Helping Students Thrive: NUS Scotland’s Think Positive project launches campaign coproduced with students to tackle mental health stigma in colleges and universities.

The #HelpingStudentsThrive campaign aims to raise awareness of the challenges students face due to managing mental ill health whilst studying, as well as how institutions can better support them.

On Monday 17th April, Think Positive launched their #HelpingStudentsThrive Campaign, which was coproduced alongside students with lived experience of mental ill health.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the challenges students face due to managing mental ill health whilst studying, as well as how we can better support them by amplifying students’ voices.

The campaign is a response to Scottish Government-funded research that recommended that “NUS Scotland could work with the Scottish Government to lead a national awareness-building campaign to reduce stigma relating to student mental health and to challenge preconceived ideas about who support is for/not for.”

Students told Think Positive how they and their peers are still experiencing mental health stigma at college and university, particularly due to a lack of understanding about what mental health is by both staff and fellow students.

You can find more information about the #HelpingStudentsThrive campaign on the Think Positive Hub.

Commenting, NUS Scotland President, Ellie Gomersall, said:

“This campaign is so important because it was co-created alongside students who have lived experience of mental ill-health.

“These students were able to tell us exactly where the stigma about mental ill-health was coming from, which means that our #HelpingStudentsThrive campaign can be targeted to exactly where it needs to be.

“When speaking to students, they overwhelming told us that they face the most stigma due to staff and students not understanding mental health, so this campaign has been created in response to this.

“I want to encourage organisations, colleges, universities and students' associations to join us in #HelpingStudentsThrive by sharing the message throughout their networks and especially to students and those who work with and support them.”