“Speak about yourself” – campaign about students’ mental health
How do students from Wrocław and Opole cope with emotions, not necessarily the positive ones? This issue is being investigated by the students of Psychiatry Department from Wroclaw Medical University. As part of the “Speak about yourself” campaign, they prepared a questionnaire which results will help to create effective methods of supporting young people in solving their problems. In addition, they will encourage students to use professional help.
First, the coronavirus pandemics, and now the war on Ukraine, have brought a lot of insecurity and lack of stability. We have more and more duties and less satisfying social contacts, everyday is a race that takes away our strengths and good energy.
– Life brings changes and problems, which require from people adjusting to new conditions and expectations. Without a doubt, however, the number of young people who struggle with emotional diseases has been growing in the last few years and it seems that it was the pandemics that generated this worrying, increasing trend – says dr hab. Szewczuk-Bogusławska from the Psychiatry Department at Wroclaw Medical University.
More and more people make appointments with psychiatrists and psychologists. It is hard to pick one dominating group but the students are definitely among those who need help.
– While entering new phase of their life, young people face big changes and challenges. New environment, university where the mode of learning is different than in high school. Usually, it comes with moving to another city, which results in a whole range of emotions that not everyone is able to deal with. – explains prof. Błażej Misiak, the head of Psychiatry Department at the Wroclaw Medical University.
When everyday life is a struggle
When there is too much emotions, and they are not positive, people look for relief in alcohol, chemicals, random sexual contacts and self-injury. The researches from Wrocław are particularly interested in the last one and where it comes from as it was not investigated so far by Polish psychiatrists.
– We only know worldwide statistics, according to which in the age group between 18 and 35 years old, 20-25% of the people self-mutilated. With growing age this number decreases, which means that this trend dominates among adolescents and so-called young adults who are between 18-25 years old. – explains Błażej Misiak, the head of Psychiatry Department at the Wroclaw Medical University.
Self-harm, or self-mutilation, is one of the ways to deal with negative emotions. Dr hab. Monika Szewczuk-Bogusławska explains that people who commit acts of self-harm usually, in spite of appearances, do not intend to take their life away.
– They do not how to deal with their suffering, they do not know or do not use any other ways to deal with sadness, anger, bitterness and disappointment. They choose self-harm to reduce their disturbing emotions and improve their wellbeing. According to one of the theories, mood improvement after an incision, a burning, or scratching the skin happens only because after damaging the tissue, beta-endorphins are released (opioid neuropeptides which change emotional state and reduce negative emotions). Sometimes, self-harm might be a sign or a way for people who struggle with talking about their emotions to call attention and show that they have problems that they cannot handle.
Questionnaire that can help
A team of researchers from the Psychiatry Department from Wroclaw Medical University wants to investigate the scale of the phenomenon among the students from Wrocław and Opole through a questionnaire. They want to find out what influences their choice of dysfunctional ways to deal with bad mental health state.
– Our questionnaire is based on professional questionnaires and aims to answer the question of which are the mechanisms and conditions of self-harm. We ask, among others, about social contacts, their quality and quantity, overall wellbeing, view of the world, anxiety levels, self-evaluation, traumatic experiences, their ways of dealing with stress, and even the sleep quality – enumerates prof. Błażej Misiak and he adds that the results should answer some important questions: how to help young people, what to focus on during the treatment and, thanks to the planned academic publications, indicate how to effectively plan the emotional disorder therapy.
Additionally, as part of the “Speak about yourself” campaign, the experts will encourage students to not be ashamed of asking for help when they feel like life is too much for them. Wroclaw Medical University offers their students psychological support the whole year. Young people, if they feel the need, can make appointments with the specialists, and, as a part of the “UMW- we eliminate the barriers in minds, hearts and architecture”, the university invites students and doctoral students with disabilities for consultations.
– Similar forms of support are realized by other universities. The information about it is published on the websites and newsletters. We want to remind this to students and ask them not to give up on looking for solutions to their problems with the professional help. WE invite to our centre, which is led by our clinic. We are here to help – says prof. Błażej Misiak.
Kolegium Rektorów Uczelni Wrocławia i Opola (KRUWIO – Council of Rectors of Univeristies from Wrocław and Opole) and Wrocławskie Centrum Akademickie (WCA- Wrocław Academic Centre) took the patronage.
We encourage all students to participate and fill in the questionnaire which is available here.
For: Medical University of Piastów Śląskich in Wrocław
Translated by Martyna Błaszków (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
