PR JECT

WELLNESS
The Wellness Guide

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The Project Wellness Guide to

University
Taking care of your health and wellbeing is very important, but this isnt
always easy whilst away at university. Project Wellness is here to offer
someone to talk to about any problems or stresses, no matter how small, as
we are students who have been in similar positions ourselves. We are here to
support you and help you access any other support you might need during
your time at UCL.

It is so important to remember that your studies and grades do not define

your self-worth! They are one aspect of your life and do not reflect your
other talents or your personality.

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Contents

Topic

Page

Stress

GP Registration

Mental Health & University

Project Wellness
Drop-in

UCL Psychological
Services

Personal Tutor

Seeing a GP

10

Student Disability
Services

11

Disabled Students
Allowance

12

Adapting Your Studies

to Suit Your Needs

13

Talking to Academic
Staff about Wellbeing
Issues

15

When Stress becomes a

Problem
Anxiety

16

Warnings Signs in
Yourself

16

Panic

17

Depression

19

Warnings Signs in
Yourself

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Contents

Topic

Page

If Youre Worried About

Someone

22

Suicidal Thoughts

24

If Someone You Know

is Suicidal

25

And Finally...

26

Useful Contact Details

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Stress
Everyone feels stressed at some point. Everyone.
Whether it be a stranger in the street, a friend, family
member, colleague or someone senior to you, everybody,
at some point, feels stressed. Its normal.
What isnt normal is to feel persistently stressed for a long
time and for it to have a negative impact on your daily life.
If the stress you are feeling is having a significant,
negative impact on your daily life or wellbeing you dont
have to suffer in silence and we strongly advise that you
dont!
There are a lot of support services available to students
struggling with wellbeing issues and we hope that this
guide will encourage you to explore the services available
to you.

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GP Registration
Registering with a GP will speed up the process of getting medical help. For
most students studying at UCL, this would be the Ridgmount Practice, but
if you dont live in the required area you may have to find another GP close
to where you live.
Not all local GP surgeries will be open for accepting new patients but
you can use the NHS Find a GP Service search tool (hp://
www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/GP/LocaonSearch/4) to doublecheck local surgeries prior to your enquiries.
As GP surgeries in more residential areas tend to be busier, please also be
aware that appointments may be scarce.

To access the Ridgmount Practice services

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To register with Ridgmount Practice you can go directly to the surgery

on the First Floor of 8 Ridgmount Street (between the Senate House
and Goodge Street Staon, just off Store Street).

Ask at Reception for the registration form. This form will ask you things
like your height, weight, address, alcohol consumption, pre-existing
conditions, etc. Following registration, you will then be able to make
appointments at the surgery over the phone or in-person. However, you
can expect to have to make these around 3 weeks in advance.

Alternatively you can attend the walk-in from 9:30-10:30 and 14:30-15:30,
Monday to Friday. To attend the walk-in its best to turn up at reception
half an hour early. You can then ask to see a specific doctor or nurse, but
you will probably be seen sooner if you ask to see a nurse.

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Mental Health & University

help!
If you have a problem that you dont want to
discuss with a friend or member of staff at UCL, then please feel
free to contact Project Wellness. This service is student-run and
completely condenal except in exceponal circumstances.

UCLProjectWellness
UCLProjWellness

Listening to you talk about your problems.

Talking to you about what support services are available to you.

Sharing our experiences of dealing with mental health problems while at university.

Providing moral support.

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UCL Student Psychological

Services

If you want to or feel the need to discuss the problems

you are facing in detail with a trained professional
then you may want to register with the UCL
Psychological Services.

To register...
Accessible via:
www.ucl.ac.uk/studentpsychological-services/
register

To register, you have to fill-in an online form that asks questions such as
the nature of your problems, how long they have affected you and whether
you have sought help for them before.
After this you can expect to wait a few weeks before
being offered an inial consultaon with a member of
the UCL Psychological Services staff.
During the initial consultation you will be asked to
elaborate on your problems and asked about how you
hope to benefit from psychological/emoonal help.
After this you may be offered short-term counselling, a place in a personal
development workshop, an appointment with a psychiatrist or be referred to
an external service.

