'Social media is causing a mental health crisis', says head of British university hit by seven student suicides
'Social media is causing a mental health crisis', says
head of British university hit by seven
student suicides
Pressure to appear perfect aided by social media, Bristol
vice chancellor says
Social media has become a 'burden' which forces students
to appear 'happy'
Seven students at Bristol University have killed
themselves in past 18 months
By Eleanor Harding for the Daily Mail
PUBLISHED: 18:40 EST, 22 February 2018 | UPDATED: 02:01
EST, 23 February 2018
Social media is causing a global mental health crisis
among young people, according to the chief of a university hit by suicides
among students.
Hugh Brady, vice-chancellor of Bristol, said the pressure
to appear ‘perfect’ all the time online was causing anxiety and depression.
He said social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram
have become a ‘burden’ for youngsters, who feel they have to pretend to be
‘happy’ all the time.
Seven students at Bristol have killed themselves in less
than 18 months – with three doing so within weeks of each other.
Speaking for the first time since the tragedies,
Professor Brady said they were symptomatic of a wider issue. He said many other
universities are also seeing a rise in those with mental illness, with record
referral rates to student counselling services.
‘Unfortunately this is a global issue,’ he said. ‘If you
look over the last five to eight years across the UK, but equally in Canada and
the US, the number of students seeking help for and declaring mental health
issues has almost tripled.’
Asked what is causing the younger generation more stress,
he said many felt the world was becoming more uncertain. He said youngsters
often worried about political turmoil, student debt and global warming.
‘But the burden of social media may well be the straw
that has broken the camel’s back and particularly this issue of what some
people refer to as perfectionism,’ he said.
Professor Brady, who has 22-year-old triplets who are
students, said he could see what his own children gained from social media, but
he also understood the pressures.
‘It’s not OK to have a bad day,’ he said. ‘In the world
of social media you have to look like you’re happy even when you are not.’
He said the university would be talking to the student
body about exploring the potential benefits of a ‘detox from social media, in
the way we’ve detoxed in the past from substances’.
Five students took their own lives in a single academic
year at Bristol, followed by a further two deaths the year after.
‘It’s always difficult,’ Professor Brady told the
Guardian, adding that there was further concern over attempted suicide rates
and a ‘huge’ increase in referrals to counselling services within universities.
‘That’s common to all universities, so something has changed,’ he said.
He was speaking ahead of the launch of a new model of
pastoral care at the university, which has been drawn up to address the growing
mental health needs of students. This will include spending an additional £1 million
annually on workers who can support students and spot early signs of distress.
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