Reports for Students with Mental Health Difficulties

People can suffer from mental health difficulties at any stage of life, and the university years are no exception. Problems including depression, anxiety, and trauma, as well as other conditions, can all have a negative experience on students’ experience of further education—and on their exam results. Moving away from home for the first time, and the academic rigours of student life, can be triggers for problems with mental health and well-being.

Thankfully, awareness of the risks posed by mental health problems is much better than before, and in general schools and universities are extremely supportive of students with problems in this area, and willing to make whatever accommodations are deemed necessary for them to continue with their studies.

However, in order for students experiencing mental health difficulties to get the support they need, there needs to be a clear understanding of what is going on with them, and that starts with a diagnosis provided by a suitably qualified professional.

If you are a student who has experienced mental health difficulties which have affected your studies and need help to communicate your situation to your university or college, we can offer you an assessment and provide you with a report that outlines your difficulties and the impact these have had on your studies. With this information, you can approach the relevant college authorities for the help you need.

To make it easier for their mental health care provider to diagnose them accurately and devise a treatment plan, students should carefully document any episode of mental ill health (for example, a panic attack, a period of depression unrelated to an obvious external cause, incidents of obsessive compulsive behaviour, and so on), as well as keeping a record of any medication that they have been prescribed by their GP or other healthcare providers. If they have had treatment for a mental health issue in the past, it would be useful to have the contact details of previous healthcare providers.

Please send us any documentation you have to support your case before your appointment with us. If you do not have any documentary evidence, we can still provide you with a retrospective assessment to investigate your testimony, and provide you with an expert diagnosis, as well as offering recommendations to the university in terms of how you would be best supported by them. We will present your case in a short report outlining all of your mental health issues and how these issues have had a negative impact on your studies, together with treatment recommendations.

Depending on your situation and your needs, you could be eligible for extra time in exams, emotional support (i.e. the presence of a comfort animal), and other additional provisions. In other cases, students may be allowed to sit exams again with a special exemption because of the impact that their mental health issues have had on their studies, or they may qualify for extensions on assignment deadlines. We also provide full assessments for students who suspect that they may have a difficulty such as dyslexia.

University can be one of the most exciting times in our lives—but it can be stressful, too, particularly for students with an underlying mental health issue.

The good news is that help is available for students who need a little extra support.