without my iPod earphones in my ears! Music can be soothing when I’m feeling down, or can provide an outlet such as going to music gigs where I can sing and dance. Being an advocate and talking openly about my experiences also helps, because I am helping others and creating an environment where we don’t feel alone in our struggles.

Where do you feel part of a community?

I feel part of a community where I am able to thrive, around people who have my back no matter what. This includes being around friends, my family, within my church, and university staff. These people have my best interests at heart and always try and support me in any way they can within their remit. I also use a lot of online spaces where I talk to other fans of TV shows I enjoy as well as fellow writers. They are supportive communities where I feel safe and able to be myself, and this is really important.


Take action and be part of a growing movement to transform the state of student mental health. Join a Student Minds group on your campus or set up a group today. 

Hi, I’m Katie, a geology student at the University of Leicester and Student Minds Press Ambassador. I was diagnosed with mixed anxiety & depressive disorder in 2015 and have since become a confident advocate, speaking out and writing about my experiences. 

Finding a community of support at university

For University mental health day, Emma shares her experiences of building supportive networks and the importance of communities for dealing with your mental health at university.

- Emma

No matter your situation, community plays a massive role in mental wellbeing. Loneliness and isolation often worsen anxiety and depression, and having a social circle or someone you can talk to is important. This is heightened during University for many people, leaving their comfort zone and entering adulthood and independence. 

I’m a student at the University of Winchester, five hours away from the little Wirral peninsula where I grew up and the people I’ve spent my whole life with. As someone with generalised anxiety disorder, it was my mission to build up a community and support network straight away, to ensure I’d be able to manage. On my first day, I spoke to the student mental health team and they helped me go to my first class. At Winchester, we have learning agreements for students who need extra support for any disability or illness. So, during my second week, I spoke to Disability Support and we wrote a list of my needs, such as: leaving the room at any time, rest breaks in exams, separate exam rooms, and all my lecturers being aware of my anxiety. 

I have also taken the time to speak to every one of my lecturers and explained my anxiety in more detail so that they don’t think I’m rude or not interested in their subject. Just today, I missed my radio production lecture due to an anxiety attack, so I spoke to my lecturer and he was understanding and supportive. It’s really important to let people know what’s going on and seek any help you may need. I know it sometimes feels like a weakness or failure but to achieve the best experience and best grades, your mental health has to be a priority. 

I try to help other students at university too, since we are all in the same situation and sometimes knowing that someone understands can lessen the burden. I have an upcoming radio project and I’ve decided to base mine on mental health support at university. I plan to interview students who suffer from different mental health difficulties, as well as representatives from support teams. I hope that this will help people who are afraid to speak up to know that there’s a huge community of people who understand. I’m very open about my struggles, usually making jokes about my anxiety to let people know what’s going on in a light-hearted way. For example, if I know that going to a lecture is out of the question, I’ll say to my friends, ‘don’t think I’ll make it this morning, classic anxious me.’ This way of being open might not suit everyone but it helps me keep people in the loop without feeling like I’m complaining or being negative. It has helped friends speak to me about their own problems, because I think it makes me more approachable, and I’ve created a strong social circle that is open and understanding. 

As well as the support I have in place at university, I’ve also made a habit of using positive coping techniques when I’m in my flat too. I make sure the flat is always (reasonably) clean and tidy, I write down the issues I’m having and their solutions, I practice mindfulness, and I make lists of all the assignments that I need to work on. My course has a group chat on Facebook too so we all help each other stay on top of the work and help each other out when there’s room changes or upcoming deadlines. 

I feel very much part of a community at University and I feel confident that my mental illness will not hinder my experience or my final grades, and it’s important that you put support in place to feel the same too.

Take action and be part of a growing movement to transform the state of student mental health. Join a Student Minds group on your campus or set up a group today. 

I’m Emma and I’m studying Journalism at the University of Winchester. I’ve suffered with anxiety and anorexia for a long time so thought I’d share my own experiences to hopefully help others on the same journey to recovery.

Building mental health communities at university

As part of University Mental Health Day, Julia discusses the importance of building communities for students to talk about shared experiences of mental health in university.

- Julia

Coming to university having quietly struggled with mental health, I was keen to be involved in extracurricular activities and to build myself circles of friends. It has always been a coping mechanism if mine to find friends with common interests and surround myself with them. From choirs and music ensembles to other student journalists, engaging in shared interests has always been so important to me for my mental wellbeing.

During my first year, I was encouraged to seek out further help and relatively quickly, having struggled quite substantially, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It was then that, as well as my friends and extracurricular communities, I started to engage with mental health communities in my university. Or rather, I started some communities myself. Joining the Students’ Disability Community and becoming actively involved and engaged in that, I was quickly elected to Mental Health Officer. I became aware that lots of students did not want to become involved in physical support groups because that was an intimidating step, so I created online support groups for Oxford Students on Facebook. These were all secret but could allow students to discuss struggles and shared experiences with services in the city. There are now six support groups for different mental health conditions, supporting over 500 students, and some groups have met in person now. Even though advertising these groups among the university community, it enriches the community in the normalization of mental health difficulties.

