Mental Health Awareness Week is an annual event that takes place this year from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 May. The week is an opportunity to remind ourselves that mental health is a big part of our environment and that the wellbeing of students and staff within a university setting is paramount.

Each year the Mental Health Foundation sets a theme. This year’s theme is ‘loneliness’ and after the recent global experiences we have had during COVID-19, few would disagree that this is a very fitting choice.

Loneliness is affecting more and more of the population and does have a huge impact, not only on our physical health but also our mental wellbeing, especially during the pandemic when we had to isolate and not socialise with others. As human beings we are naturally social creatures and our connection to others is fundamental in protecting our mental health.

Often people think of loneliness in basic terms as simply being alone and having no one around us, however, a person can feel extremely lonely even when they are in a room full of people. A new student might feel lonely despite being surrounded by roommates and other peers. They might be experiencing homesickness, anxiety, low mood, or struggling to adapt to changes in a university setting, all of which can contribute to loneliness.

Loneliness is a feeling and it’s a state of mind. It is very different from social isolation, whereby there is a lack of social network, and there are several types of loneliness to take into consideration. Emotional loneliness is when our connection with friends and family is not as we expect – maybe we want to be closer, more congruent. Existential loneliness is a feeling about the meaning of life and when we have lost that purpose or meaning. As mentioned above, social loneliness refers to the lack of connection with others.

I am relatively new in post as Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager, having been at Leeds Trinity University since the beginning of December 2021. In just the last few months I have seen a real increase in self-referrals to our service. Students are seeking support for their mental health, they are requesting access to counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy or general practical support with their mental health, and I am seeing the effects on students post-pandemic and the impact of adjustment this has had on them.

In order to meet the increased demands on the student mental health service due to the impact of the pandemic, it was necessary to make some significant transformations to our existing service to continue to support students presenting with mental health difficulties and offer a beneficial and quality service to them.

We have increased our staffing to be able to provide more assessment appointments to students as well as increasing the amount of therapy sessions we can offer. We have also been able to develop an exercise programme for students, deliver various workshops to assist students in their transition into university life and are working on ways to make our service more accessible.

These are just a number of ways we are improving our service to ensure that students who might be suffering with mental health issues feel like they have somewhere to turn to. The university itself also offers practical elements to help address loneliness, including clubs and societies that students can join in with.

Our work is an ongoing reflective process, but we have a wealth of expertise in the University and we encourage feedback from students on what they experience, in turn helping students and staff to feel the benefit of the work we are all doing.

 Maria Tierney is the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager at Leeds Trinity University.