Kyle Kivaria, a second-year law student at the University of Nottingham, is working a placement at The Ann Craft Trust. As part of this, we asked her to share her thoughts on University Mental Health Day (13 March).
It starts as a whisper, a thought barely formed, drifting through the spaces between lectures and late-night study sessions. The silence is louder than it should be.
University is supposed to be the best years of your life, they say. The years where you are free to be whoever you want, to reinvent yourself, to grasp the world with both hands. But what they don’t tell you is that freedom can feel like an open ocean, vast and endless, and sometimes, terrifyingly empty.
The thought remains, curling around my mind like mist, before pulling me back to my first year. I see myself then, suitcase in hand, my heart pounding with the beat of possibility.
Moving away from home felt like stepping onto the edge of something grand, a threshold into the unknown. I had imagined a world painted with new friendships, thrilling experiences, a fresh start.
But university, I soon learned, is a master of illusion. It invites you in with open arms, promises adventure, and then, like a thief in the night, it takes. It takes the warmth of familiarity, takes the effortless comfort of home, takes the certainty of who you once were.
Loneliness Arrived Subtly at First
It was the space in between conversations, the quiet in a crowded lecture hall, the empty seat beside me in the library.
Then, it grew.
It clung to my skin like a second shadow, pressed against my chest each morning, making even the act of waking up feel like wading through thick fog.
I remember the weight of it, how exhaustion was no longer just physical but something deeper, something heavier, something that weighed me down.
A Small Flicker of Light
But as always, there was light. A small flicker, but enough.
It came in the form of a conversation, one that, at the time, felt like a life raft in an ocean of isolation.
I told a friend. And they told me.
That was the moment I understood: I was not alone. Loneliness is a magician, skilled in deception. It convinces you that you are the only one, that everyone else has it figured out, that you are the anomaly in a world of belonging. But the truth is, others just hide it better.
And that is why today matters. University Mental Health Day exists because of this.
Because 1 in 4 students have a diagnosed mental health condition. 30% have felt their mental health decline since stepping onto this campus of endless expectations.
Because social media shows only the highlights, the carefully curated fragments of joy, leaving us to believe that our struggles are anomalies, that our pain is unwarranted. But it is not. And neither are we.
This day is about more than raising awareness. It’s an invitation: To speak, to listen, to remind ourselves and each other that mental health is not a solitary battle fought in the quiet corners of our minds. It is collective, intertwined, something we must hold up to the light rather than hide in the dark.
So, we talk. We reach out. We remember that the weight of the world feels lighter when carried together.
Further Resources and Support
- University Mental Health Day – Guidance from Student Minds and UMHAN (University Mental Health Advisors Network). Featuring information about the day and plenty of useful tips and contacts.
- Safeguarding Your Mental Health at Work – Advice for looking after yourself and others in professional environments.
- Fighting Loneliness – “What’s up with everybody?” A series of short animations about issues affecting young peoples’ mental health.
- Mental Health Awareness in Sport and Activity – Spot, support, signpost. An initiative from Mind and Buddle offers guidance on how physical activity deliverers can promote mental health awareness in sport.