Mental health and wellbeing
University life is exciting, stimulating and hard work. We know that life as a student can sometimes be stressful and that life outside of university can sometimes be just as demanding as your studies. We want to support you in looking after your physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing; they are all connected and equally important.
In an emergency
Nearest Accident & Emergency(A&E):
The nearest A&E in Southampton is located at Southampton General Hospital. The address is: Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD.
If you are based outside of Southampton, use the following link to find your nearest hospital: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/hospital.
NHS 111
If you have an urgent medical problem and you’re not sure what to do, please contact NHS 111. NHS 111 may refer you to A&E after an examination.
To get help from NHS 111, you can:
- go to 111.nhs.uk (for people aged 5 and over only)
- call 111
NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is free to call from UK landlines and mobiles. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, please click here for further advice. You can also call 18001 111 on a textphone.
Mental health and support resources
Click through the drop-down menus below to look through the resources, help and support available from both Solent University, and local and national charities.
If there are more charities, support systems or resources you would like to add to this list, Solent Students' Union is always open to expanding how we can help, so please email students.union@solent.ac.uk.
Internal aid: Solent University help and resources
Therapy and mental health support team
Solent University has its own in-house therapy and mental health team available for students.
The following support can be found below:
If you are interested in accessing the Universities therapy and mental health services, please complete their online self-referral form.
If you have any difficulties with completing the online form, please email the therapy and mental health team at therapy.mh@solent.ac.uk (letting them know you are not able to complete the form) so they can provide assistance with this.
More information on Solent therapy and mental health support can be found here.
Student Assistance Programme (SAP) - provided by Health Assured
SAP is a confidential resource, designed to help you deal with personal and professional problems that could be affecting your home or student life, health, or general wellbeing. Solent University is working in partnership with Health Assured to provide this service. More information on SAP can be found here.
Student Hub advisers:
There are lots of ways to get help. Whether you have a problem with your course, finances, personal life or mental health, Student Services are here to help. They will endeavour to answer your query and if they can’t, they will find the appropriate person or specialist team to do so.
Local and national charities and support
Below is a list of local and national charities and support for those struggling with their mental health.
Grassroots
Grassroots work on suicide prevention through resources, including the #StayAlive app for individuals at risk of suicide or concerned for someone who is.
Contact Grassroots via the following options:
CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)
CALM exist to prevent male suicide in the UK by providing a support line and an online webchat for men in crisis. They are available 7-days a week, 365 days a year, from 5pm - midnight.
Contact CALM via the following options:
SHOUT
Not everyone wants to speak to someone face-to-face or on the phone, so SHOUT offer a free mental health 24/7 text service. Messages to SHOUT are confidential and anonymous and you can message them at anytime.
Contact SHOUT via the following options:
No Limits:
No Limits provides free advice, confidential information, counselling, advocacy and support to children and young adults under the age of 26 who are based in Southampton.
Contact No Limits via the following options:
Solent Mind
Solent Mind is an independent local charity, part of the Mind network, that provides mental health support and information across Hampshire, Southampton and Portsmouth. They work with individuals and groups across different age groups. They are availability Monday to Friday, 9am - 6pm.
Contact Solent Mind via the following options:
Student Minds
Solent Mind provide students with the skills, knowledge, confidence to talk about their mental health and support their fellow students.
Contact Student Minds via the following options:
Specialised charities
Black Minds Matter UK
Black Minds Matter UK is a fully registered charity operating in the UK; connecting Black individuals and families with free mental health services- by professional Black therapists to support their mental health.
Contact Black Minds Matter UK via the following:
The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network
Home of the largest community of Counsellors and Psychotherapists of Black, African, Asian and Caribbean Heritage in the UK.
Contact The Black, African, and Asian Therapy Network via the following:
Black Trans Foundation
Black Trans Foundations provides four months of free therapy to Black trans & non-binary people in the UK.
Contact Black Trans Foundation via the following:
Mermaids:
Mermaids is a call service for Trans, including non-binary and gender diverse, students aged between 18 and 25. Phone lines, webchat and email are covered by volunteers and staff between 9am and 9pm, Monday to Friday.
Contact Mermaids via the following:
Breakout Youth
Breakout Youth provides various support services, including support for telling people about your sexuality or gender. They also combat homophobia and transphobia within the community and provided education and training. They are available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Contact Breakout Youth via the following:
Beyond Reflections
Beyond Reflections provide services for trans and non-binary individuals to live their lives being their authentic self and being able to express their gender identity as they see fit. They also provide safe spaces with experienced counsellors and provide support for families and friends to ensure their loved ones gain support through their journey. They are availabile from Monday to Friday, 9:30am - 3pm.
Contact Beyond Reflections via the following:
Mental wellbeing survey
Solent Students' Union and Solent University Therapy and Mental Health Team are working together to gather anonymous data on the mental wellbeing of all our students to shape our mental health support.
The survey will enable Solent Students' Union and Solent University to understand trends within the mental wellbeing of students. This will enable us to develop and adopt a model of prevention, early intervention and targeted proactive support provision for our students.
To take part in the survey, please click here.
The survey complies with Solent Students' Union and Solent Universities GDPR policies.