Open Your Mind

This project has developed from a growing awareness in Northern Ireland of a lack of consistent positive mental health services for those who need it most and in particular for the student population.

There has been some development in services for school-age children and young people, however the student population has largely been ignored and service provision has been left to the institutions themselves.

Open Your Mind aims to utilise the skills and expertise in NUS-USI and Rethink NI in order to develop a campaign that is run by students for students.

• Promote awareness of mental health issues amongst students aged 16-25 across Northern Ireland
  
• Reduce the risk factors related to mental illness through awareness raising
  
• Overcome the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.
  

Volunteers will be recruited from the student body on an annual basis. The volunteers will then be trained in a number of courses and will ultimately develop and lead the campaigns.

Students who have an interest in promoting positive mental health will benefit from the peer-led interventions and students will have the opportunity to be trained in programmes such as peer education, mental health awareness training and media skills training. 

This will not only give the students a better skill base, more recognised qualifications on their CV but will also give more added value to the campaign.

The project will also involve two large-scale pieces of research to gauge the needs and attitudes of the student body in relation to mental health and mental illness.

The first of these evaluations will take place in late 2007 and the second will take place in the fourth year of the project (2011).  Students here will have the opportunity to determine the structure of the campaign depending on their identified needs.

This project hopes to provide an inclusive, informative and exciting campaign for students with and without mental illness.

Research shows that incidents in mental ill health are quite high among the student population, and in the transition from school to Further or Higher Education can elicit a number of negative outcomes. Evidence suggests that 1 in 4 students will experience mental health problems whilst at college or university.

There are a number of problems identified with the transition between school and university

• Challenge of leaving home
• Separating from parents/family members 
• Finding identity as an adult and your place in the world
• Practising house-keeping, managing a budget and finding your way around a strange place
• It may take time to adjust to this new sense of who you are
• Dealing with practical issues such as accommodation, finance, food and travel
• Loneliness can make the challenges of your new life seem much worse
• Coping with academic work
• Thinking you may not be good enough
• Some students may use drugs and alcohol more regularly
• Some students radically alter their sleep pattern.