It can be easy to feel isolated at university when you have a mental health difficulty, and speaking to other students who also share experiences of mental health difficulties can make you feel less alone. Meeting with the bipolar support group for the first time, the other students and I shared our experiences – laughed at similar situations we’ve been in, and empathized with the bad experiences. It was so reassuring to be part of a community who understood what I’d been through.

Even now that I am stable and don’t feel that I need much support on a day to day basis, I still like to engage with other students who have struggled or are struggling with mental health difficulties. When you are part of universities communities, whether a sports team, a musical group, or a college at your university, talking frankly and sharing experiences make mental health normal for the whole community. Students I don’t know personally have approached me because my openness means that they feel comfortable talking, often for the first time, about concerns or struggles that they have had. To me, this exemplifies why community is so important for mental health and why it is the perfect theme for University Mental Health Day. Both on a personal level of support from the communities we surround ourselves with, and also seeing the change that happens to communities as we talk, without shame, about mental health.

Take action and be part of a growing movement to transform the state of student mental health. Join a Student Minds group on your campus or set up a group today. 

I'm Julia, and I'm currently studying music at the University of Oxford. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder during my first year and, since then, have dedicated my time to talking about mental health. As well as writing for the blog, I am one of the sub-editors and have been involved with Student Minds as a press ambassador, a peer support facilitator, and on their Student Voices Forum and Student Policy Panel. I'm also the Oxford editor for Blueprint, a student mental health magazine, and the mental health officer the Oxford SU disability campaign. I feel strongly about discussing aspects of mental health, such as hypomania or mania that accompanies my bipolar disorder, to reduce the taboo.

University Mental Health Day: Community

For University Mental Health Day, Emily shares her views on the importance of community within her university to help deal with mental health.

- Emily Maybanks

How could I give back to my community? 

I believe that I can do this through expressing my gratitude and appreciation on a blog for the continued support from my community. Using a blog is both accessible in today’s technology-focused society, but it is also a thoughtful and creative way to express my thoughts. I think that feeling as though you are a part of a community, whether a university or in a working environment, is important for mental health because you feel included and involved.

Who do you speak to for your mental health?

For my mental health, I speak to a wide range of people: professionals, such as doctors and counselors, my close friends, and people I work with. I think it is vital to have a varied but reliable support network for mental health. However, I also think it is important to be self-reliant when it comes to mental health and to know what to do to help yourself when you’re feeling down and struggling - whether that is to take a break for a while or do something on your own.

What do you do for your mental health?

One thing that especially helps my mental health is writing. I love to write, and it is my way to express myself and how I am feeling. Sharing my mental health story through writing has also helped me with my mental health.

Where do you feel part of a community?

I feel part of a community within the editing and writing crowd at my university, working for Swansea University students’ newspaper: the Waterfront. It is an amazing thing to be involved with and it is nice to feel supported and appreciated.


Take action and be part of a growing movement to transform the state of student mental health. Join a Student Minds group on your campus or set up a group today. 

My name is Emily (Em). I am currently in my final year studying Modern Languages, Translation & Interpreting at Swansea University, where I'm also the Creative Writing Section Editor and Deputy Editor for The Waterfront - Swansea's student newspaper. I wanted to write for Student Minds because I have experienced depression and anxiety as well as other health issues, and I support friends who have also experienced mental health difficulties. I am also a passionate writer and writing has been important in my mental health experiences - both in helping me to cope with my mental health, as well as sharing my story in order to help others.

What is community?

Leah shares the importance of community and how this has helped support her with her mental health through university.

- Leah Barfield

"The condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interest in common"

When it comes to your mental health, it’s important to surround yourself within a community where there isn’t judgement or stigma. A group that is supportive and helps you through the hardest times.

When I first moved to University, it took a long time for me to adapt to the new lifestyle and the ‘Student Life’. I find myself to be quite anti-social and avoid situations like large parties or nights out. I fear that when I am out with people I will get left or something bad will happen to me. Living in a new area, thats so far from a place which has so much familiarity to me is hard to adjust to.  Being nearly 200miles away from home.

I would get days when I wouldn’t leave my flat because I thought that if I was to try and get somewhere in the area, I would panic or get lost; if I did then I would be a fool or failure. I found different groups of people who I would acquaintance myself with, however I never felt confident enough to stay with those people.  I managed to figure out and discover who it was who accepted me once I started to mingle with more people.

This is where I was able to reach out.

Since being at University for over half of the first year, I’ve managed to mould myself out of this shell of extreme low self esteem and confidence, into a group where I feel supported and I can trust them with how I’m feeling. I no longer feel alone and I have more confidence in getting through my time at university knowing that I’m not going be alone.

I may still have days where I find it hard to go to lectures due to my depression and anxiety but I know that the support team at my university, my lecturers/tutor and my peers and friendship groups will accept me and be there for me when things get a bit overwhelming or when I need some guidance.

Finally feeling a part of a community within University has finally made me feel so much better about being here and studying what I love.

Take action and be part of a growing movement to transform the state of student mental health. Join a Student Minds group on your campus or set up a group today. 

Hi I'm Leah, I study Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales. The importance of talking about mental health and starting the discussion is key to my ambition. 

