Universities ‘mistake loneliness for depression’

UNIVERSITIES may be making the mental health crisis worse by mistaking loneliness for depression, the president of the Royal Society of Medicine has said.

Sir Simon Wessely, regius professor of psychiatry at King’s College London, warned that universities must not “over-medicalise” the normal emotions of young adults. He urged them to stop throwing money at mental health initiatives when “very few” had been tested and some may make things worse.

“There are things that aren’t disorders at all that students habitually get – exam stress, loneliness and so on – all of which can be problematic,” Prof Wessely said. “But we shouldn’t go around automatically saying, ‘Oh you have a psychiatric disorder, you need psychiatric or mental health or professional health’.”

He said there was an “overwhelming mountain of research” to show that the best way to protect against mental health problems was to draw on active social networks. Having friends who you can confide in is “probably better” for students than seeking professional help.

“Loneliness is a major problem for the student population,” Prof Wessely said. “There is quite a lot of evidence to say that the solution may not be to see a counsellor, but may be to join a choir.”

Prof Wessely said that rather than spending thousands of pounds on mental health projects and initiatives, universities should invest money in researching what is effective.

“My own university, King’s College London, has more than 70 different student well-being programmes. Not a single one has been evaluated. Some will be doing good, a lot of them will probably be doing nothing, and a few will be doing harm.”