5 Reasons Why You Should Write for the Student Minds Blog

In this blog, Carys, one of our sub-editors, shares the reasons why she writes for this blog and reassures those considering blogging for us�

1. Blogging is powerful:

A lot of people who are struggling with their mental health find comfort on the internet, where they can research symptoms and read stories of personal experiences without anyone knowing. The Student Minds blog is an enormous hub of information about pretty much everything to do with student well-being (if there�s something you feel is missing� write about it for us!). We know a lot of students and recent graduates find comfort and reassurance in the work we publish, in addition to the relevant signposting to other charities or services that they might find beneficial. 

2. Blogging is rewarding:

Furthermore, blogging for us is so rewarding. By sharing your personal story and experience on the �biggest blog dedicated to student mental health and well-being�, you are certainly helping at least one other person to get the help they need or to manage challenging situations. We all know how it feels when university isn�t really the time of our lives like everyone said it would be. The Student Minds blog gives us a platform to help someone else in their recovery. It is so fulfilling. 

3. Blogging does not require you to have a diagnosed mental illness:

Mental health and mental illness are two separate things: everyone has a mental health but only some people have a mental illness. Here at Student Minds we talk about mental health as a continuum, which means we recognise our mental health as fluctuating constantly and as incredibly personal to an individual. Needing to have a mental illness to write for us is a complete myth! Student mental well-being is such a broad subject area that affects all students and we welcome posts from all perspectives. Check out the blog for ideas and examples of titles. 

4. Blogging is for everyone:

Honestly, if you�re interested in contributing to our blog, we want to hear from you! Even if you�ve never blogged before or are not sure about your topic being relevant � I bet if past-you would have found it useful, it will be for someone else too! 

In addition to our blogging guidelines which contain loads of blogging tips and rules, there is the blog editorial team. There are 9 of us in total and we are just ordinary student volunteers from across the UK - not professional writers or famous bloggers � so the pressure�s off! After you�ve sent us your draft blog via the Write for the Blog web-page, one of us will be assigned to work with you to make sure that it is trigger-free and typo-free before uploading it. We will always make sure you�re happy with the edited version before we publish. Lots of you may be worried about �writing the wrong thing� � a concern we hear a lot. The role of the editorial team is to make sure things are appropriate to publish and we are trained to spot these �wrong things� and change them. 

Finally, an average blog post is 600-800 words � not a lot at all! It�s not as time consuming or difficult as you might think. We also are not just all about blogging: this year we are wanting to expand the blog to include vlogs! If writing isn�t your thing but the camera is, why not give it a go? 

5. Blogging is awesome:

The blogging community (you guys) is really the heart of the blog. So many contributors from many different walks of life all come together to make this blog a reality � it could be you too! I personally love the mini biography and photo at the end of each post, as it really helps give some personality to the blog and show that we are all just students helping other students. In this section we are more than happy to link your personal blog or website too if you�d like! 

However, we understand writing about mental health can be a sensitive area and sometimes you�re not quite fully ready to share. Of course, you can publish your blog anonymously � we just won�t put this part at the end, nor your name in the blurb � either giving you a pseudonym of your choice or simply being called anon.

Behind this blog are 9 amazing volunteers who give up our time to make this a reality and be a huge source of information for students and recent graduates across the UK. We all really hope to see your work in our inbox and online very soon! If you have any questions you can tweet or DM us @StudentMindsOrg and we�ll get back to you! 

I'm Carys, a 4th year Modern Languages student at Durham University. As well as my passion for languages and travel, I love talking about mental health and I am one of the Student Minds editors this year. Please get in touch if you have any questions or comments about my work - I love hearing from you!

Campaign: Stop university students falling through the net when receiving care between home and university

Angela shares her experience receiving support between home and university and why she is campaigning for change.

-Angela Hulbert

Student mental health is hot in the press. In 2015, 15,000 students disclosed a mental health condition, but despite the fact that students are encouraged to talk about their mental health, accessing help whilst a student can be incredibly difficult. With waiting lists incredibly long and only living on campus for 7 months of the year, accessing help can be almost impossible.

