uni - inclusive environments

We’re lucky that mental health awareness is ever improving, and the stigmas and taboos are slowly being lifted. But that doesn’t mean we live in a perfect mental health utopia, so it’s important to look out for yourself and plan ahead if uni’s in the cards for you.
 
One of the most important things to do if you suffer with your mental health is to look out for universities who have a strong support network for students and their mental health issues.

This might mean university funding that’s allocated specifically to mental health, the number of councillors, social workers and psychiatrists they have to support students, or the general environment and how comfortable and open it lets you feel.
 
For example, the University of Manchester has, to much controversy, announced that they’ll make Student Union meetings more accessible to those with anxiety and disabilities by discouraging clapping, shouting and cheering in exchange for British Sign Language clapping – jazz hands.
 
A spokeswoman for the university defended the idea: “We recognise that sometimes these politically motivated meetings can be potentially hostile to certain groups of people with certain disabilities.
 
“We are doing one small thing to try to make those events, and therefore the democratic process, more accessible to those groups of people. That’s all.”
 
This may seem extreme to some – surprise, surprise, not all universities are like this. Some might invest as much in the mental wellbeing of their students as they do in their uni Quidditch team.
 
That’s is just one of loads of reasons why you should do extensive research into your uni choices. And yeah, that means more than just does it do the course you want, and does it look good on Google Images.
 
There are plenty of things that might sway your decision when choosing a uni. For more help on finding the right one, have a look here. Concerned about your mental wellbeing at uni? Here’s where we talk all about the support networks available to you. 

Author

LUCY HARDING  is the Editorial manager for Push. She is an English Literature grad and an MA Publishing student at UCL. She is passionate about international relations and cultural diversity, having worked closely with her university’s Erasmus society to support European students. She also spent a year abroad studying at California State University: Long Beach.