As the number of students with mental health problems at the University of Edinburgh reaches an all time high, officials voice concern over the resources available to support them. In 2007, the University’s Disability Office recorded 70 students with mental health problems, an increase of 17 per cent since 2006, and the highest recorded figure the University has ever seen.

As the number of students with mental health problems at the University of Edinburgh reaches an all time high, officials voice concern over the resources available to support them.

In 2007, the University’s Disability Office recorded 70 students with mental health problems, an increase of 17 per cent since 2006, and the highest recorded figure the University has ever seen.

These statistics are consistent with a recent report issued by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which revealed a more serious and progressive increase in the number of students seeking help for mental health problems.

According to national figures, around one in 12 students request counselling for a mental health problem during their time at university.

Marnie Roadburg, the director of the University’s Student Disability Services, said the increase in the recorded number of students with mental health difficulties could be a result of increased awareness and acceptance.

“It is very positive that the overall number of disabled students increases each year,” she said. “This could be due to several factors - the whole student population is also increasing, and hopefully the University is seen as increasingly accessible and inclusive for all students, which enables students to disclose disability.”

However, in a recent report published by the Student Counselling Service, concerns were raised about a possible reduction in future resources, which would hinder their ability to maintain their free, confidential and short-term counselling for students.

After an unprecedented 12 per cent rise in the use of student counselling in 2006, the report said that the effort “took its toll on staff” and left the services with a “general sense of burn-out.”

Officials at the Student Counselling Services said: “We have viewed this year as a transition to a new system which would address concerns we have all held. These issues concern our ability to provide a fair and equally responsive service to all students referring.

“We realised that we were approaching an era of reducing resources for the service and that we would need use these more limited resources in more creative ways.”

The report acknowledged that with staff leaving and increased numbers, they had been under-resourced in the last year. The report concluded that “with less resources on the horizon, the waiting list for counselling would just get longer and longer,” unless briefer therapy was offered.

In the last year, the 906 students in need of counselling did at times have to wait for referrals and continued treatment, with the longest wait occurring in semester 2, where over 60% of students waited over three weeks between their initial appointment and continued counselling.

According to a spokesperson for Health In Mind, an Edinburgh association for mental health, these waiting times are not desirable and could hinder students coming to the University for help.

“While resources at universities are getting better, it is still an uphill struggle,” a spokeswoman said. “The important thing is that if people do come forward and disclose that they have mental health issues, there really should be support waiting for them.”

Stuart Lambert, an Edinburgh resident and recent graduate from Glasgow Caledonian University experienced depression throughout his time at university, resulting in him dropping out of his first university programme.

“University was definitely a trigger for my depression and I could just not cope mentally with being in this brand new world, away from friends and family,” Lambert said. “It was like a computer crashing and my brain just couldn’t deal with the pressure.”

According to Lambert, counselling services at university are not always explained to students from the start and would benefit from being more transparent and easily accessible.

While only 14 per cent of students using the student counselling services were registered with the Disability Office, officials explained the difficulty some students can experience in defining their mental health needs and actually registering them in an official way.

“Registering a disability requires a letter from a medical practitioner detailing a particular diagnosis of a long term or on-going condition and how this impacts on the students functioning,” said Ronnie Millar, the deputy director of the student counselling services. “For many of the students coming for counselling their mental or emotional difficulties are not long-term.”

In an attempt to provide clear and consistent support for students with mental health problems, a new mental health mentoring project was set up by the University this year and aims to provide containment for students who do not wish to be sent from one service to another.

While officials said the stigma surrounding mental health was slowly being overcome, it seems to affect male students to a larger extent than females, with 69 per cent of those using the counselling services recorded as female.

“This gender imbalance can be connected to societal perceptions about gender roles, how men cope with emotional difficulties let alone admit to them, and how difficult it can be for men to ask for help,” Millar said.

In an attempt to provide young people in Edinburgh with more information on mental health, Health In Mind have recently set up a website on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council. In the last year alone, the website has received over 10,000 hits from the Edinburgh community.