Over one-fifth state they have no-one in their lives to talk to about their personal difficulties.
In a new survey performed by the Union Students of Ireland, over three thousand students in third-level education in Ireland were asked questions about all aspects of their mental health, as well as the mental health services available to them or that they were aware of.
The results of the survey discovered that 38.4% of third-level students in Ireland state that they are experiencing extremely severe levels of anxiety, while 29.9% said they were suffering from depression, while 17.3% responded by saying there were suffering from high levels of stress.
Almost a third of all students surveyed (32.2%) revealed that they had already had a formal diagnosis of some form of mental health difficulties at some point in their lives, but that just 20.9% of all students did not have anyone in their lives with whom they could talk about their personal and emotional difficulties.
The survey found that those who were involved in activities in college outside of their coursework had better mental health, and that most students found a free counseling service within their college was important for them.
“In 2018, the Union of Students in Ireland launched the USI National Student Mental Health Survey and reached out to students across the island of Ireland to participate and give honest and raw feedback about their mental health, the services provided for them both on and off campus and everything in between,” stated USI President Lorna Fitzpatrick.
“Little did we know, the sheer depth of information that we would gain from this report and it is all due to students honesty when taking part in the survey. Whilst reading the findings, it is easy to see that students shared with us their most inner thoughts and emotions and for this, we are extremely grateful.
“Students gave us a wealth of data that we now see so clearly laid out in the pages of the National Report on Student Mental Health in Third Level Education, we will use this data and strive to improve mental health services at third level for all students.”
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