THERE has been a sharp rise in university students experiencing mental health difficulties, a new survey suggests.
The research reveals 91 per cent of students surveyed said they have been affected by mental health issues with 37 per cent saying they have no friends at university.
Even when students said they feel supported by their university, a third admitted to feeling lonely at least once a week.
The mental health difficulties reported in the annual student mental health survey range from some symptoms of mental ill health to having suicidal thoughts.
The survey, carried out by student market research consultancy Cibyl, highlights growing concern for the mental health and wellbeing of students and graduates.
It also reveals that 32 per cent of students in the north do not take part in extracurricular activities and these students are less likely to be from privileged backgrounds.
The research also suggests that while universities have prioritised sign-posting mental health support services and despite increased awareness of available services such as counselling and GP services, these are not considered to be as effective by students as lesser known support services, such as specialist services for eating disorders, and wellbeing sessions.
Students continue to find it difficult to access services within universities and the NHS due to increasing demand and increasingly complex cases.
Lisa Marris, head of research at Cibyl, said the "declining mental health of students and graduates is a deeply concerning and growing problem that needs urgent attention".
"Increasing awareness around mental health is not enough for the scale of this crisis.
"We hope the findings from this research will help support the call for further change and improvement in young people’s mental health support."
Professor Steve West, President of Universities UK, said the findings "make for tough reading - our students are reporting increasing difficulties with their mental health, loneliness, inequality and poor access to care - but are not surprising to anyone working in the university sector".
"We know that university support services are witnessing surges in demand," he said.
"We know that record numbers of children and young adults are being referred to NHS mental health services.
"The key question is how we translate these findings into better outcomes for students. There are no easy fixes."
