Mental health and wellbeing
The School of Chemistry, and University of Glasgow as a whole, have a number of initiatives to provide support for staff and students' mental health and wellbeing. Click the sections below to find out more about how we can help you.
Mental Health Crisis - Do you need immediate help?
Call 999 from a mobile phone or 4444 from a Department of Chemistry landline
Mental health during your PhD
The Royal Society of Chemistry ran its annual Twitter poster conference in March 2019. The most liked and shared poster was by Dr Zoe Ayres, highlighting mental health difficulties which can arise during a PhD, and some tips and issues to overcome these. Click the image below to be taken to a larger version of this poster.
School of Chemistry student welfare officer
Dr Joëlle Prunet is the Student Welfare Officer within the School of Chemistry. If you ever feel you need any non-academic support during your studies, do not hesitate to get in contact with Joelle.
Telephone: 0141 3308774
Email: Joelle.Prunet@glasgow.ac.uk
Student mental health support
Who do you contact if you need some support?
Your undergraduate or postgraduate degree can be a stressful time, so keeping up your mental and physical wellbeing during your studies is incredibly important. The University has measures in place to support you if you are having a difficult time.
Counselling and psychological services
The University's counselling and psychological support services can help in 3 ways. You can:
• Make a one-off 50 minute confidential consultation, or apply for a block of counselling sessions
• Access free self help resources
• Access support through a peer support programme
Click the link to find out more information about how to access this support: University of Glasgow counselling service
BIGWHITEWALL
Big White Wall is an anonymous online space, which is free for University of Glasgow students to use. It offers round-the-clock mental health support from peers or professional counsellors. All you have to do is visit the website and click ‘Join now’ using your University of Glasgow email address.
University of Glasgow Nightline
University of Glasgow Nightline is a confidential telephone support and information service run by students at the University of Glasgow. Contact them on +44 (0)141 334 9516 (7pm-7am), or use their online instant messaging service (7pm-12am)
Samaritans
Whatever you are going through, Samaritans will listen. The Samaritans helpline is available 24 hours a day 365 days of the year. Just call 116 123 from any phone. If you would prefer to email: jo@samaritans.org
Staff mental health support
It’s okay not to be okay.
If you are a staff member in the School of Chemistry, and you feel like you need some support and are not sure who to turn to, Health Assured is an external and independent service for you to use.
What happens when you call Health Assured? Your call will be answered by a qualified counsellor who will make a judgement on whether practical advice or counselling would suit you best. Just call: 0800 028 0199.
More information can be found at the following webpage: University of Glasgow information sheet
The Equality and Diversity Unit has collated further resources for staff who need help with their mental health.
There is also a staff health section on the University website, with details of counselling and occupational health, among other things.
School of Chemistry mental health first-aiders
The School of Chemistry currently has five members of staff who are qualified as mental health first-aiders. They are available for anyone in the School of Chemistry to speak to about any mental health issues which may be affecting you during your time here at the University of Glasgow, including but not limited to:
- Suicide
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Alcohol and drugs
- Psychosis
Please feel free to get in touch with any of the following mental health first aiders if you would like to talk about any issues which may be affecting you:
- Mrs Kate McGarrigle (A4-30, Ext 6438, Teaching Support Administrator)
- Mrs Indira Gray (A4-40c, Ext 4708 PA to Head of School)
- Dr Frances Docherty (A4-15, Ext 3460, Senior Lecturer)
- Mrs Angela Woolton (A4-27, Ext 7704 Learning and Teaching Administrator)
- Dr Emily Draper (A5-13, Ext 7738, Senior Lecturer)
- Mr Euan Stobbs (Teaching Technician)