By Meghna Amin

TW: This article mentions mental health and sexual assault.

In a year that’s already thrown immense pressure on to the NHS, whilst celebrities are facing backlash for openly sharing their vulnerabilities, it’s no surprise young people are turning elsewhere for support: to non-advisory listening services.

 

THE LONELINESS EPIDEMIC

In the last year of uncertainty, health anxiety and the complete upheaval of regular society, listening services such as student helplines at universities and the charity Samaritans have grown in popularity. Tagging behind the Coronavirus pandemic has been a loneliness epidemic, with young people reported to have suffered from feelings of loneliness affecting their mental health at a rate of nearly five times more than older age groups.

With isolating lockdowns in university halls, anxieties about future job prospects, and the inevitable homesickness students find themselves feeling, organisations like Nightline, a university non-advisory listening service, have prepared their volunteers to expect the worst. They have been told to anticipate longer, more frequent, and potentially more serious calls from students.

 

THE RISE OF NON-ADVISORY LISTENING SERVICES

Whilst training volunteers to adapt to pandemic related calls, Nightline, as well as Samaritans, have shared an unprecedented increase in the demand for their services. Samaritans have reported a 23% increase in calls between pre-pandemic levels and now, and a 40% increase in duration of calls. The reason behind this rise does not simply coincide with national lockdowns, but also reflects a step away from the NHS and university welfare support services.

“By October last year, 40% of patients on mental health treatment waiting lists were forced to look elsewhere.” 

A closer look into the mental health services offered to students and young people shows why they may be swapping to other sources of support. By October last year, 40% of patients on mental health treatment waiting lists (including counselling and psychiatry support) were forced to look elsewhere, towards emergency and crisis support, private healthcare, or non-advisory listening services.

As a Nightline volunteer, I’ve witnessed the realities of students feeling as though they have no one else to turn to. Private healthcare is often unaffordable and out of reach, whilst universities fail to take action and refer students to counselling without sufficient evidence of poor mental health (which in itself is difficult to prove). Furthermore, the taboo of visiting student welfare support officers deters those who need help the most.

 

I BELIEVE YOU

When training to become an active listener, the skill required for Nightline volunteering, we are constantly reminded of the power of three little words: ‘I believe you’. Three words that are often unheard of in other support situations, as a lack of evidence prevents a lack of action. Yet, with non-advisory listening services, students aren’t deterred by the threat of not being believed, or worse, being victim shamed. Often, students share that they have no one else who believes them, whether friends, family, or university staff, and express gratitude at finally having someone to listen to them, without passing judgement.

On a Durham University Facebook page, one student anonymously shared their gratitude, writing: ‘I just wanted to give a big thank you to the nightline volunteer I messaged the other night. It wasn’t serious or anything but it was really nice to have someone to talk to who wouldn’t judge me for the stupid worries I have, those guys are absolute legends’.

Another wrote: ‘Saw a post about what legends the nightline volunteers are, and goddamn they really are. Spoke to one the other night and […] felt like chatting to a friend. Saviours in otherwise crap times’.

“A problem shared really does become a problem halved.”

Students disclose their secrets, their horror stories, or they just sit in silence, comforted by the feeling of knowing someone is there for them on the other end of the phone. Rape victims and sexual assault survivors aren’t probed to provide more details. First-year students, unaware of how the university mental health services work, aren’t questioned on why they ignored official documents to explain their mental health requirements, and aren’t worried about unsolicited advice and diagnoses being presented to them. Instead, as the age old saying goes, a problem shared really does become a problem halved.

 

TREATING MENTAL HEALTH WITH ANONYMITY

During the loneliness epidemic of the last year, many students have felt dismissive of their own problems, regarding their issues as average amongst the immense suffering of many during the pandemic. By not taking their own mental health seriously, they presuppose that the university will fail to offer them sufficient support and are further deterred from NHS waiting lists by a lack of trust in the system. In response, they are attracted to the anonymous peer support and non-judgemental, non-advisory principles of Nightline listening services. These services offer them the opportunity to share their vulnerabilities without the worry of being dismissed or rejected from professional help.

“They may just want someone to hear their troubles.”

Furthermore, the empathy Nightline volunteers show, perhaps instead of the clinical methodology used by professional therapists, and the ignorance of the students who volunteer their time, is sometimes just what callers want. Those suffering from pain, depression and anxiety may not want to hear their realities or be diagnosed and offered treatment. They instead may just want someone to hear their troubles, without engaging further.

 

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE PUBLIC EYE

The backlash public figures have recently faced for discussing their mental health and sharing their vulnerabilities adds to the deterrence younger people feel about acknowledging their mental health troubles. Protecting themselves from succumbing to the stigma of mental health and hiding their troubles from the outside world is a way of controlling their own image. They don’t want to be labelled as someone to be pitied, or a victim in need of help and treatment. The informal nature and lack of clinical diagnosis of listening services offers that protection, allowing students and young people to only share what they feel comfortable with, without any fear of judgement.

“The benefit of being heard and not seen is like no other.”

A peer to listen to their troubles; an anonymous voice on the end of the line who has no professional training, who isn’t a qualified counsellor nor able to offer therapy or advice. The anonymity callers seek, of hiding their faces behind their voices, is the prime asset of listening services. As shown by the rise in social audio apps like Clubhouse, the benefit of being heard and not seen is like no other. The phenomenon of hearing voices, arguments, sharing secrets and troubles, provides a sense of power and confidence. Someone can be their most vulnerable without their facial expressions, body language and eye contact betraying them, or taking emphasis away from what they really want to say.

 

WILL THIS TREND CONTINUE?

As we ease out of the pandemic, pressure on the NHS is slowly being lifted, yet the desire to return to professional mental health help does not seem to be following the pattern. Instead, students are continuing to confide in their anonymous peers, removing the anxiety of waiting lists, the taboo of openly showing and discussing vulnerabilities, and the potential of being diagnosed with something they’re not quite ready to accept yet.

 

The Samaritans can be found here: https://www.samaritans.org/, and to find out more about Nightline services offered at various universities: https://nightline.ac.uk/about/universities-student-unions/

Featured image by Gilles Lambert via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image. 

An English and Philosophy Durham graduate, currently studying an NCTJ with News Associates - on placement at The Daily Mail

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