Here is my story: 

Throughout 2018, on my year abroad, my mental health took a nose dive to the point where I was having to fly back home from Italy during my stay. The GP saw me and explained to come back to see her once I was permanently back home in order to get some help. Once I moved back to the UK I approached my GP back home asking for help. I was often suicidal, self-harming & my mental health was taking a toll on my physical health. The GP said she wanted to refer me to the mental health unit so I could see a psychiatrist & access more in depth help but due to the fact that I was registered at the university GP (100 miles from home) I couldn�t be referred. I was told I couldn�t re-register when I asked to. So at 21, still not taken seriously, my mum had to get involved which eventually resulted in me being able to re-register at my Home GP. I was referred for Therapy For You an IAPT service where I was then told I could access a text service (not what I needed when I was rapidly loosing hope), once I declined this & pushed for the fact that I wanted to see a human being I eventually got put on a waiting list. I would be seen that summer.

Except I wasn�t. September rolled around & 1 week before moving to university, I received the phone call that a spot had opened up. I explained I was going back to university & could I do fortnightly sessions so that I would be able to commute? Once again I was refused because it had to be weekly sessions, something my timetable & my bank balance couldn�t allow for. Still to this day I have not received any help, just on another waiting list, 4 months after asking initially for help.

I have fallen through the gap. Being a university student, spending 7 months at university & the rest at home but only registered to one GP makes accessing help for your mental health incredibly difficult. Had I gone to the GP that very first time with a lump in my breast that they too were worried about I would have been referred to a specialist then & there to have it checked out even though I was a guest in that practice.

When I took to social media to share my story, my inboxes flooded with stories of students who too have been refused help for both their mental and physical health, some ending tragically with a loss in life. A change needs to happen. Our generation is constantly told to be open about our mental health but when we are the support isn't always available.

Students shouldn't be falling through the net. I have decided that I want to ignite a change and I have created a government petition to allow students to register to 2 GP's. Since creating the petition I have been made aware that dual registration for students may not be the right solution for this problem. Nevertheless a solution needs to be found so that students can receive full ongoing care.

A change starts off small but could help the generations to come. I urge students, parents and everyone and anyone who wants a better system for our young people to please sign this petition as we search for the right solution to this complex problem.

I�m Angela, a French and Italian student with a huge passion for mental health which comes from my own battle with mental illness. Little by little I am hoping that the conversations I have with those around me and on my blog will make a change to someone, somewhere.

10 lessons I have learnt running a Student Minds' campaigns group

Rosie shares how the process of volunteering as a campaigner has been beneficial to her university experience.

- Rosie Steele

When I started my Student Minds group at Liverpool John Moores I had mixed emotions. I was excited about the year ahead and what I would gain out of it, and how many people I could reach with the message. I was also nervous and apprehensive as I was starting this in my third year, the year with the biggest workload and it was going to inevitably divide my attention.

Divide my attention it has but in the best possible way. Here are ten lessons I�ve learnt/ things I have gained through running my campaigns group this last year:

1.    How to put my degree into practice � Transferable skills
I study Media, Culture and Communication and throughout the three years, we have learnt a lot about social media campaigning, marketing and event planning. Running the group has given me the opportunity to put these skills into practice allowing me to solidify my knowledge and understand what truly works and what does not. It has been a real learning curve and taught me more about campaigning than a traditional sit-down lecture ever could. Even if you do not study a communications-focused course the transferable skills gained including leadership, planning and time-management will be invaluable to any CV come graduation.

2. Networking
Through the group, I have found so many people who make the university run and who help make the university experience inclusive for all, that I simply did not know existed beforehand. Although I had used the Student Advice and Wellbeing service personally in my second year, through meeting with them I learnt what they really do, and began to signpost others to their services who possibly were not aware of what they do. I also met with Student Engagement who run out of each school to help all students who may not want to trek their way across to the Student Advice building. I have also learnt about Disability Officers, the role of tutors in wellbeing and even about what student accommodation staff do. It really has made me question the �9 grand for power-points� narrative that often circulates among students.

