Disclosed mental health issues

Overview
Online students

52% of students disclosed a mental health issue in 21/22. It is important to note that disclosing a mental health issue does not automatically mean that a student is in need of extra support. Everyone is an individual: students who disclose asthma, epilepsy or diabetes may not require a Support Plan if their condition is well-controlled by medication, the same is true for mental health issues, but it is good practice for tutors to have an awareness.

However, it is important for the student to understand that at times a Support Plan can be a useful tool in prevention. For example a student with anxiety issues, having an extension for assessment submission dates may not be needed all the time but simply knowing it is there can help to reduce anxiety and so enable the student to complete work on time.

Students may not feel that they require any extra support if they have their condition under control. They may take regular medication, see a healthcare professional regularly and have learned strategies which work for them around self-care.

However, if they have disclosed a mental health issue, this could be discussed with the student at application, or more usually at enrolment by Student Services/Disability Services. This is when a support plan would be recommended to the student, to allow for flexibility during the course.

Plan written in scrabble lettering

Plan written in scrabble lettering by Wokandapix from Pixabay, CC0

If a student declines any support at this stage, it would be good practice to inform the PAT of the student’s decision, so that they are aware and can use this awareness if the student s situation changes once they are further into their programme of study.

It should also be noted that life challenges that affect us all can have a potentially destabilising effect on someone’s mental health, such as:

  • changes to medication
  • external events such as family illness, or bereavement,
  • moving house or changes in employment
  • divorce or separation
  • debt problems or money worries
  • caring responsibilities
  • court appearances

These can have detrimental different effects on all students, but we need to be even more aware of the potential additional impact for people with stated mental health issues.

There is anecdotal evidence that students with mental health issues may be disproportionately attracted to online courses. There are several obvious reasons for this; online study does not require travel, going into an unfamiliar building, can be studied outwith normal working hours, does not require face-to-face contact with others. These reasons can be helpful to some people with mental health issues and can remove barriers to access to study for some.

These very helpful attributes can also works against successful completion for some and behaviours in an online setting can be more erratic – making frequent, repeated contacts at unsocial hours, going wildly off topic in chat rooms or discussion boards, being unreceptive to perceived criticism.

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