Website to Support Student Mental Health Launched

Posted on: 07 March 2011

A new online resource aimed at providing interactive, anonymous and confidential help and support for students experiencing mental health issues was recently launched by TCD Provost, Dr John Hegarty (Monday, March 7th 2011).  My Mind Matters (www.mymindmatters.ie) is a student website which provides information, help, support and advice to college students around a range of topics that can affect mental health and well-being, such as anxiety, depression, exam stress and coping with the transition to college life.

The My Mind Matters website is the result of a Mental Health Portal Project in which students were central to making decisions about the type of service they wanted and needed.  The new initiative, which is a collaborative partnership between TCD, NUI Galway, UCC and Dundalk IT, saw each of the four participating colleges hold focus groups where students could input on the design, images, interactive features, navigation and layout of the site.  An ongoing feedback facility within the site will ensure that it continually caters for the needs of students.

Trinity College students of the Mentoring Programme, Eibhin Coveney (left), Danny Greening and Emily McCormack, at the launch of My Mind Matters (www.mymindmatters.ie), the mental health portal for third level students.

In the development of the project and to source quality mental health information, the colleges also collaborated with ReachOut.com, an online service that inspires young people to help themselves through tough times.  It is hoped that the My Mind Matters web portal will become a national widely availed of service.

Speaking at the launch, Provost Dr John Hegarty said: “College should be an enjoyable time and one for personal growth and development, but when students fall on tough times and find themselves really struggling it is important there are ways for them to reach out for help so they don’t find themselves lost.  For some students it is not easy to pick up the phone and make an appointment, or walk through the door of a counselling service and speak to a professional.  This mental health portal will hopefully provide an alternative route to help for those students.”

Director of the Student Counselling Service at TCD, Deirdre Flynn also highlighted that it is important for student counselling services to deliver support services in ways that are easily accessible and student friendly.  Online communication and counselling is increasingly being used by more and more people.  Recent research indicates that as many as 81% of young people in Ireland have used, or are willing to use, the internet as a source of mental health information.  It is therefore important that college counselling services recognise this and continue to develop their online supports for students.