Mental Health

 

Our mental health is how we think, act, and feel and can be affected in many ways. University can be described as being the best years of your life but, in reality, university life is often a more complicated mix of experiences and emotions than that. It can be an overwhelming and stressful experience that can impact our mental health. You are faced with a constant flow of new challenges, such as moving to St Andrews, making friends, adjusting to the new teaching methods, part-time work and so much more.

If your mental health starts to decline while you study with us, we have many different avenues for support. Student Services is a dedicated team within the university that support students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, with their mental health and wellbeing. We offer one-to-one support, psychoeducational groups, coaching and so much more. There are also student-run groups that help bring students together who are struggling with similar issues, which can be found on the Student Associations website. There are also Peer Supporters and Nightline, which are student run support routes. 

What support do we offer? 

Student Services is here to help you if you are struggling. We can help you develop healthy coping strategies to manage your mental health difficulties. You can book an appointment to speak to a member of staff or email support.advice@st-andrews.ac.uk for advice. 

Alternative Internal Support

You can access self-help through various University channels such as:

  • ShelfHelp, which provides eBooks or physical copies which can help you understand and manage mental health difficulties.
  • SilverCloud, which provides various modules to work through at your own pace to help understand and manage different mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and OCD with cognitive behavioural therapy techniques.
  • TogetherAll - a safe, online community where people support each other anonymously to improve mental health and wellbeing. (This service will be available until February 2023. After this time, we recommend students reach out to SHOUT).

External Support

If you would like to access some self-help materials here are a list of alternative support resources.