3. How I�m not alone in the way I�m feeling
Every single person who has attended the group across the year has told me they too are feeling lonely, scared, stressed, having housemate troubles and like they do not fit in. It has helped me to normalise my own experience and realise I am not the odd one out in feeling this way. One in four adults experience mental health difficulties so you definitely are not the only one who is not having the time of their life at university. That is mainly the reason I started the group after all.

4. How to take breaks
Before this year, breaks within my studying were few and far in-between and I would often spend eight hours straight in the library and then extra when I got home. Starting the group meant that once a month, during the socials, I would have an hour where I could not focus on work, but the topic of the evening. Now I find letting myself have breaks so much easier.  If someone came to the group stressed, taking breaks, and not feeling guilty for it would always be my first piece of advice.

5. Sense of belonging
For my first two years, I always felt like I did not belong and like I did not fit in with everyone else. Through meeting people outside of my course, and other societies I felt myself merging in with the wider university community. My only regret at university is not getting involved in a society sooner as it has been such a good way to meet new people and explore my university city through making use of student offers with the group.

6. Importance of peer support
The campaign we really focused on this year has been the Look After Your Mate campaign which focuses on how we can care for our friends who may be struggling with university pressures whilst also caring for our own wellbeing. I always knew that friendship was important but being there for others and them being there for me has taught me to look out for small signs in others and how to be a good support network.

7. Confidence in my abilities
The reaction to the group from members of university staff has been so much more positive than I could have ever believed. Instead of playing down my hard work and dedication to the group I have learnt to accept the compliments and be proud of all the effort I have put in. I have always had really low self-esteem, especially academically, so for me, this has been a breakthrough.

8. Professionalism
I have learnt how to write emails in a professional way and how to hold myself in meetings. As with transferable skills, I feel like I will be able to head into job interviews with a clearer sense of how to hold myself professionally.

9. How to celebrate the tiny victories
When I first started the group, I was obsessed with the numbers. How many people came, how many people joined as members on the SU website, how many people wanted to come back. I then realised that it was about so much more than that. It was about helping people, making their university experience a little bit better, about campaigning, whether that be to one person or one hundred people. When I started looking at the small details, of how this was our first year and we were doing well did I really start enjoying running the group. I can now relate this to other areas of my life, look at the smaller details and see just how much you have achieved.

10. Friendships
I started the group alone over the summer between second and third year when I knew I needed to make a change. I then roped in two of my best friends to help me. Although I possibly would not recommend this as sometimes committee meetings and socials would veer slightly off course with personal dramas it gave us a space to nurture our friendship away from alcohol-centric environments. I feel like even though in a few weeks we will be split across the country we will remain friends for life due to how we have allowed ourselves to be vulnerable and open in front of each other in ways we may not have been if we had not started the group.

Tonight, we had our last social with our current committee. I am beyond proud what we have achieved in a single year. When I started the group I never thought we would get as far as we have. The highlight for me has to be talking on a panel at a Let�s Talk Disability and Mental Health event with Rosie the CEO of Student Minds about peer support and the role of student volunteers. As I sat on the stage I thought of my younger self who could barely manage five lessons a day, now sat in a room full of people talking about the importance of student mental health.

If your university already has a Student Minds group or similar campaigns group I would definitely recommend looking at how you can get involved. I have learnt so much but also had so much fun. It truly has been a year I will never forget, and I have got to help others along the way making it all the more valuable.

Rosie is a soon to be Media, Culture, Communication graduate from Liverpool John Moores and has run their Student Minds campaign group for the last year. 

Male Mental Health Month with Loughborough HeadsUp

Our student group Loughborough HeadsUp discuss their events for Male Mental Health Month.

-Hannah Timson

This November is National Men's Health Awareness Month and HeadsUp are focusing on communicating the importance and necessity of encouraging all men to be more open about their mental health. We want to fight the idea that men feel as though they must carry their mental health alone in silence and deconstruct the ideas of masculinity and the tough guy image of how we believe we should be acting.

Throughout the month we have been hosting a number of events and activities for everyone to come along and get involved in. These have ranged from a Meet and Greet with our committee where people were encouraged to come down to a sociable evening of pizza and games and discuss their ideas surrounding our work and future events; two Mindfulness Sessions in which an external speaker came into the Union to deliver short workshops on how to stay in control of your thoughts when stress becomes difficult to deal with, and a taster Kickboxing Session.

