Catholic chaplains at a number of British universities have told The Tablet that they’ve noticed a sharp increase in mental health problems among students.
Their comments come in the wake of scrutiny of Bristol University which has suffered the death of two students within recent weeks; nine have now taken their own lives over the past two years as well as two students from the University of the West of England, also in Bristol.
The Catholic Chaplain at Bristol, Fr Rupert Allen, speaking to The Tablet, said the issue of mental health has become much more prominent just within the decade since he himself graduated from Oxford University: ”[As a student] I don’t remember there being such a great awareness of mental health – it was more hidden. It’s difficult to know why it’s now such an issue and here in particular. My university wasn’t ‘relaxed’ but students these days do seem to be under greater pressure than I was under.” He says he is supported in his role as Chaplain by being able to easily refer students to support services and praises Bristol University for “reacting robustly in facing up to the issue.”
Roberta Canning, a former lay chaplain who now co-ordinates the network of Catholic chaplains in higher education said “sadly Bristol is not that exceptional” and that high levels of stress are leading to “suicides everywhere.” She cites a range of factors including student debt and the pressure on students because of the money invested in them by their parents, as well, in some places, as a lengthy wait to access professional psychotherapy. A recent annual meeting of university chaplains included a workshop on suicide prevention: “That’s a mark of how seriously we take the question of mental health and suicide and how we are seeking to address it” Ms Canning said.
Sr Mary Kenefick, who has been chaplain at University College London for 12 years, has a different take on why the current generation of students are experiencing stress: “A lot can be blamed on dysfunctional family life; the people I see come from families where there is so much brokenness”, Sr Mary told The Tablet. She said that when these young people find themselves isolated away from home and coping with academic pressure, they lack the life experience to cope. She recalls three clear examples from the past year where students have needed psychological support and says that her vital skill as a chaplain is to offer a listening service.
That point is repeated by Sr Una Coogan, chaplain at Birmingham University, who has noticed a clear increase in students’ mental health problems and says chaplains are trusted “as they’re a friendly face and someone who doesn’t have an influence over a student’s course.” She says the craze for plastering pictures of events on social media can add to pressure and leave people feeling excluded if they don’t see themselves. In addition, “if anyone is conscious of their looks or status, social media can have an adverse effect on mental health.”
The Chaplain to Cambridge University, Fr Mark Langham, says that compared to his student days, three decades ago, “there’s infinitely more pressure now.” He recalls the ‘milk round’ where companies came up and signed up students in vast numbers – “those days are long gone; not only do you now have to have a good degree, you need to gain a Masters and to have done internships as well” he observed. He warned that the tendency by the government “to see education in economic terms” is another factor and the pressure for students to be high achievers and to come with “added value” is huge: “They’re working on bank holidays, they’re working on Saturday and Sunday evenings; there’s no doubt that their time here is more pressurised than it was in my student days.”
PICTURE: The Wills Memorial Building, also known as the Wills Memorial Tower or simply the Wills Tower, Queens Road, Bristol ©PA
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