Half cases diagnosed after Covid-19 pandemic
A study coordinated by the University of Évora (UÉ) has concluded that almost 23% of students surveyed at six Portuguese universities were diagnosed with a mental illness, half of them after the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement sent to Lusa news agency today, UÉ suggested that the study, coordinated by professor Lara Guedes de Pinho, “revealed worrying data on the mental health of students in higher education”.
From UÉ’s Nursing Department and a researcher at the academy’s Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Lara Guedes de Pinho’s research involved data collection in 2022 and 2023, covering a total of 2,136 students.
“The results indicate a worrying prevalence of depressive and anxious symptoms, with almost 23% (specifically 22.9%) of students reporting being diagnosed with a mental illness,” said the university.
Of these students, “49.7% report having been diagnosed after the Covid-19 pandemic”, UÉ adds, releasing its results on World Mental Health Day.
As the research shows, anxiety leads the most mentioned mental health problems (19.4%), followed by depression (13.3%).
“The study also showed that 38.9% of students suffer from depressive symptoms that range from moderate to severe, with 7.2% experiencing severe symptoms,’ said the university.
“As an aggravating factor, 11.8% reported having thoughts that they would be better off dead or hurting themselves in some way”.
Compared to another study she carried out in 2022, Lara Guedes de Pinho said that the trend continues, “although with a slight increase in the severity of symptoms”.
Guedes de Pinho also recognised that “universities are already taking some measures, namely with activities to promote mental health and reinforcing psychological support for students, but reinforcement is needed from outside universities.
“Many of the problems arise before entering university”, the researcher warned: “so measures should also be taken in primary and secondary education, as well as a strategy to promote mental health from childhood, in primary health care and in schools”.
When asked about the impact of mental health problems on academic performance and personal life, “31.5% of studidents reported significant difficulties”.
The study also concluded that “females and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, especially those living away from home, are the most affected” by mental health problems.
Asked who they would turn to if they needed help, the majority said they would talk to friends (75.4%), followed by psychotherapy (40%). Only 26.4% of students would turn to psychological counselling offered by their universities.
For Lara Guedes de Pinho, given this data, it is “extremely important to train peers to provide first aid in mental health and to refer them to specialists if necessary”.
The University of Évora has its own mental health programme, called Vagar(Mente), which “aims to monitor the mental health of university students on an annual basis and develop programmes aimed at building this capacity in academia”.
Source: LUSA
