Worrying rise in students with mental health issues, Yorkshire GP warns

Dr Angela Goyal, who works at Leeds Student Medical Practice, which treats around 2,000 young people each week, said the number of patients suffering from psychological distress had rocketed.

She blamed the unprecedented pressures of social media, exam stress and financial worries on the mental health crisis and called for society to take responsibility and adopt a more joined-up approach.

Dr Goyal spoke after new research revealed that further education colleges are referring increasing numbers of students with mental health problems directly to A&E.

She said: “I could have a whole day where a significant proportion of young people I am seeing have mental health problems – so much so, we have now got mental health professionals based at the practice specifically to deal with this type of issue.

“Students come to me and tell me they feel isolated at university. Exam pressure is another issue and they also might be having to work to finance themselves at university, which is often too much to cope with.

“I suspect that pressure is also coming from social media. They are constantly bombarded with images of how they are supposed to look and how happy, successful and popular they are supposed to be. The reality is life isn’t like that.”

Dr Goyal, who is a mother of two teenagers, described the crisis as a “worrying trend in mental health” and said preventative measures needed to be taken at the earliest opportunity.

“I feel like we are letting our young people down and it’s upsetting that so many are coming to me with these types of issues,” she said.

“We need to recognise that young people are struggling and it’s a big problem.

“Everyone needs to take responsibility – parents, schools, colleges and universities. We need to build support networks and be able to really help young people with their mental health before they develop problems.

“We also need more Government funding and services for young people who are suffering with emotional and mental distress – both to deal with the problem and to prevent it.”

It was revealed today that a poll of colleges – almost a third of the total in England – found three quarters have referred students directly to A&E in the past academic year (2015/16).

Around 85 per cent also said there had been a rise in the number of students with mental health issues in the past three years. And eight out of 10 said there are significant numbers of students with mental health problems that have not been diagnosed.

The poll by the Association of Colleges (AoC), also found that just 40 per cent now have a full time counsellor or mental health worker on campus due to funding cuts.

While most felt they had a good relationship with their local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), just under half said their relationship with Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which commission mental health services, was non-existent.

Ian Ashman, president of the AoC, said: “Colleges do excellent work in helping students to stay well and to support those with mental ill health.

“However, where they have good relationships with their local mental health services, they are able to do much more to address issues before they become serious.”