Not feeling great? Here’s who you can speak to when feeling down
Whether you’re a first-year student or a returning one, living away from home comes with its difficulty. You may be feeling lonely, homesick, struggling to make friends (even though you’re a great person), going through some personal issues or feeling the pressures of university.
There’s always someone to speak to if you’re feeling one of these or something else. We are here to give you a guide of which organisations and groups are ready to help you, so you never feel alone!
Student support services at your university
One of the greatest aspects of universities in the UK is the importance they give to your mental health. Universities and their Students’ Union’s have a team of professionals who can help you through difficult times. Their service is free to use and they’re always super helpful!
Your lecturers or department
While studying you will create a relationship with your lecturers and the department you study in. It may be a case of feeling more comfortable to speak to someone you’re familiar with, if this is you, then your lecturer or department is a perfect go-to.
Nightline
If you haven’t already heard of Nightline, let us fill you in! Nightline is a free and confidential service that runs throughout the night! They’re a team of student volunteers who are there in the middle of the night if you need them. You may feel more comfortable having a chat with one of your peers, if so, it’s worth checking them out because they have been in your shoes!
GP
Your GP is another point of contact for everything wellbeing related. You may wish to speak to your GP instead of going through the other services listed. Your GP will speak to you about how you’re feeling and take you through the possible next steps.
Mental health charities
There are a lot of mental health charities to pick from when it comes to reaching out to speak to someone.
Some of the best charities are:
- Samaritans
If you’re feeling low and want to speak to someone as soon as possible without booking an appointment you can call Samaritans. Their service is confidential, and their volunteers are friendly.
Phone number: 116 123
- Mind
Mind is another charity that offers over the phone and email help services. Just like Samaritans, their service is confidential and friendly.
Phone number: 0300 123 3393
- YoungMinds
YoungMinds is a text service for young people living in the UK. What differs YoungMinds from the other organisations is their text service. They understand that it’s not always easy to speak to someone directly, sometimes it’s easier to text.
Text YM to 85258 to start the conversation
AXO’s support
Of course, we’re always here for you! Whether you want to email us, speak to us over social media, or come down to the front desk and have a chat, we’re always here. Keeping our residents happy and enabling a safe space for them is a priority for us.
Mental Health & Wellbeing Student Assistance Programme
We recently teamed up with Endsleigh to bring all our residents mental health and wellbeing counselling support available 24 hours 7 days a week! Some of the issues they cover are health and lifestyle, legal information, student life and home life. The app is easy to access – you can access it in braille, other languages, video and they have a translation service.
We’ve also got AXO Life events! Regular AXO Life events help residents meet one another and be part of our student community. We also have our student ambassadors who are more than happy to speak to residents and help where they can.
