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International Student Party
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Behind the Scenes: UvA's Commitment to Student Mental Health
May was the Mental Health Awareness month, coinciding with the Mental Health Awareness week in Europe from the 13th - 19th of May (link). In accordance with this, Inter Times has dedicated its efforts to shed light on the significance of mental health issues among students, and has provided some resources to help students manage their stress! At the end of this article, you will find a survey. Your feedback is invaluable to us, as it will help us better understand how UvA’s facilities are reaching students. Thank you for your support in our mission to promote mental well-being!
A study was conducted by the Caring University (CU) consortium of students from universities throughout the Netherlands, including UvA, from November 2022 to January 2023. The results of the study found that although many students reported wanting help with their issues, academic stress being the main reason, many hesitated to reach out due to some common barriers. These include, but aren’t limited to: attempting to resolve the issue on their own, lack of knowledge on who to approach, and finding the help to be expensive. The study concluded in the discussion that females and students who identify as other genders, along with international students in general, are reported to be more vulnerable to experiencing such issues as compared to males and Dutch students. Although the study states that due to limitations in the sample size, it is difficult to verify whether these results generally hold, it cannot be denied that one in every 3 university students worldwide suffers from psychological issues.
Universities in the Netherlands and worldwide have introduced different initiatives and programmes aimed at improving student mental-health and well-being, and UvA is no exception! Help at UvA ranges from help associated with academic stress, feeling down, and stress (Mental Health - Student.uva.nl, 2022). Inter Times considers it their responsibility to support those in need, helping students manage stress and encouraging them to reach out for help.
UvA offers the following facilities to students free of cost, eliminating a significant barrier which prevents students from seeking support:
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Study Advisors: These are a group of qualified professionals who provide their services to students who are in dire need of academic support. If you have specific questions about your study programme, doubts about your choice of study, and any other problem that is preventing you from fulfilling your academic requirements, study advisors are the people to approach. If you feel uncomfortable with in-person meetings (some people do, and it’s totally fine) online meetings and drop-in hours are also available! To contact study advisors, you can click this link!
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Student Psychologists: When students face academic challenges stemming from underlying causes, they can seek support from student psychologists. Often referred to by study advisors, or seeking help themselves, students can arrange up to 5 consultations to address their problems (this does not include the walk-in consultations). If you’re not comfortable approaching psychologists alone, you can also join group sessions which are conducted throughout the academic year such as Study Motivation, Mindfulness training, etc. To contact student psychologists, click this link!
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Other help includes confidential advisors and E-health modules (only in Dutch).
To better understand students’ well-being and the accessibility of these facilities, Inter Times would highly appreciate it if you participate in our anonymous survey. After receiving sufficient responses, we will publish the results and provide more insight to the student body.
Click this link for the survey!