This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from 15 to 21 May and will be focusing on the theme of anxiety.
Anxiety is a normal emotion in us all, but sometimes it can get out of control and become a mental health problem. Lots of things can lead to anxiety, including study and work pressures, relationships, or other big life events. Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems we can face, and a recent mental health survey carried out by the Mental Health Foundation found that a quarter of adults felt so anxious that it stopped them from doing the things they want to do some or all of the time.
Our Advice and Counselling team explore the experience of anxiety for individuals, thinking about strategies different people find useful. Find out more on their Your Mind Matters blog
The Mental Health Foundation also have a helpful guide on how to cope with feelings of anxiety.
Anxiety UK offer an extensive range of resources designed to help control anxiety.
Our Queen Mary Advice and Counselling Service provides support in a range of areas, including wellbeing and mental health.
Togetherall which is a free online service available to all our students 24 hours per day for 365 days of the year. Togetherall can help you get support, take control and feel better whether you’re struggling to sleep, feeling low, feeling stressed or unable to cope with student life. To join Togetherall, sign up using your Queen email address.
Our Chaplain Ella Sharples is also available to talk, provide help and advice.
For help with depression or anxiety, you can refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies.
Tower Hamlets 24 Hour Mental Health Crisis Helpline offers support and advice from mental health professionals for all that live, work and study in the borough. You can call them on 0800 073 0003.
MIND supports everyone who has a mental health condition and provide general wellbeing advice.
We know that exams can be a stressful time, so we want to support you to succeed.
Eat Well, Study Well: Thursday 18 May, 5pm
Take a break from revision and come get some delicious free hot food in Library Square, Mile End to help fuel your revision sessions. Find out more on Student Life’s post.
Revision stall in Mile End Library
Visit our stand in the Mile End Library foyer throughout the exam period for free exam planners and revision break activities including mindfulness colouring sheets and the wellness trail guide.
Study Well
The Queen Mary Students’ Union will be running a variety of wellbeing events aimed at students as part of their Study Well campaign. Events will be added to the Students' Union’s events listings throughout the week, so keep checking back for new ways to get involved.
Also check out their Study Well webpages for additional advice, support and ideas to help you avoid exam burnout.
Mental Health Economics
Join the School of Economics and Finance from 12.30-1.30pm on Monday 25 May for the latest in their series focusing on mental health economics. Professor Harieh Al-Janabi (University of Birmingham) will share his insights on Producing evidence to support mental health investment. Professor Al-Janabi holds a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award (2020/24) to research investments in mental health promotion in schools and workplaces.
These events feature leading academics and policy experts presenting on topics related to the field and are designed to bring together people from various backgrounds who share an interest in Mental Health Economics. Complete the form to register your interest.
If you have ever wondered what Mental Health Economics is and why its study is so critical, we have podcast episodes covering this and more!
Watch MSc Mental Health Economics Student, Sriharsha gives us his account of why he chose to study the programme and his career aspirations.
There is still time to apply for the MSc Mental Health Economics programme. A 10 per cent discount for students will be available to Queen Mary graduates studying a postgraduate degree. Or you can apply for the full scholarship through the scholarship competition.
If you have questions about our series of events on Mental Health Economics or studying with the School of Economics and Finance, please get in touch.
Mad Hearts: The Arts and Mental Health
Highlights of this two-day event taking place on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 June include a keynote speech by artist Rachel Mars, a workshop by award-winning playwright Mojisola Adebayo, talks with Drag Syndrome’s Nikita Gold and Daniel Vais and performances from our MSc Creative Arts and Mental Health students.
Mad Hearts is run by the School of English and Drama and explores productive, radical, contemporary encounters between the arts and mental health, bringing together clinical, artistic and research perspectives that offer a re-interpretation of contemporary mental health science and practice, with a view of imagining a different future.
This year's theme, Queering Boundaries, is a prompt to reflect on how boundaries define identities and fields of enquiry within mental health. Boundaries as lines of division can inhibit creative re-imagining of identities and new horizons for knowledge and practice. Arts practices are often messy ground where boundaries become fuzzy and new meanings and possibilities are given space to emerge. Register on Eventbrite.
There’s still time to apply for the MSc Creative Arts and Mental Health. A 10 per cent discount for students will be available to Queen Mary graduates studying a postgraduate degree.