Exam season is here and that means the already month-long waiting list for UCL’s psychological services is likely to grow further. The Cheese Grater can reveal that the service is so oversubscribed that 21 percent of students last year who made appointments never actually used UCL’s services. Instead they chose to be referred to the charity WPF Therapy, who charge £30 an hour, instead of remaining on the waiting list. The stretched psychological services are just one part of UCL’s poorly coordinated approach to mental health however, something which poses a grow- ing risk to student wellbeing.
In May, a Psychological Services study is expected to be published revealing the actual state of mental health in College. Getting respondents hasn’t been easy though – it’s understood that the faculty of Arts and Humanities didn’t partici- pate at all. One head of department was quoted as saying “you can’t ask [students] about suicide, because they might realise it’s a serious problem”.
Unfortunately this ignorance high- lights a bigger issue of mental health awareness – or lack thereof – at UCL. At a recent UCLU focus group, personal tutors were strongly criticised for lack- ing mandatory training in student men- tal health or pastoral care. Shockingly, until recently UCL didn’t even have a comprehensive list of all the personal tu- tors in College. Although a ‘Personal Tutor Working Group’ has now been es- tablished, personal tutors still offer little support to students away from purely aca- demic concerns.
Considering UCL’s annual surplus, mental health funding seems a worryingly low priority. Although psychological ser- vices have received more money and staff in recent years, it hasn’t been enough to improve the situation sufficiently. Mental health issues remain largely invisible, and a wellbeing week planned earlier this year to increase awareness was severely undercut by lack of funding. UCL’s little-known peer support system remains under-uti- lised, while Psychological Services are hes- itant to publicise themselves more widely for fear of even longer waiting times.
Catherine McAteer, Head of Psycho- logical Services, told The Cheese Grater that 79 percent of students are satisfied with the service, and blamed cuts to NHS mental health services for putting in- creased pressure on UCL.
Students have been reduced to taking matters into their own hands. Undergrad- uates in the Life Sciences Department have formed Project Wellness – which hopes to become a union affiliated society next year. It appears this weekly support group is representative of UCL’s overall approach to mental health: most students are left to work it out for themselves.