What is community?

Leah shares the importance of community and how this has helped support her with her mental health through university.

- Leah Barfield

"The condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interest in common"

When it comes to your mental health, it�s important to surround yourself within a community where there isn�t judgement or stigma. A group that is supportive and helps you through the hardest times.

When I first moved to University, it took a long time for me to adapt to the new lifestyle and the �Student Life�. I find myself to be quite anti-social and avoid situations like large parties or nights out. I fear that when I am out with people I will get left or something bad will happen to me. Living in a new area, thats so far from a place which has so much familiarity to me is hard to adjust to.  Being nearly 200miles away from home.

I would get days when I wouldn�t leave my flat because I thought that if I was to try and get somewhere in the area, I would panic or get lost; if I did then I would be a fool or failure. I found different groups of people who I would acquaintance myself with, however I never felt confident enough to stay with those people.  I managed to figure out and discover who it was who accepted me once I started to mingle with more people.

This is where I was able to reach out.

Since being at University for over half of the first year, I�ve managed to mould myself out of this shell of extreme low self esteem and confidence, into a group where I feel supported and I can trust them with how I�m feeling. I no longer feel alone and I have more confidence in getting through my time at university knowing that I�m not going be alone.

I may still have days where I find it hard to go to lectures due to my depression and anxiety but I know that the support team at my university, my lecturers/tutor and my peers and friendship groups will accept me and be there for me when things get a bit overwhelming or when I need some guidance.

Finally feeling a part of a community within University has finally made me feel so much better about being here and studying what I love.

Take action and be part of a growing movement to transform the state of student mental health. Join a Student Minds group on your campus or set up a group today. 

Hi I'm Leah, I study Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales. The importance of talking about mental health and starting the discussion is key to my ambition.