Mental health support

Many of us experience a mental health difficulty at some point in our lives. That's why it's important for you to know we're here to listen to any concerns you may have about your study, and we'll help and support you in the best way we can.

What we can do to help

It's common for students to experience difficulties during their study journey but for some, studying can increase vulnerability to unhealthy levels of stress, anxiety and other mental health difficulties.

Whether you have a diagnosed mental health difficulty or not, taking care of your mental health is important to help you study effectively. The Open University (OU) is committed to supporting you to achieve this.

If you feel as though you're struggling to cope with your studies, do talk to us, we’re here to help. Either contact your Student Support Team (SST) or tutor as they'll be able to offer alternative options and solutions for any study-related issues you may be having.

This could include:

• discussing areas of focus with your tutor
• extra time to complete assessed work
• creating a more manageable study timetable with your tutor
• individual academic support with your tutor/supervisor, or pastoral support with your student support team
• additional support in tutorials, day school or residential school
• revision support
• taking rest breaks during exams
• possible provision of alternative exam arrangements
• taking a break from study
• applying for a Disabled Students' Allowance if you're in the UK.

Open SU

The OU students' association, Open SU, provides several services to make sure you get the help you need. You'll find lots of advice and links to peer groups at Open SU help and support.

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Telling us about your mental health difficulty

We support over 10,000 students that have told us they have a mental health difficulty. You can tell us at any stage in your studies, but we recommend you do so as early as possible so we can make reasonable adjustments and support you to reach your full potential.

You may not consider mental health to be a disability, however, mental health issues are covered under the Equality Act 2010. You could be eligible for Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA), which can finance mental health mentoring support during your studies.

If you're dealing with short-term or ongoing mental health challenges, you can confidently share information with your student support team so we can support you in the best way possible.

If appropriate you can work with the Disability Support Team or your OU Mental Health Caseworker to share this information.

We can create an action plan together for what you'd like us to do if you become unwell. This could be a plan you've already made with your family or care team, or one we create with you that focuses on your studies. We'll make sure the right staff can access it, based on your wishes. You're in control and can update or remove the plan anytime by speaking to your caseworker or student support team.

For more information on the support we can offer and how to tell us about your difficulties see How to get disability support and funding or contact the Disability Support Team.

The Mental Health Casework and Advice Team (MHCAT)

MHCAT forms part of Student Support. The team provides a specialist, one-to-one support service for students needing guidance on managing complex mental health difficulties or severe emotional distress alongside their studies. The service is available to all registered students on a referral basis and subject to eligibility criteria.

You don't need to have a mental health diagnosis or to identify as having a mental health condition to receive support from a member of MHCAT.

How it works

If, having explored all other avenues of support, one of our trained advisers in your student support team thinks you would benefit, they'll refer you to MHCAT. This will be discussed with you, and you'll not be referred without your consent.

You'll be assigned an adviser from the MHCAT team who'll be your named contact. You'll have regular appointments with your named adviser who’ll support you on a one-to-one basis to help you move forward with your studies.

What happens if your referral is not accepted

We'll explain to you why you were not referred to the service at this time and signpost you to other services, within or outside the OU, that may be of further help to you. We've compiled a list of external mental health resources that you might find useful.

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If you experience a mental health emergency

We know that sometimes your mental health may reach a crisis point and you might need more support than the University can provide.

We see a mental health emergency as a situation where someone needs urgent help to stay safe or well, such as:

• They seem to be in a state of extreme distress.
• They seem to be experiencing intense mental health symptoms that are causing serious distress or making it hard for them to cope with daily life.
• They or others believe urgent action is needed to keep them or others safe and well.
• There's reason to believe they might seriously harm themselves or someone else.
• They don't realise they're seriously unwell or at risk and can't take steps to care for themselves.

What action might we take in an emergency?

If University staff who are properly trained and qualified believe urgent action is needed to protect your wellbeing, and this means sharing your personal information with outside organisations, they'll try their best to talk with you first and make sure you're involved in decisions about your care.

We believe that being actively involved in your own care is key to recovering your mental health.

If you're having a mental health emergency, we'll take steps to support you. This could include things like:

• With your permission, we may contact someone outside the University who you trust and who can support you, like your GP, care coordinator, partner, close friend, or family member. We'll talk with you about who you'd like us to reach out to and how they can help.
• If it's appropriate we may contact a local crisis service for you, like an NHS mental health team, and ask them to get in touch.
• We may use our Fitness to Study policy to find the best way to support your mental health, wellbeing and studies. We'll do this if it seems that continuing to study right now might not be in your best interest, for example you're in hospital, very unwell, or if studying is making your mental health worse.
• If we believe you or some else is in immediate danger, we may call emergency services to help you keep safe.

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Do you need urgent help?

If you need more immediate help, you can contact:

• Samaritans - Tel: 116 123 who are available any time and any day
• Mind - Tel: 0300 123 3393
• SANEline - Tel: 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm-10.30pm)
• your local GP for medical advice by making an emergency appointment
• NHS (England & Wales) Tel: 111, NHS 24 (Scotland) Tel: 08454 242424, NI Direct (Northern Ireland) Tel: 0808 808 8000
• 999, or your country's emergency services, or go to Accident and Emergency (A&E) for immediate help.

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Report and Support online tool

If your mental health has been impacted by an incident that has happened to you or someone else at the OU, you're encouraged to report it using our safe space reporting tool, Report and Support. This online tool allows you to report incidents and behaviours relating to the nine protected characteristics (and/or the extended characteristics set out in the Open University Anti-Discrimination Statement). You can choose to do this anonymously or provide your name. If you do give your name, the incident will be investigated, and you'll be signposted to additional support

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Mental health resources

We've compiled a list of external mental health resources which we hope are useful. There's also a Race and Ethnicity Hub on OpenLearn that provides mental wellbeing and study support for Black and Minority Ethnic students.

OU Wellbeing app

The OU Wellbeing app provides a fun and interactive way to create positive habits to help maintain good wellbeing. The app offers many features including weekly posts providing advice and support and a library of self-help tools and podcasts to help you improve your wellbeing as well as your study skills. For more information and how to download the app see our OU Wellbeing app article.

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