For a long time, mental illnesses and mental health have been a taboo subject. Even if they are invisible from the outside, mental illnesses can paralyze and incapacitate a human being, who in this condition could find difficult to complete even the simplest action. Despite the seriousness of mental illnesses, society has been very slow in recognising the importance of this issue.
But now, the subject is at the heart of conversations and even more so in the field of education.
On the occasion of the Mental Health Awareness Month, we decided to focus on the issues that students in Higher Music Education are facing.
AEC is aware that, for students, coping with their mental state can be very challenging. As students, they are exposed to the demands of assignments, performances, their future career and also their own personal lives. Often students find themselves left alone, not being able to manage their mental state and most importantly not knowing whom to contact for help.
In these even more difficult times, AEC wants to encourage its members to take into account the mental state of their students and to start actions to support them in their mental health.
For this reason, we have interviewed some students from our member institutions, to tell us about their institution's treatment of their students' mental health, especially during COVID-19.
The interview was based on these three questions:
- How did your institution deal with Mental Health before COVID-19?
- How does your institution deal with mental illness during COVID-19?
- What are your suggestions to improve institutions' handling of this issue?
From their answers, it emerged that their institutions provide assistance and counselling for mental health issues, even before the COVID-19 emergency. However, it was pointed out by an international student that in their home country mental health is not taken into consideration at all.
It seems that during the COVID-19 emergency, the institutions increased the assistance and the attention given to the mental wellbeing of the students, providing additional tools (online resources, apps) and in some cases modest grants.
It is good to know that our member institutions are addressing this issue and providing assistance to their students. The students underlined the importance of knowing that their institution is near them and willing to provide grants for those who are in need, to be offered more time to work on repertoires and to be reassured about the exams.
You are a student and want to share your experience with the AEC community and enrich this article? Please write an email with your experience to office1@aec-music.eu by answering the three questions mentioned above. Responses will be shared anonymously.