We also hosted a discussion panel surrounding this issue in which we put a series of hard hitting questions to a panel of strong and successful men who have themselves suffered with their mental health either in the past or the present. It was a highly interesting and informative event which incredible insightful and moving at points were shared.

Hi, my name is Hannah and I am currently in my final year studying English Literature at Loughborough University. I have suffered with panic attacks from a young age and was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression shortly after starting university. I set up my own blog as an outlet and started writing about my experiences in order to ensure that people knew that this wasn't a diagnosis to be ashamed of and to help others to come out and talk about their own struggles with someone they could trust. This year, I am working as Communications Officer for Loughborough Heads Up, the university's student led mental health awareness group who run campaigns around campus to raise awareness and work towards breaking the stigma surrounding Mental Health once and for all.

What does it mean to be a man?

Our student group Loughborough HeadsUp discuss the importance and necessity of encouraging all men to be more open about their mental health.

-Hannah Timson

"To be a man is to be honest and to be human" 

What does it mean to be a man? This is a question that I've always been puzzled by. Sweeping gendered stereotypes aside, is there really any difference between the answer to this and what it means to be a woman? Surely the real question here should be; What does it mean to be human? And the answers to that question could not possibly be condensed into this blog post. So instead I'll just give you a few:

Strength. Humility. Integrity. Love. Pain. Truth. Honesty.

Sounds fair? But the issue comes when you split these terms down into Gender. Society has conditioned both men and women to believe that they should act and behave in a certain way. This is why when the majority of men are questioned about the qualities of a man, they will reply with words associated with power, strength and action as opposed to emotion. Why is it considered "unmanly" by society to hide your true feelings behind this facade we have constructed surrounding men?

We have also be releasing material surrounding the campaign on a daily basis. This has included a leaflet about Male Mental Health which has been circulated around campus; the daily release of a photo of a famous figure who has suffered with their own mental health, a list of their successes and a famous quote, and finally a campaign video featuring some of the most reputable names at Loughborough talking about the stigma behind Male Mental Health. We have been overwhelmed by the incredible reaction we have had to the video and you can find it here to see for yourself:
https://www.facebook.com/lboroheadsup/videos/1672258392841995/

One of the men we interviewed as part of the video was Loughborough Students Union President 17/18, George Etherington. We have been speaking to George throughout our campaign as it is something he feels incredibly strong about and is very close to his heart. This is what he had to say in another interview earlier in the campaign:

"We need to teach people to redefine their definition of masculinity. We need young boys to grow up knowing that it is ok to be exactly how they are and to feel how they feel, not needing to "man up"and not needing to "be a man about it" ... To me, putting on a brave front isn't bravery. To me, bravery is being open and honest. Be vulnerable, let people see your emotions. I can't think of anything braver than allowing someone to see you for you."

Mental Health affects everyone, regardless of race, religion, nationality, colour or gender. So why do men feel so ashamed, why have they developed this unconscious belief that it is manly to hide what is hurting you?

Suicide is now reported as being the biggest cause of death for men under 35, with 1 in 8 men in the UK are experiencing a common mental health disorder, yet it is a significantly lower number whom actually declare this to anyone.

We have been raised surrounded by this masculinised social construct that men should not cry; that they not meant to feel insecure or vulnerable; that emotion and worry are wrong and that the strong minded and unempathetic archetype of men portrayed in films and the media will lead to success. That it makes them weak. They are not ashamed or affected because of it because the majority sought the help that they needed.

You are not going to make it through life untouched by moments of misery or sadness or fear. But these unwanted emotions are what make us unequivocally human. It is ok to be vulnerable. It is ok to feel. And it is ok to reach out for a helping hand. It makes you brave, not weak to do so. We should never be ashamed to be human.

Hi, my name is Hannah and I am currently in my final year studying English Literature at Loughborough University. I have suffered with panic attacks from a young age and was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression shortly after starting university. I set up my own blog as an outlet and started writing about my experiences in order to ensure that people knew that this wasn't a diagnosis to be ashamed of and to help others to come out and talk about their own struggles with someone they could trust. This year, I am working as Communications Officer for Loughborough Heads Up, the university's student led mental health awareness group who run campaigns around campus to raise awareness and work towards breaking the stigma surrounding Mental Health once and for all.

