Student mental health
Studying can sit alongside work, relationships, health and a changing routine. If the balance feels difficult, you can start with what you need today and find a support route that fits your situation.
Your experience is bigger than your workload.
A transition, financial pressures, relationships or existing health needs can all belong in a support conversation. Some students need help with a particular challenge; others are managing an ongoing condition.
This page is for adults in education. Academic performance is not a mental-health diagnosis, and you do not need a diagnosis to ask about counselling or practical help.
Start with the kind of help you need.
- Study support
A tutor or practical adjustment
- A conversation
Counselling or a trusted person
- Healthcare
Assessment and ongoing care
- Your questions
Access and confidentiality
There can be more than one route to support.
You may need help with study demands, a health concern or practical circumstances such as housing and money. These questions can overlap, but one service may not address them all. Students can be of many ages and life situations.
Study access
Ask about learning support or adjustments.
Emotional support
Explore counselling or an appropriate health service.
Practical circumstances
Ask which office handles financial, housing or other support.
Based on NHS
Different routes can help with different needs.
A tutor or student-support team can explain study-related options. A counselling or wellbeing service can provide a space to discuss how you feel. Ask your institution what is available, how to access it and how confidentiality works.
A healthcare professional can assess mental or physical-health concerns and consider treatment. Student services and healthcare can complement one another; you can ask how to coordinate them.
If you move while studying, check how to access ongoing healthcare and prescriptions locally. The NHS source below explains GP arrangements in England; other places have different systems.
What feels difficult right now?
Choose a starting point rather than trying to explain everything at once.
Study demands
Study demands or a task feel hard to approach.
Mood & worry
Mood, worry or relationships are affecting your day.
Transitions
You are adjusting to a different routine or place.
Ongoing health
Your health needs support alongside your course.
A useful conversation starts with your needs.
You can describe what has changed, what is getting in the way and what you would like help with. A clinician considers the wider picture rather than diagnosing you from grades or a student stress score.
Ask a student service about practical support or adjustments, including the process and any evidence it needs. Availability and eligibility vary by institution and location.
- 1The difficulty
What is affecting study or daily life.
- 2The support route
Whether practical adjustments, a wellbeing conversation or healthcare might fit.
- 3Your questions
Access, confidentiality, evidence requirements and follow-up.
Make a starting point easier to find.
You do not need to solve the whole term today.
Choose what matters now
Identify one study, health or everyday concern you want help with.
Find the right contact
Check student support, a tutor or local healthcare for the kind of help you need.
Keep the message small
Describe the difficulty and ask about available options and next steps.
Check how support will continue through transitions.
Ask about availability, costs, confidentiality and what happens during breaks or when you leave the institution. Local arrangements differ; a university website’s service description is not a guarantee of immediate care.
Moving may affect ongoing healthcare. The linked NHS guidance concerns England; ask the relevant local service how to maintain your own care.
Find support. Prepare your next step.
Explore a tool, prepare a conversation or find someone to talk to. Choose what feels useful to you.
Use the free guides to learn what to expect or find someone to talk to. If you need urgent help, go straight to the country-labeled support contacts.
Find urgent supportPrepare for a conversation
A few prompts to help you explain what you have noticed and what you would like help with.
- A simple notes builder
- Copy your notes to keep
- No account needed
You decide how much to write and share.
Find your wordsFind your next kind of support
Explore where to begin with everyday support, professional help or an urgent conversation.
- Ways to ask for help
- Country-specific crisis contacts
- Support at your own pace
If you need urgent help, go straight to support.
Find supportYour first sentence does not need to be perfect.
You could look for your institution's student-support page or contact a local health service. A short message can begin: “I am finding this part of studying difficult and would like to understand my options.”
“I am finding this part of studying difficult and would like to understand my support options.”Make it sound like you
Your questions, with room for nuance.
You can read just the answer you need.
Do I need a diagnosis to ask about counselling?
Not necessarily. Student counselling can address difficult experiences without a diagnosis. Check the particular service’s access arrangements.
Based on NHS
Where this information comes from.
Use this hub to learn and prepare questions. It does not diagnose you or recommend a personal treatment plan. By Selfmora editorial; sources checked . Updated .
Additional explanations and examples: sources consulted . Examples illustrate ideas; they do not assess your personal health. Your questions
Our editorial approach