Disability Resource Centre (DRC)

Helping students with personal difficulties or mental health problems

Most people experience periods of stress and personal difficulty at some point in their lives. Deadlines, examinations, worries about achieving the required standard, and the pressures of short terms can quickly transform these into problems that affect academic progress, or may themselves be the problem. Leaving home, family problems, relationship break-up, being ill, experiencing discrimination, pregnancy, and use of recreational drugs and alcohol are other causes of stress.

The University and the colleges have a duty of care to students. The tutorial system provides an excellent way of fulfilling this duty, but it is important to know your limits, and to know when to seek extra help or information. This section will help you identify students who are experiencing personal difficulties, provide some practical advice on responding effectively, and point you to other sources of support. Don't forget, an early referral to a student's GP can be helpful.

Confidentiality

Dealing with students' personal problems entails strict confidentiality. Whilst there is no University-wide policy or code of practice, we all need to work within the constraints of the Data Protection Act (1998), which makes particular conditions for sensitive personal data. Solving a problem may require you to liaise with a range of people. Except in an emergency, this can only be done with the student's agreement.

Doctors, nurses and counsellors have their own professional codes of conduct, including strict policies of confidentiality. They will not divulge information without permission, although in the case of criminal activity they may be forced to do so by a court. See below for how to liaise with the University Counselling Service.

Identifying difficulties

These are some signs to look out for:

  • Persistent absence from lectures or classes
  • Missing deadlines
  • Dramatic drops in coursework marks
  • Doing too little work, or too much, but ineffectively
  • Being tense, sad or miserable
  • Erratic, loud, agitated or aggressive behaviour
  • Being withdrawn or very quiet
  • Unkempt appearance, poor personal hygiene, weight loss or gain

What you should do

Talk to the student to find out more. You may find they are already seeking personal support such as counselling, or medical help. Showing your concern may reassure them and allay your own worries. Beyond this, if necessary, you either offer support yourself, or refer the student to another source of help.

Offering support

You may be able to offer help that goes a long way to solve the problem. Listening and offering reassurance may be enough. If it's about academic matters (study skills or time management for example), then helping may be well within your skills and knowledge. But don't get out of your depth by providing emotional support that goes beyond the boundaries of your role; it is time consuming and demanding, and there are specialists (including GPs) whose job it is. Be clear with the student what you can and cannot do. Making the right referral may be the correct step.

It may be that a student has sought advice from counsellor, nurse or doctor who then contacts you (with the student's permission) to discuss ways of helping her/him manage their work when experiencing personal difficulty.

Dealing with emergencies

Is the situation urgent? Is there a risk of suicide, self-harm or harm to others? Has he/she stopped functioning academically or socially, e.g. not getting out of bed in the morning? If so, call the college nurse, the student's GP or the University Counselling Service (but see above). In exceptional circumstances a GP can visit without the student's permission. You may need to accompany the student to the nurse or doctor, or help by allowing them to phone from your room. If there's imminent danger of harm, call an ambulance or the police.


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Making referrals

These are some of the services where you might refer your students:

  • The student's college tutor
  • The University Counselling Service (see below)
  • The college nurse
  • The student's general practitioner
  • The Disability Resource Centre
  • CUSU & GU
  • A college Chaplain or other faith leader
  • Cambridge University Students Union welfare services
  • Beeline: information and support on pregnancy, sexual health, being a student parent, childcare, abortion, contraception and emergency contraception (tel. 01223 (3)33179)
  • LesBiGay Phoneline - 01223 740777
  • Eating Disorders Support Email - eds@cusu.cam.ac.uk
  • Welfare Phoneline - 01223 (3)33313
  • Linkline: confidential, anonymous, non-directive and non-judgemental
  • support by students for students - 01223 36757

Information from the University's web pages

The page http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/committee/seniortutors has links to brief guidelines for supervisors, on dealing with students' problems, and for tutors, on their pastoral care duties.

The University Counselling Service

The Counselling Service helps people solve their personal problems away from their college or faculty environment. They publish two leaflets aimed at tutors: The Counselling Service: General Information for Tutors, and Responding to the Risk of Suicide. Copies of both have been distributed to colleges and are available on request from the University Counselling Service.

The Counselling Service has a policy of strict confidentiality, which is maintained in the procedures through which colleges fund longterm counselling (more than 16 sessions) for individuals. The policy does not necessarily preclude contact between tutor and counsellor, but this is made only with the student's consent. The General Information for Tutors leaflet deals with this at greater length.

Emergencies may need to be dealt with as described above, but the Service will do its best to offer same-day appointments for urgent cases. Subject to the need for confidentiality, you can let the Counselling Service know if you think a student needs a quick response.

Address
University Counselling Service
13/14 Trumpington Street
Cambridge CB2 1QA
Tel.
01223 332865
Email
reception@counselling.cam.ac.uk
Website
www.counselling.cam.ac.uk

This section has drawn from Helping Students in Difficulty; a guide for personal tutors and other staff, written by Annie Grant, Director of the Educational Development and Support Centre at the University of Leicester, and from Identifying and Responding to Students in Difficulty, written by Myra Woolfson, University of Nottingham Counselling Service.

We are also grateful to Mark Phippen of the University of Cambridge Counselling Service who commented on and contributed to this section.

The Equality Act (2010)

The Equality Act protects people with mental health problems when their impairment is substantial and long-term. In such cases there will be a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments and not to treat less favourably. Experiencing short term personal and emotional problems does not bring protection under the Act.


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