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Personal Tutor
You may want to consider talking to your personal tutor
about the difficulties you are facing as they may be able to
advise you about or help you access support services.
You can tell them as much or as little as you feel
comfortable with. But the more they know, the more
appropriate the help that they can give you will be.
Your personal tutor should be able to help you with things
such as re-negoang deadlines, applying for extenuang
circumstances and directing you to appropriate support
services. If you are struggling to receive help from your
personal tutor, dont forget that you can always talk to your
Head of Teaching, also known as your Departmental Tutor.

You need to be proactive

in accessing support.
Your personal tutor wont
know youre experiencing
difficulties unless you tell
them!

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Seeing a GP
If you feel that your wellbeing is suffering or
declining you may want to talk to a doctor about
it. If your problems are non-urgent then you may
want to make an appointment with Ridgemount
Pracce or attend their walk-in service. A doctor
may be able to:
1. Assess you for depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions
2. Prescribe you medication, if necessary and if you feel this would be
necessary
3. Refer you to the UCL Psychological Services
4. Refer you to NHS Mental Health Services
5. Discuss other options for treatment/support with you

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Student Disability Services

If you have been diagnosed with a mental health condition by a doctor then
you may want to register with the student disability services at UCL. To do
this you can make an appointment or attend their dropdrop-in from 2-4pm on
Mondays and Wednesdays in the Student Support Centre.
Centre

To register with the service you need to bring recent medical evidence,
evidence such as a
doctors letter detailing your difficulty or condition, after which you will be given a
simple form to fill in. You may then be invited to attend an appointment with a
member of staff to discuss the support available to you and which (if any) of these
you would like to pursue. You dont need to bring anything to the dropdrop-in though!

Examples of support available are:

Help applying for special exam arrangements

Help applying for a summary of reasonable adjustments to your studies (like an
automatic extension on all coursework or ensuring you always sit near a door)
Advice on accessing local psychiatric and psychological services
Liaising with Student Accommodation about requirements relating to your
condition
Academic mental health mentors
Access to the SEnIT Suite (IT workroom for students with disabilities and longterm health conditions)

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If you qualify for finance from Student Finance England and
live with a mental health condition you may be eligible for
the Disabled S tudents Allowance. This is a grant from the
government, that you don t have to repay, to fund extra
costs incurred as a result of a long-term health term condition.
If you qualify for DSA once, you dont need to reapply.

Specialist equipment e.g. computers or

software to assist your learning
Non-medical helpers
Travel costs relating to your disability
Other disability-related costs

www.gov.uk/disabledstudents-allowancesdsas/overview

To apply for the DSA you have to submit recent medical

evidence detailing your disability or health condition along with a
form found on the Disabled Students Allowance section on the gov.uk
website. After this, if found eligible for DSA, you will have to attend a Study
Needs Assessment, where you will discuss the difficulties you face as a result
of your condition or disability and the support available to you
that you would like to receive.

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Adapting Your Studies To

Suit Your Needs

If you suffer from an acute episode of physical/mental ill health or serious

personal problems it may be possible to apply for extenuang circumstances
if you are able to provide evidence, e.g. a doctors note.
To do this, you should submit an extenuang circumstances form which can
be found on the Student Well-being and Extenuang Circumstances Moodle
page under useful documents and forms. The completed form should be
submitted to the Faculty Office (FLS.extenuating.circumstances@ucl.ac.uk) along
with the relevant evidence/documentation.
You should do this as soon as you are able to
- ideally this should be a week before the
assessment, deadline or exam occurring, but
the form can be submitted up to one week
afterwards.

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Dont worry if you find the

process confusing, there is
lots of help available to you.

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In some circumstances it may be in your best interests to

withdraw from some/all of your exams or interrupt your
studies (withdraw from all university assessment before resuming/repeating your studies
next year).
These options would need to be considered by the Head of Teaching, and you may
have to attend a meeting with them and your Faculty Tutor in order to discuss your
reasons for withdrawing. Your personal tutor and the Teaching Office will be able to
liaise with the Head of Teaching.

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Talking to Academic Staff

about Wellbeing Issues
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It can be very intimidating to consider talking to a member of
staff about wellbeing issues, but it is sometimes necessary.
For example, if you need help filling in an extenuating
circumstances form.

You are in control of how much informaon you disclose, but

staff may be more understanding if you describe the nature
and severity of the problems you are facing.

