Stirling Uni should probably change up its attitude towards students struggling with mental health issues and recognise areas where it could better support them. Staff should absolutely have to go through some degree of MH training and perhaps avoid placing the blame //

of failure to complete studies on the already suffering student, especially when there is no attempt to contact said student besides the 'if you don't come to class you will be capped, you should maybe contact your PT if you're struggling'.

I raise the point of MH training so that staff can better understand a student's POV and better recognise the signs of a struggling student. I've personally dealt with some very cold members of staff that, despite knowing my personal circumstances, were entirely devoid of empathy

and actually thought it best to tell all the ways I should have handled my situation better and how they were not going to help me.

"You should go to the student hub." I'd like to make a point that for 8 months I was struggling with agoraphobia and walking into a building I was unfamiliar with was unfathomable to me so I emailed TWICE and I never once received a reply.

My point here, is that MH services on campus are not always accessible and don't take into consideration the multitude of barriers students struggling with MH issues might face at just seeking an appointment.

MH Services are really only on campus for those experiencing mild/moderate cases of anxiety and/or depression and don't have the skillset for those who are living with severe anxiety/depression and more complex disorders.

The other option is, you can go to the GP and get referred to necessary services but you'll have to wait 10 months and by that time you're back home again. It's setting vulnerable students up to fail.

The student population @ Stirling Uni is vastly working class with a fair number of mature students however I have had lecturers tell me that simply I should have taken a leave of absence without any consideration of what that might mean to my livelihood.

If my mental health is that bad, it's easy to assume I won't have a job and therefore SAAS is a necessity to live. I have a flat, I have bills, I need to eat. What happens if I were to officially leave? My income stops. I've been told that uni is obviously not a priority.

It is Very Common for mentally ill students to miss class, to need extensions or to entirely ignore deadlines until their 'episode' flattens out but will still carry the anxiety of missing things in the back of their head

To sit and list the several ways a student should have handled a situation when they are in the middle of crisis or an episode is messy. 1) It's telling a person that already KNOWS the many different ways they could have handled it and 2) shifts blame onto a person that was just

trying their best to survive. Stirling Uni needs to do a whole lot more to support struggling students starting with their own staff