Never-ending Day, Pressure of Grades, and Fear for the Future: It’s Making Us Sick.
In 2022 the university conducted a pilot survey on students’ mental health, thanks to our initiative. Not only have the results of this survey never been made publicly accessible within the university, but for the few students who did get to see them, the findings were alarming. Every second student at the university reported experiencing symptoms similar to depression at least every other day.
We urgently need a change in mindset so that studying with good mental health is no longer out of reach.
To support students in precarious mental health situations we plan to advocate for the maintenance and expansion of counseling and prevention services in 2025. These include everything from helping students access therapy when needed to offering workshops on topics like effective learning and working structures during their studies. Beyond just maintaining these services, we aim to make them more visible and accessible.
However, counseling and prevention cannot fix a broken system. What we need above all is a fundamental shift in the university’s approach. The 2022 survey already showed that grade pressure, elitist attitudes, and overloaded exam schedules are major contributors to poor mental health among students.
Our approach:
More Exam Attempts, Less Pressure!
By increasing the number of exam attempts, we aim to systematically reduce grade pressure and make studying more accessible for everyone.
In 2025, we will also actively participate in shaping the university-wide survey on mental health. This comprehensive survey will help uncover the structural problems that need to change, leaving no room for denial about the urgent need for a systematic transformation.