If you are unhappy with the way a member of

staff responds to you, then you may want to
consider talking to your personal tutor or the
Head of Teaching.

If you would like to be accompanied to a meeting with

academic staff, you are perfectly welcome to ask
someone from Project Wellness. Although we will not
speak for you, we would be happy to provide moral
support.

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When Stress Becomes a Problem

If you believe you are suffering from an

anxiety disorder then you may want to talk to
a doctor about it in order to receive
treatment or access to psychological
therapies.

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www.mind.org.uk

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www.mind.org.uk

A panic attack is when you suddenly feel overwhelmed by

physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety that
usually last between 5-20 minutes. They can be scary, overwhelming and all
consuming. Below is a list of symptoms to help you identify if you, or someone
you know, is having a panic attack.

Pounding heartbeat
Feeling faint
Sweating or hot flushes
Nausea (feeling sick) and/or vomiting
Chest pains
Feeling unable to breathe
Shaky limbs, or feeling like your legs are turning to
jelly
Feeling like youre not connected to your body

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During a Panic Attack

you may feel like you are:

Losing control
Going to faint
Having a heart attack
Going to die

For information on self-care during a panic

a ack or when you feel anxious we
recommend the Mind webpage on anxiety

What is essential though is to not

punish yourself for feeling anxious.
Nobody chooses to feel bad so
you need to be kind to and care
for yourself.

www.mind.org.uk

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in yourself

Feeling

Low mood for much of the time, every day

Restless and agitated
Being easily tearful
Feeling numb, empty and full of despair
Feeling isolated and unable to relate to other people
Being unusually irritable or impatient
Finding little or no pleasure in life or things you usually enjoy
Feeling helpless
Losing interest in sex
Feeling like things are dreamlike or unreal

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Having difficulty sleeping

Sleeping much more than usual

Feeling persistently tired and having no energy

Loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss

Eating a lot more than usual and unintentionally putting on

weight

Having physical aches and pains with no obvious physical

cause

Moving very slowly

Using more tobacco, alcohol or other drugs than usual

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If Youre Worried about

Someone
You might notice the following symptoms of depression in
friends or housemates:

Withdrawal from social interaction

Avoiding contact with friends or family and becoming isolated
Loss of interest in activities they previously enjoyed
Changes in their sleeping patterns and lack of energy
Changes in their eating behaviour
Persistent low mood and/or irritability
Evidence of self-harm
Low confidence or self-esteem
Increased tobacco, alcohol or drug use

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Stay in contact by messaging, calling or vising them those with depression often find leaving the house difficult
which can contribute to their feelings of isolaon
Keep including them in social events, even if you expect
them to decline invitations
Reassure them that they cannot help being depressed
Encourage them to look after themselves by eang well,
exercising and trying to establish a sleep roune

Depression and anxiety can cause a person to feel like a

burden and increasingly isolated from those around them. You
dont need to do a lot to support someone living with either of
these conditions the most important things are to show
a person that you care and only make promises that you can
keep.
Just let them know that you are there if they need you and
that you care about them.

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Suicidal Thoughts
If you are thinking about killing yourself or actively planning a suicide attempt
then you are having suicidal thoughts. Even if you are not at immediate risk
of attempting suicide but are instead running through plans in your
head or picturing yourself attempting suicide you are still having suicidal
thoughts.

Suicidal thoughts are not healthy, they are

not normal and not everyone experiences
them. If you are having suicidal thoughts
then you should do at least one of the
following:

Tell someone you trust

Call the Samaritans on 116 123 any time of the day or night
Go to, or call (999), your nearest Accident and Emergency (A&E)
department and tell the staff how you are feeling
Call NHS 111 (non-emergency number)
See your GP as soon as possible

Suicidal thoughts can be complicated, confusing and scary. You may

not know why you feel suicidal or be completely sure that you do
want to die. We strongly recommend that you seek help if you are
having suicidal thoughts. You are important, you deserve
help and you deserve to live.

