I recently spoke at Oxford University in England at the Oxford Union
The event The Student Mental Health Crisis – What Next? was a great success.
“25% of adults suffer from mental health conditions; this figure doubles among Oxford students. Many believe that drastic action is needed to respond to this crisis in care, engaging with both the general stigma and failing institutions.”
As a person who flunked out of my first college due to my untreated bipolar disorder, I’m passionately committed to helping students succeed in school. I eventually received a degree eight years after I started. It doesn’t have to be this hard. Universities, parents, students, health care professionals and teachers can band together and create a system that works for those of us who need extra assistance to get our degrees. I also want to encourage those of us who have experienced weight gain or other physical changes to get out there and shine. We can lose the weight eventually, but we can’t get the experience again. Words to live by!
Julie
PS: I used my travel plan for bipolar disorder in order to take the trip and still dealt with daily mood swings. We can get things done when we have bipolar disorder, but it definitely takes a lot of planing and recovery time when the event is over.
