The number of university workers accessing counselling and occupational health services has shot up, according to research which describes “an epidemic” of poor mental health among higher education staff. Freedom of information requests revealed that at one university, staff referrals to counselling services went up more than 300% over a six-year period up to 2015 while, at another, referrals to occupational health soared by more than 400%. There has been growing awareness of the crisis in student mental health in recent years, but attention is increasingly turning to staff in universities, many of whom are said to be “at breaking point”. “Across the sector, there are many practical initiatives to support staff in mental health difficulties, to improve career paths and workplace cultures. “Just last month we added an additional wellbeing service for Warwick staff partnering with independent organisation Health Assured to provide all Warwick salaried employees with free access to additional wellbeing support.”

Source: The Guardian May 22, 2019 23:01 UTC