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And Finally...
University can be brilliant but also incredibly stressful. Its not
just about academic achievement but also taking your first
steps into the adult world, which we know is sometimes far
from easy. We hope that this guide gives you some
information about the help available to you to enable you to
thrive while at UCL. Above all, the most important thing to
remember is that you got to UCL as a result of YOUR
efforts because YOU ARE BRILLIANT!!
BRILLIANT You dont have to
accept feeling high levels of stress as inevitable because
there is help available.
We hope you never need any of the help described in this guide
but if you do, we hope you now know how to access it.
If you ever need any help, please dont hesitate to ask for it.it We
all want you to succeed and believe that you can.
Lots of love from the Project Wellness
Wellness Team!
Team
Deborah and Robyn

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Useful Contact
Details
Project Wellness
Email: uclprojectwellness@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/UCLProjectWellness

Twitter: www.twi er.com/UCLProjWellness

UCL Student Psychological Services

Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/student-psychological-services/index
home
Address: 3 Taviton St, London WC1H 0BT

Registration Form: www.ucl.ac.uk/sps/scsreg/register/

Enquiries: g.nandagopal@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: 020 7679 1487

Information for Staff Concerned about Students:

www.ucl.ac.uk/student-psychological-services/sta/#worry

UCL Student Disability Services

Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/disability
Drop-in: Mondays and Wednesdays 2pm-4pm held in
Student Support Centre at the Instute of Educaon,
Bedford Way (level 4, opposite the Core A li;s)
Address: Student Support Centre, Instute of Educaon, Bedford
Telephone: 020 7679 0100
Email: disability@ucl.ac.uk

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UCL Support Services Directory

Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/current-students/support

UCL Students for Students

Peer Support Group across all of UCL
Website (inc. list of meeting dates):
uclu.org/whats-on/meengs/students-for-students-peer-supportgroup-meeng
Facebook: www.facebook.com/UCLUMentalHealth
Meeting Location: Room 40, 425 Gordon Street (Fourth Floor)

UCL Student Minds

Support Group for students affected by Eating Disorders
Email: ucl@studentminds.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/studentmindsucl

Nightline
Listening and support service for London students, 6pm - 8am,
term-time only
Website: nightline.org.uk/
Telephone: 0207 631 0101

Email: listening@nightline.org.uk
Skype Phone: londonnightline
Skype Chat: chat.nightline

Text: 07717 989 900

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Ridgmount Practice Surgery

Website: www.gowerplacepracce.nhs.uk/
Registration Form: gowerplacepracce.nhs.uk/website/
F83043/les/Local%20Resident%
202015%20form14.7.2015.pdf
Address: 8 Ridgmount Street, London, WC1E 6BN
Opening Times: 9am-5:30pm, Monday-Friday

Walk-in Surgery Times: 9:30-10:30am, 2:30pm-3:30pm,

Monday-Friday
Email: gpp@nhs.net
Appointments: 020 7679 2543, 020 7387 6306

Beat
Information and support for those with Eating Disorders
Website: h p://www.b-eat.co.uk/
Helpline: 0345 634 1414

NHS
Non-Emergency Number: 111 (24 hours a day, 365 days a year)
Website: h p://www.nhs.uk/Pages/HomePage.aspx

Emergency Number: 999

Disabled Students Allowance

Website: www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas/
overview

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Samaritans
24-hour Listening Service
Phone: 116 123
Website: www.samaritans.org/

Email: jo@samaritans.org
Address (Central London Samaritans Branch):
46 Marshall Street, London, W1F 9BF

Branch Telephone: 020 7734 2800 (9am to 9pm, no

appointment necessary)

CALM
Helpline for Men at risk of Suicide, or wishing to talk to
someone (also available to anyone)
Phone: 0800 585 8585
Phone (London only): 0808 802 5858 (5pm-midnight,
everyday)
Website: thecalmzone.net/2011/12/calm-london/
Webchat Service: Available through CALM website (5pmmidnight, everyday)
London Text Service: 07537 404717 (start rst message with
CALM 1)

Mind
Information and support for those with Mental Health Issues
Website: www.mind.org.uk/
Legal advice email: legal@mind.org.uk
Email: jo@samaritans.org

Info Line (about Mental Health Problems & Help Available)

Number: 0300 123 3393 (9am - 6pm, Monday-Friday)
Email: info@mind.org.uk
Text: 86463

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Royal College of Psychiatrists

Information about Mental Health Problems and Support Available
Website: www.rcpsych.ac.uk/expertadvice.aspx

British Association for Counselling and

Psychotherapy
Searchable Directory of Private, BACP-accredited Therapists
Website: www.itsgoodtotalk.org.uk/therapists/

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