Introduction to Student Mental Health and Wellbeing
- What is Mental Health?
- What are mental health problems?
- How to have a difficult conversation
- Student in crisis
- Where to signpost and refer students
- What resources can be shared with students?
- Resources for the office
What is Mental Health?
Mental health can also be known as ‘emotional health’ or ‘well-being’ and it’s just as important as good physical health. Being mentally healthy doesn’t just mean that you don’t have a mental health problem.
If you are in good mental health, you can:
- Make the most of your potential
- Cope with life
- Play a full part in your family, workplace, community and among friends.
Your mental health doesn’t always stay the same. It can change as circumstances change and as you move through different stages of your life. We all have times when we feel down or stressed or frightened. Most of the time those feelings pass. But sometimes they develop into a more serious problem and that could happen to any one of us. Everyone is different. You may bounce back from a setback while someone else may feel weighed down by it for a long time.
There’s a stigma attached to mental health problems. This means that people feel uncomfortable about them and don’t talk about them much. Many people don’t even feel comfortable talking about their feelings. But it’s healthy to know and say how you’re feeling.
Recommended resource: Mental Health Foundation: What is Mental Health?
What are mental health problems?
Mental health problems range from the worries we all experience as part of everyday life to serious long-term conditions. The majority of people who experience mental health problems can get over them or learn to live with them, especially if they get help early on. Mental health problems are usually defined and classified to enable professionals to refer people for appropriate care and treatment. Many people who live with a mental health problem or are developing one try to keep their feelings hidden because they are afraid of other people’s reactions. And many people feel troubled without having a diagnosed, or diagnosable, mental health problem - although that doesn’t mean they aren’t struggling to cope with daily life.
Go to the Common Mental Health Issues page for more information.
How to have a difficult conversation
Talking about mental health is not always easy. But having a conversation and being there for someone, whether they have approached you or if you have approached them due to concern, it can make a huge difference.
When someone starts to share how they’re feeling, it’s important to listen. This could mean not offering advice, not trying to identify what they’re going through with your own experiences and not trying to solve their problems. We’ve compiled some listening tips to help you give the best support you can. Some points to consider when having a discussion about mental health:
SHUSH - active listening tips
Show you care
Focus on the other person, make eye contact, and put away your phone. To really listen to somebody, you need to give them your full attention, maintain eye contact and be engaged. Getting into this habit takes practice so don’t be too hard on yourself and keep using these handy tips:
- When starting the conversation resolve not to talk about yourself at all.
- Keep a listening diary - just for a week. Record how many times you listened really well, note what challenges and distracts you and what you think went well.
- Aim to learn at least one new thing about the person who is talking to you.
Have patience
It may take time and several attempts before a person is ready to open up. Effective listening is about creating trust with the other person. The person sharing shouldn’t feel rushed, or they won’t feel it’s a safe environment. If they've paused in their response, wait, they may not have finished speaking. It might take them some time to formulate what they are saying, or they may find it difficult to articulate what they're feeling. Through non-judgemental listening, you are allowing the person to relax into the conversation and to use it as a place to reflect or work through difficult emotions.
Use open questions
Use open questions that need more than a yes/no answer, and follow up with questions like 'Tell me more'. An open-ended question means not jumping in with your own ideas about how the other person may be feeling. These questions don't impose a view point and require a person to pause, think and reflect, and then hopefully expand. Avoid asking questions or saying something that closes down the conversation. Open-ended questions encourage them to talk, the conversation is a safe space that you are holding for them and nothing they say is right or wrong. Try asking, 'how are you feeling today'?
Say it back
Check you’ve understood, but don’t interrupt or offer a solution. Repeating something back to somebody is a really good way to reassure them that they have your undivided attention. And you can check to see that you’re hearing what they want you to hear, not putting your own interpretation onto the conversation.
Have courage
Don’t be put off by a negative response and, most importantly, don’t feel you have to fill a silence. Sometimes it can feel intrusive and counter-intuitive to ask someone how they feel. You’ll soon be able to tell if someone is uncomfortable and doesn’t want to engage with you at that level. You'll be surprised at how willing people are to listen and how, sometimes, it is exactly what somebody needs to be able to share what is going on their mind.
Recommended resource: Samaritans: How to support someone you are worried about
Recommended resource: Charlie Waller Memorial Trust e-learning, Key Skills
Student in crisis
How do I handle an immediate threat to safety?
If you see signs of:
- Self-harm
- Suicidal intentions
- Risk to themselves or others
- You have a legal obligation to take action.
Emergency and out of hours:
When people's safety is at risk, call 999 to ask for police or an ambulance.
On campus:
Call the 24 hour University Security Service (phone 0151 794 2222)
Merseycare Urgent Mental Health Support (phone 0800 145 6570) open for staff and students living in Liverpool to phone in mental health crisis 24/7
What should I do if I can see a crisis is brewing? You could consult with:
- Mental Health Advisory Service
- The Counselling Service
- Student Health Service
- Samaritans
What do I do about confidentiality?
If there is grave cause for concern about a student, you are legally obliged to report it to the appropriate support services.
This is detailed further alongside lots of helpful information about student services in the ‘When to Refer’ manual
Recommended resource: Charlie Waller Memorial Trust e-learning: Students at risk or in crisis
Where to signpost and refer students
It is important to remember that you are not expected to fix the students problems. You are there to act as in a ‘triage’ role to listen to the student’s problems and signpost them to the relevant professional support service. The internal student support services available are:
- Student Welfare Advice and Guidance
- Disability Advice and Guidance
- International Advice and Guidance
- Money Advice and Guidance
Specific mental health university services:
- Counselling service
- Mental Health Advisory service.
Here is a university student support services grid which offers a description of what each service provides, contact details, location, webpage and currently features the changes as a result of Covid.
University support services at a glance grid
The university also has a helpful ‘When to Refer’ guide available to help offer signposting information. This can be very useful to use as guidance for some of the common problems and questions student present.
In addition to internal support services, there is also a wide range of external services that you can signpost a student to for support. Please see categorised list below.
Go to the External Support Services page for more resources.
What resources can be shared with students?
There are many resources that can be shared with students that include guidance, support and self-help. Firstly you can direct a student to the university’s student support services webpages that detail further support information and services and also self-help information such as Silver Cloud and Big White Wall. Other resources students may find useful can be found on mental health organisation websites such as Student Minds and The Mental Health Foundation.
Recommended resource: University Self-help information
Go to the External Support Services page for more resources.
Resources for the office
As well as knowing what to do when a mental health issue is presented to you, you can also help contribute to the prevention of wellbeing issues. Creating a more positive and healthy work environment can be very beneficial to promoting wellbeing at work. By developing a positive working environment that increases conversation about wellbeing and mental health can help reduce stigma and encourage individuals to disclose if they are struggling. This applies for every cohort: Staff, PGRs and Undergraduates.
Some resources that can be used in the workplace can be found below:
‘Time to Change’ workplace resources
Mental Health First Aid England workplace posters
Mental Health UK downloadable resources
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