Rachael Tooth
Beautiful Minds? Students, Mental Health and the University
HUCS Conference Monday 9 Dec 2002
I wanted to speak at the conference because I found the experience of mental illness the most painful, frightening and un-empowering experiences of my life. Not because of the symptoms of Bi-Polar disorder itself, but because of the way that I was treated by society. I hope that by talking openly about my experiences I can help change society so that should I become ill again I will be supported and nurtured by the community in which I live.
I have been a service user since I was 16 when I first became affected by a bi-polar disorder (which wasn’t diagnosed until I was at university). I studied Journalism Film and Broadcasting at Cardiff University when I dropped out in my third year during a depressive episode. At this time I used the university counselling services. I completed my degree while in post as NUS Wales Women’s Officer where I was responsible for the students and mental health campaign. I have since left NUS and am currently working for the Equal Opportunities Commission and talking in a personal capacity.
I have tried to amalgamate the attitudes that I have met when trying to access counselling services or when talking openly about using them. I think it is helpful to be clear about what kind of challenge we are up against when trying to dispel stigma. The following is a conglomerate of attitudes I faced in the higher education system:
Using a counselling service is not normal. The kinds of people who use them are not normal they are weak, socially inept and mental. These people should not be and don’t deserve to be part of society, they can’t enrich it, it costs us money to support them and they are an embarrassment. The best thing to do is to secretly offer them a bit of help on the side that no one really needs to know about. They would probably be embarrassed themselves if anyone knew they saw a counsellor so best not to tell anyone. In fact it is a whole lot easier if we deny that that culture even exists in our institutions, after all if people know we have counsellors they may ask what we do to students to make them need one. Unless, that is, we want to appear like a caring institution in which case we may mention in our prospectus that the service exists.
These attitudes were apparent in the staff and student body and the general public including fellow service users. If we want these attitudes to stop we need to make seeking help for emotional distress part of every day life. Once it is in everyone’s field of experience it will become ‘normal’.
For this to be the case all institutional policies and procedures need to take into account mental health needs. For example there need to be set protocols for students who need extensions because they are suffering depression rather than it being left to the discretion of tutors to decide whether they believe depression to be a valid reason not to be able to complete course work on time. All staff need to know what services are available and how to refer students to them.
I think that there are some simple procedures that can be put in place to make the experience of seeking counseling services a more positive one.
· Offering basic information to tutors on mental heath will begin to instil a culture of understanding, acceptance and constructive support.
· Effective harassment policies for campus, unions and halls will allow students suffering from mental distress to feel safe in their own homes.
· Additional career information about how best to present ‘time out’ on a CV or application form and strategies for coping at work will make the stressful transition from student to worker easier.
· Information on their rights both within the institution and under the DDA will mean that discrimination will get tackled more efficiently, more affectively and with less stress.
· There needs to be real commitment from the top not just lip service paid in prospectuses.
· Institutions need to develop their ability to cope with students suffering mental distress and counselling services need to be central to this.
We need to start challenging stereotypes by using business arguments, not just humanitarian ones to justify counselling services. Universities that offer holistic well-funded and well integrated support will attract the best students and staff, will lower drop out rates, and produce better academic performances.
ã Rachael Tooth 2002