Loneliness Can Lead To Students Dropping Out Of University, A Kent Counsellor Says

With student mental health issues on the rise, more students than ever before are dropping out of university due to not being able to cope. One of the main causes have been identified as isolation.

 

After last years figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency showed that 1,180 students left university due to mental health problems in 2014-2015, Kent University’s well being counsellor, Emily Cheney,  said: “It’s people that feel very isolated, people that aren’t necessarily able to access support that might be available to them”

46% of Uk students, which is almost half, admit to being lonely at university according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Due to university being such a large jump from sixth form and college, students feel as if they need to get the full experience – when they find it difficult to make friends and socialise straight away it can force students to feel lonely and isolated. This situation can be even worse if students move away.

A current university student said: “i wanted to make friends and build a social life but when it came down to it, i found it stressful being around so many people.

“I’m currently being kicked off my course as i haven’t been attending lectures.

“I’ve trued counselling through the uni which didn’t help, despite going multiple times”

 

 

Emily Cheney said: “the majority of people that i see are students, we never really tallied it up but I would say around the time that students get back from summer.

“students are probably around 80-85% of our case loads”