Your mental health is as important as your physical health so it is important to make sure you take the time to look after it.
The University is encouraging all students to try out the NHS’s Five Steps to Mental Wellbeing. Keep an eye on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts as well as our Student News pages for ideas around how to get involved over the next few weeks and months.
How to get support if you need it
If at any time during your studies you feel you might benefit from some extra support, we are here to help.
We offer a Wellbeing Drop-in between 11am-3pm every weekday in the Alsop Building for practical and pastoral support in a confidential space. You don’t need to book – simply come along to the Student Welfare Advice and Guidance Information Point on the ground floor of the Alsop Building (on University Square).
Emergency support
If you or a friend is in danger, you will need to call the appropriate emergency service by calling 999.
For 24-hour help, please call The Samaritans who offer a 24-hour helpline (116 123). You can also find support via the Students Against Depression website. Liverpool Light is a mental health café that provides a welcoming and safe space for people experiencing mental health related crisis. The service is run by trained mental health support staff and operates from 6pm to 12pm, seven days a week, offering an alternative to the use of A&E for people at times of crisis or in need of targeted social support out of hours.
Non-emergency support
If you need non-academic, non-emergency support, our Student Services team offer a range of services. The wellbeing drop-in sessions outlined above are a good place to start but there are lots of services available which you may find useful.
- Big White Wall: Big White Wall is a 24/7 peer and professional support service designed to help people get support, take control and feel better. If you’re going through a tough time, we offer all our students free access to the online service. Whether you’re struggling to sleep, feeling low, stressed or not coping, Big White Wall can help you get support, take control and feel better. The service provides 24/7 online support. It is also totally anonymous, so no one will know you’ve chosen to use it unless you tell them.
- Student Welfare Advice and Guidance: Student Welfare Advice and Guidance is a confidential service to provide help and support to students. To help students feel safe and supported, when Campus Support are called to assist a student, they send a report to Student Welfare Advice and Guidance. A member of the Advice and Guidance team will then get in touch with you via your University email account about support, usually the next working day. You can follow the team on Twitter @livuniSWAG.
- Counselling Service: The Counselling Service is available to help you address personal or emotional problems that get in the way of realising your full academic and personal potential. It offers free and confidential advice to current students.
- Mental Health Advisory Service: If you feel concerned that you or a friend may have more complex mental health needs, contact our Mental Health Advisory Service via email at mhas@liverpool.ac.uk or by calling 0151 7942320 between 9am and 5pm Monday- Friday.
- SilverCloud free online self-help modules: Space from Stress, Anxiety, Depression and Space for Positive Body Image are online self-help modules that you can complete for free via SilverCloud. The programme – which is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – will provide you with tools and techniques to help you manage stress, anxiety and depression and bring balance into your life. You can complete the programme at your own pace and time, either at home or on campus. Please note that neither your response to, nor your progress within, any of the modules within this programme are monitored by the Counselling Service or the University.
- Bibliotherapy resources: There is strong evidence to suggest that books can be effective as a form of self-help and the Bibliotherapy collection has been chosen by both healthcare professionals and readers who have benefited from them. Emotional and academic difficulties can be a common part of university life and this collection aims to provide information and support for dealing with a wide range of issues such as depression, anxiety, panic, building self-confidence and assertiveness. You can access the bibliotherapy collection in the Grove Wing of the Sydney Jones Library. The titles are listed on the Counselling Service website or can be accessed through searching the main library catalogue using subject words such as ‘anxiety’. Borrowing is confidential and information about your use of these books will not be disclosed to any outside parties.
- Relaxation Programme: The Relaxation Programme is available to stream and download and is designed to be used with a self-assessment relaxation diary.
- Self Help Hub online: Access information about anxiety, depression, exam and academic worries, relationship problems, homesickness and bereavement via our Self Help Hub.
- Groups and workshops: The Counselling Service run regular groups and workshops.
- Additional support: A list of other support networks you can access can be found on our Counselling Service webpages here.