Loneliness of students locked down in halls compounding mental health crisis, warns London GP

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Students at Manchester Metropolitan University pleaded for help during a temporary lockdown in September
AFP via Getty Images
Anna Davis @_annadavis19 November 2020

The  loneliness experienced by university students locked down in halls of residence is damaging their mental health, a London GP warned today.

Dr Zain Sikafi, a doctor from Harrow and Brent, said loneliness among university students is compounding the mental health problems they are facing during the pandemic.

His comments come after the highest levels of loneliness since the pandemic began were recorded in the week after the clocks went back.

According to Office for National Statistics figures, 4.2million adults were “always or often” lonely at the start of November, compared with 2.6 million before the pandemic.

The research also found that young people aged 16 to 29 were twice as likely as the over-70s to be experiencing loneliness in the pandemic.

Dr Sikafi, who runs own video conferencing counselling service, said he was not surprised by the figures.

He added: “The ONS figures support what we have been experiencing in terms of calls to our service, and our own research. Sadly, we were expecting them to reflect this picture.”  

Dr Sikafi called for more mental health support for university students battling anxiety during the pandemic, saying the government’s response is “inadequate” and “irresponsible.”

He said the government is relying too much on charities to help the rising number of university students who experience mental health problems.

Dr Sikafi warned the rise in students suffering mental health problems is too serious to be the “sole burden” of charities, adding that support needs to be professional, systematic, accessible from anywhere and immediate. 

It comes after the government announced in its plans to allow students to travel home for Christmas that it has provided over £9million to leading mental health charities to help them expand and reach those most in need. It has also helped fund a mental health support platform called Student Space.

Dr Sikafi said: “It’s irresponsible for the government to suggest that mental health is a matter for charity. We need reliable nation-wide provision to support young people in developing resilience urgently, and as they face the uncertainties of the future.  

“A professional course of treatment will run for at least six sessions, and patients may need ongoing support. Charities are simply unable to provide this – it’s not what they are designed to do.”

He warned that anxiety among young people “is soaring”, with his counselling service seeing a 20-fold jump in calls in the past three months.

Meanwhile a clinical psychologist working in Fulham called for an urgent spending review into young people’s mental health.

Dr Nihara Krause, who founded a teenage mental health charity, said: “With the additional stressful experiences young adults have experienced through disrupted schooling, cancelled exams, inaccurately predicted exam results, university lockdowns and now lockdown 2, urgent focus is needed on preventing these circumstances leading to long term damage.”

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: “Protecting students’ mental health continues to be a top priority, which is why the Universities Minister chairs a sector taskforce on the issue, and has urged vice-chancellors to provide adequate, accessible mental health support at this time.

“Students struggling with their mental health can find support from Public Health England’s Every Mind Matters campaign, and their local NHS trust, which now provide dedicated, 24 hour support lines.

“Universities can also access up to £256 million funding to use towards mental health support in 2020/21. We have also worked closely with the Office for Students, providing up to £3 million to fund the mental health platform, Student Space, which aims to provide additional support outside of university and NHS services.”

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