Opinion: Universities must do more for student mental health

The agricultural industry is experiencing some testing times, like many other industries globally.

The increasing cost of inputs and the ongoing loss of direct subsidies in England has not made post-Covid times easy for our industry and the people involved.

Agricultural university students are among our industry’s demographic feeling the squeeze, while still trying to come to terms with how the Covid-19 pandemic affected their university experience.

See also: The state of mental health in agriculture

The pandemic created a feeling of solitude that most agricultural students had never experienced before.

With students either studying from home or from the confines of their university houses, the strain these situations caused had long-lasting and detrimental effects.

Student life

Since the relaxing of Covid rules and the return to near “normal” student life, it seems that universities and colleges have failed to put into place any proper help or guidance for those still affected by what happened.

Many current students may also be struggling with university life or have other problems within their personal lives.

No doubt the universities, including the agricultural ones, will counter that there are always people or places students can go to for help or guidance with their problems.

True or not, the fact is that what the universities are offering is not working.

My impression is that the number of students taking their own lives is increasing, and most students I have spoken to agree.

The universities therefore need to stand tall and take control of an extremely sad situation. But how?

After graduation

For me, the toughest point during my studies was, in fact, my graduation – the realisation that the past few years of not only good fun, but hard graft, was at an end.

To put it bluntly, agricultural universities need to maintain support for past students, not drop them like an old toy, just because there is a new one available.

University life is embedded in you. It is, and has been, the student’s life for the past three or four years, and the adjustment from that life to the real world is, quite frankly, not at all easy.

Similarly, many new students feel the pressure of going to university and sticking at it, even when they are not enjoying it. This situation can create doubt and loneliness for many.

Change

Agricultural universities need to open their eyes to the situation unfolding before them and realise they are the ones that have the power to change things, before a catastrophe happens.

As students or graduates, we should not have to experience the loss of a friend, as happened to me, especially at a time which is supposed to be one of the most memorable of our lives.

The universities need to provide realistic and trustworthy people, as well as safe places for students and graduates to be able to turn to when needed.

They should be there not only to listen, but also to offer help and guidance.

In my experience, students’ problems are sometimes heard, but all too often ignored, with little or no action taken. Something needs to change, and quickly.