Our mental health affects how we think and feel and how we cope with everyday life. Your University experience should be exciting and enjoyable but it's not unusual for students to encounter difficulties with their mental health and various forms of stress during their studies.
Stress can range from personal to educational, and there maybe times where students need a bit of extra support to help manage this.
Many of our students have diagnosed mental health conditions and are still able to study very successfully. Some students may require some additional support to help manage the impact of their condition and we have a specialist team available to help you, if you need it.
All Teesside University students have access to a range of resources to help support and maintain good mental health, whether you have a diagnosis or not. You can discuss the type of support you might benefit from with one of our specialist advisers. If you have a long-term mental health condition, this might include support from Disability Services in the form of an individual Student Support Plan which identifies reasonable adjustments to help support you in your studies.
We have a team of specialist advisers and practitioners dedicated to supporting students with autistic spectrum conditions and/or mental health conditions. You'll find the team in the Student Life building.
We can offer a confidential service which includes:
working with you to set up your personalised Student Support Plan if you require reasonable adjustments for your course (see Disability Services for more information)
providing advice and support to address any concerns you may have about your mental health during your time at university
supporting you to settle into the academic and social demands of University life
liaising closely with academic schools and staff regarding course related issues that may be having an impact on your wellbeing
exploring other services within the university that may enhance your experience of university life
make referrals and signpost to external support services as required, such as NHS services or other specialist services
Refer you to the Teesside University Counselling Service
A student support initial assessment is a 20 minute appointment with an adviser who specialises in mental health and autism. The appointment includes a holistic assessment of your needs to explore appropriate internal or external support. The appointment will include talking about any difficulties you are experiencing related to your mental health or personal circumstances where you feel you need some additional support. Possible outcomes of the assessment may be, for example:
Supporting you to connect with your GP
Referrals into NHS services
Referrals into specialist services e.g. domestic violence, sexual assault, bereavement
Referrals to counselling
Referrals to sleep and lifestyle clinics
Liaising with other internal departments such as your academic school, finance, international, accommodation
Referring to the Students' Union
Access to further appointments for developing strategies to manage anxiety and low mood
Self-help guidance
You can book a student support initial assessment by contacting the Student Life enquiry team by email: studentlife@tees.ac.uk
T: 01642 342277 In person: Student Life based in the Campus Heart
Student Life opening hours Monday - Friday: 8.00am - 6.00pm
Mental health appointment
After your student support initial assessment, you may be offered further appointments with a mental health adviser or mental health practitioner. A mental health appointment usually lasts up to one hour and can include working with you in areas of:
Development of strategies to manage your mental health eg mood and anxiety management, motivation, confidence etc
Development of strategies if your mental health is having an impact on a study activities such as presentations and group work
Supporting you through a referral process to specialist services
Supporting you to create a safety plan
Support with liaising with your GP or specialist to access appropriate support
These appointments are not bookable by students however if you feel you may benefit from this, please arrange to attend a student support initial assessment.
If during your time here at Teesside you feel that your mental health is having a significant impact on you, if you feel that you are in crisis, have self-harmed, or feel that you are unable to keep yourself safe, we are able to offer advice.
If you feel unable to keep yourself safe and are experiencing a mental health crisis such as feeling close to acting on suicidal thoughts, please contact emergency services (999) or the crisis team (0800 0516 171)
We can also offer support and advice during office hours - please contact the Student Life Enquiry Team on 01642 342277 or come to the Student Life building reception.
Coming to university is an exciting time however we understand that it can also come with some challenges. Please refer to our Transitioning into university life guide where you will find lots of hints and tips to help you get a head start.
If you have a mental health condition or autism spectrum condition and feel you may need some additional support with the transition into university life, we would recommend notifying us of a disability before starting your course to explore support and reasonable adjustments with an adviser. You can find more information about how to do this by visiting Disability Services
Our service is confidential which means that any information you provide us can only be seen by appropriate members of staff involved in helping you to access support.
We will treat all information you provide sensitively. We may need to share information about you with others, within the University and sometimes outside. We will only share information about you with your consent. But, there are some exceptions where we have a duty of care to share information without your consent:
If we are advised that we should share information by a medical professional;
If you are considered as being at risk of harm or a risk to others;
If there is a concern regarding safeguarding of children or vulnerable adults;
If there is a legal requirement, for example at a court hearing
Under the General Data Protection Regulations we are obliged to tell you how we collect and use your personal data. Please note that enquiries and appointments with our services are tracked electronically and the personal data of your enquiry is stored in protected files. We keep this data so that we can keep track of your enquiry and our response for future reference. This personal information will be retained for 7 years after which it will be destroyed securely.
For more information, please refer to the university's General Privacy Notice for students.
You can find some short videos below created by the North East and North Cumbria Suicide Prevention network which provide advice and guidance on how to look after yourself, others and getting help early.
As a University we are committed to supporting all our staff and students, including those who have a military background.
We have signed the armed forces covenant and are dedicated to provide fairness and support to the members of our University community who are veterans and ex-military.
Our Student Wellbeing and Welfare teams can provide counselling and mental health support in addition to welfare and finance advice.
We have links with Op Courage, the NHS mental health and wellbeing support for veterans and ex-military and we recommend the following online support organisations:
Combat stress is the UK's leading charity for veterans' mental health. They provide a range of mental health support services to veterans, including online self-help resources and a 24-hour Helpline (0800 138 1619) which is available to all veterans and their families for confidential mental health advice and support.
SSAFA are the longest running national tri-service military charity. They describe their mission as being "to relieve need, suffering and distress amongst the Armed Forces, veterans and their families in order to support their independence and dignity". They host a "live chat" service on their website and their usual reply time to this is within 5 minutes.
SSAFA also have a local Cleveland Branch that covers the Stockton, Redcar and Middlesbrough areas. They provide community-based peer support, disability support and mental wellbeing support for ex-military personnel. They are open Monday to Friday 10am - 12pm and can be contacted by telephoning 01642 217440 or emailing Cleveland.branch@ssafa.org.uk You can also connect with them and their local online community via Facebook
If you would like to provide any service feedback or make a complaint about the service you have received, in the first instance please contact studentlife@tees.ac.uk
If you would like to make a formal complaint, please refer to the information on our complaints page (OSCAR)
