“The anxiety that I had around transitioning from high school to university was pretty intense. I was the first person in my family to go to university, so I kind of didn’t have that background knowledge from my mum and dad. It’s that thing of ‘not knowing what to expect’ that pushed my anxiety really high…
“Things started to go downhill for me academically and I was trying to talk to my tutors about how I was feeling…I was always being told, “no, it’s going to be fine, you’re going to be fine”.”
– Natasha, university student
Natasha, who featured in a video accompanying youth mental health organisation Orygen’s 2017 report, Under the Radar: The mental health of Australian university students, may soon gain more assistance for her anxiety thanks to a new, national, $660,000 university mental health framework.
Announced on Wednesday by Health Minister Greg Hunt, the framework will be developed by Orygen in collaboration with universities and other mental health organisations. Additionally, Hunt earmarked $9 million for Orygen’s National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health.
We are thrilled to have @GregHuntMP at Orygen today to announce the continuation of our funding, extending our #youthmentalhealth work to 2023, and the development of a National University Mental Health Framework.@PatMcGorry @venessb @yourAMSA @batyrAus @headspace_aus @uniaus pic.twitter.com/SdwwB7Kll2
— Orygen (@orygen_aus) September 5, 2018
Professor Patrick McGorry, Executive Director of Orygen, and Greg Hunt MP at the framework announcement. Photo: Orygen, via Twitter
Though the framework will be voluntary, Hunt said universities will be incentivised to adopt it to minimise attrition rates.
A preamble to the Orygen report, which precipitated the framework, noted that “a combination of risk factors such as lack of sleep, poor diet, drug and alcohol misuse, financial stress, dis/relocation and performance expectations all culminate and impact on the mental health of a young person at this time of life, in this environment.
“University counselling services have reported increased demand and an increase in severity and complexity of presentations. The majority believe they are unable to meet expected/core service delivery with their current staffing profile.
“Many universities are developing policies and responses but are left to do so without national leadership, guidance or additional resourcing and support. Overseas, nationally coordinated responses have enabled collection and monitoring of data, the sharing of practice across universities and a stronger platform for further advocacy on this issue.”
Universities Australia Acting Chief Executive Anne-Marie Lansdown said the framework aims to address these issues.
But what do students actually want and need? Jasper*, who studied at the University of Wollongong, thinks that one issue the framework could cover is the lack of visibility of university mental health services. “Sometimes, when you’re really troubled, you don’t think to even reach out.” This notion resonates with Linus Faustin. As a postgraduate international student at Bond University, he was crippled with depression. It was only after his tutors reached out that he realised he had a problem.
Churchill Fellow and Psychiatry Registrar Dr Benjamin Veness, a student mental health advocate, thinks the biggest issue with student mental health is that universities don’t consider it a core priority. “I would love to see a ‘health in all policies’ approach, particularly in academic policies,” he said. By this, he means mental health should be considered in situations like granting assignment extensions, supporting a student’s reintegration after a break from uni, and even in teaching styles. “Are we teaching in a way that helps build students’ confidence and maximise their opportunities to succeed?” he posed.
For the framework to be truly effective, he thinks it requires more than token student input. “That’s the bit that’s often missed in these kinds of projects,” he said.
Three quarters of mental disorders emerge in people aged under 25. Aside from its potentially devastating individual consequences, mental illness is expected to cost the global economy $16 million over the next two decades; twice the estimated cost of cancer.
*Name has been changed.