Education: University Students

UK University Student wellbeing is becoming an increasing cause for concern in the UK, and recent research suggests over a third of UK-based students meet the clinical criteria for a mental health disorder (Macaskill, 2013). Furthermore, five times more students disclose a mental health condition than 10 years ago, and triple the number of students drop out of university as a result of psychological problems (Thorley, 2017).

Ongoing untreated mental health and wellbeing issues amongst students are likely to interfere with their study progression and retention (Blanco et al. 2008), however student support services have not kept pace with the increased demand (e.g. Macaskill (2013) estimates only 5% of students receive the help they need). Somewhat ironically, there is a dearth of academic research into the mental health of students studying Psychology, however, there is reason to believe that a higher proportion of mental health issues may exist in this population, as many choose to study the topic as a result of personal experience.

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