�I�m so OCD�

People like to use the term 'OCD' as a character trait, but what does it really mean?

- Krishna

As someone who suffers from OCD, I don�t think that the phrase 'I'm so OCD' will ever stop making me feel like I�ve been slapped across the face. It doesn�t even make sense, I mean think about it.

But that phrase, along with so many others, even along with products that showcase OCD as a form of organization, have made my life so much more difficult.

I first understood that I had contamination OCD when I was at university. For a long time before I knew that I had OCD, my behaviours' were just a quirk. I remember being called �infection control� and always being relied on for having hand sanitizer in my bag. With time, what started as a quirk grew into something much more consuming. By the second year of university this simple overuse of soap was an illness that had the ability to trap me in my own home.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is cycle. It starts with an obsession (an intrusive, recurrent thought) which causes anxiety and severe discomfort. This is followed by an action which stops the anxiety. The issue is that the relief is short lived and the cycle starts all over again. For me this would focus on washing and cleanliness. I remember once having three showers straight after each other because of being near �contaminated things� in my own home. It was exhausting.

At my worst it was a struggle to leave my home, I was unable to cook food and use a public bathroom? Forget about it! But there were also other things. Things that were more subtle. I would lie a lot to avoid certain social situations; I used food and alcohol as coping mechanisms (which when you are at university doesn�t always ring alarm bells) and my self esteem was basically non-existent. All of these things were interlinked. It wasn�t that I had OCD and I washed my hands a lot. It was that I had a debilitating illness that affected basically every aspect of my life.

But I think I was lucky. I had heard of OCD at some point in my life, which meant that I started to seek support when I realised that I couldn�t fix what was happening by myself. I also started campaigning and decided to use my experiences to try and raise awareness. I wanted to put the difficulty that I was going through to some good use. If I could help one person to understand what OCD really felt like or give someone the confidence to seek support themselves, then it felt like maybe all the pain was worthwhile. That it had a purpose.

Recovery was a long process. When something is so integrated into your life it takes a lot of work and time to change it. I often say �recovery� because I view mental health on a spectrum. There isn�t �well� and �unwell� in my opinion. My recovery was about understanding and recognizing the harmful thoughts and behaviours� that I had developed and challenging them. Forcing myself to face them until they no longer caused me pain or anxiety.

Imagine that - think of the one thing that you are the most terrified of in this world, then imagine having to face it every single day for prolonged periods of time until you are no longer scared of it. No it wasn�t easy, but it was perhaps the most beneficial and life-changing thing that I have ever done.

We should all be looking after our own mental health just as we would our physical health, because it isn�t an abnormality to experience a mental health difficulty and recovery isn't about never feeling down or unwell. I have experienced recovery but I still go through periods of difficulty. Times where I can feel the intrusive thoughts creeping back, manifesting themselves in different ways. When I notice that I am going through bottles of soap much quicker and using avoidance techniques again. The difference now is that I can notice it. I can see the signs and I know what I need to do to ensure that it doesn�t get worse.

I will forever feel frustrated when I hear phrases like �I�m so OCD� because it trivialises something that impacted my life in such a consuming, challenging way. It isn�t a joke; it's very real for a lot of people. This OCD Awareness Week I want to continue to share that understanding.

The next time you hear someone joke about OCD, question it, ask them what it means. Then tell them what OCD actually is.

You could be helping someone like me who just needed to know that she had an illness, that it wasn�t her fault and that it could get better. And it did.

Want tips on understanding OCD or want to seek support? Visit OCD Action or Mind.

Hi I�m Krishna, the Design and Office Manager at Student Minds. I setup my first OCD awareness campaign back in 2013 which led me to the Student Minds group at Sheffield Hallam University. I then joined the Student Minds staff team in early 2016. As a graphic designer I am passionate about using design to raise understanding of mental health difficulties, inspire conversations around mental health and help to show people that they are not alone.