Returning to uni after eating disorder treatment

Laura reflects on the highs and lows of returning to university after taking a year out to receive treatment for anorexia.

-Laura

After a whole year at home doing little more than attend therapy appointments, make meal plans, volunteer at my old primary school and do hundreds of crosswords, I was heading back to uni. I’m not going to say that the past year was transformative, or even that it miraculously made me recover, because I am still fighting anorexia day after day. It was a tough year and it tested me, but I realised that sitting around waiting for recovery to come along was pointless, because truthfully it wasn’t going to happen like that. I’m not going to one day decide to get better, especially if I have nothing tangible to get better for. Which is why I decided to go back: for purpose, for direction, for a future.

Nothing was plain sailing, but there were some overwhelmingly positive things to come out of returning to university. And the best? Normality! Finally, for the first time in a long time, my day was not completely structured around when/what I would eat and my mind was not completely consumed by my eating disorder. I was *almost* a normal, 21-year-old student, and it felt great. It was great to be stressed about an upcoming assessment rather than thinking about calories. It was great to talk about something besides anorexia, it was great to laugh and share and have fun. I loved being back in a city. I loved learning again, and I felt excited about learning from people at the forefront of their field. Anorexia had taken so much away from me, and I was finally starting to reclaim my life.

But inevitably, there was the bad stuff. With nobody to be accountable to, nobody to tell me what to eat and when, the ball fell in my court: I was alone, and I struggled, but I had an incredible support system and they were there for me unconditionally. I had bad days with anxiety, I found socialising difficult, but I did it regardless. I pushed through the worry and the fear and the panic and the misery and the negative feelings and I made it through the whole term. I am not ashamed to say, I am proud of myself.

I fully believe that university isn’t easy for anyone. I think it can be a place of loneliness and ostracism and I think it can breed mental illness. The pressure is intense from all angles: you have to be sociable, but also studious, you have to be sporty or talented but academic and conscientious, you have to volunteer and get work experience but also complete every essay by the deadline and get a decent grade. You have to have your career plan sorted, your CV overflowing and your contact list ever-increasing. You are expected to do everything and be everything, but it’s not possible.

Pressure like this is what pushes people to the edge; it’s what pushes people over the edge. It’s important that people aren’t ashamed to ask for help, and it’s important that they know what help is out there should they need it. Because what’s the point of pushing yourself to breaking point for a degree if it has such a detrimental impact upon your health? We need to preach balance, breaks, and better mental health care to stop university becoming such a difficult place to thrive for some.

If you are worried about yourself or a friend please visit here for further support.

Hi, I'm Laura! I’m a final year student at university and after struggling with anorexia for almost two years, I wanted to share some of my experiences with the hope of encouraging students to speak out and helping others feel less alone. 

It's okay to reach out

Hannah shares her experience of anxiety around her dissertation and how reaching out for support helped.

 - Hannah Morton

At school, I’ve always had to work hard and had been a fairly average student. I’ve also been a pretty good procrastinator and when you team this with my anxiety, you can easily become a master of avoidance. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety since my mid-teens however when it came time to go to university I believed I’d beaten it. For the first two years of my studies, things were generally fine but then came my third year and my dissertation.

I had decided my title and study for my dissertation, spent the summer abroad carrying out research and found the papers and books to refer to. However, when it came to writing, I’d freeze. I can’t tell you how many hours spent staring at that blank document desperately willing myself to write something. My dissertation had become such a big deal to me that I was completely overwhelmed.

I continued all my other work.  Coursework, readings, exam revision, that was all fine but when asked how my dissertation was going, my response was simply, ‘it’s going’. Truthfully, it was going nowhere. I disengaged with my supervisor and buried my head in sand.

In March of my final semester, it became too much. My anxiety had become so all-consuming; I fell into depression. I just felt complete despair and had an overwhelming feeling I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to leave my bed; sleep was an easy escape from reality. I was certain I was going to have to drop out of University, right at the last hurdle. I felt so weak and disappointed in myself.

Continuing my studies felt impossible but one day I managed to find some strength and did something I should have done a lot earlier, I reached out for help. I made an appointment with my GP and told him everything they gave me a prescription and referred me to a counselling service. I then pushed myself to ring my mum and tell her what had happened. This was something I was extremely apprehensive to do but when I did the biggest emotion I felt was relief. I was able to get support and though it wasn’t easy, I managed to complete and submit my dissertation, finish my third year and graduate!

When you’re struggling it can feel exceptionally lonely and it can be so hard to reach out to anyone. I was ashamed of myself and felt everyone would judge me and think badly of me. In reality, everyone was so supportive and I only wished I’d been able to do it sooner.

It is important to reach out in a way that is right for you but honestly, it is absolutely worth taking that chance. This experience also taught me that if you’re determined, you really can do everything you need to do.





Hi, I'm Hannah. I graduated in 2012 and have depression and anxiety, I have done since I was around 14/15yrs old. I wanted to write for Student Minds as my mental health has had a big impact on my life, both negative and positive, including my studies. I'm now a mental health blogger and campaigner, working in Student Support, hoping to help others with similar experiences.