Students suffer from mental illness to a much greater extent than professionals of the same age. According to the Swedish Public Health Agency, half of all students experience problems with anxiety, worry or distress and one in four experience reduced mental well-being. That is not acceptable.
We are now writing together with Saco Student Council in Sydsvenskan and Helsingborgs dagblad that the government needs to take responsibility in the matter and introduce special measures to reduce the mental illness of students. Read an excerpt below and the article in its entirety here
A series of actions must be put in place immediately to reduce the mental illness of students.
1. Improve the work environment. The majority of students consider according to CSN's report Student Health 2020 that their health problems are wholly or partly affected by the study situation. This can be, for example, high performance requirements, lack of support from teachers or discrimination and sexual harassment.
2. Increase students' financial security. According to CSN's report, every third student with mental illness states that their financial situation is wholly or partly the cause of their health problems. It can be about worrying about not being able to pay bills or stress over having to work extra and at the same time spend enough time on the studies to meet performance requirements and take up their education fully.
Read the full article in Sydsvenskan (published 22/5)
3. Give students the opportunity for security. As a student, you are not entitled to either study grants or unemployment insurance after your degree. If you become ill during your studies, you have 30 qualifying days before you can receive sickness compensation. It is also not possible to be on sick leave part-time. More stress in an already vulnerable situation increases the risk of feeling worse. If the government takes the initiative for strengthened security systems, unemployment insurance for students and the opportunity for sick leave, the country's students will be given the conditions for a healthier study situation.