This resource has been developed as part of OCD Action’s collaboration with Student Space, a mental health initiative run by Student Minds that offers safe and confidential support for students during the pandemic.
University can be both an exciting and a challenging time, and everyone might need some extra support to make the most of it. Your university will have policies and services in place to support you if your mental health takes a dip or gets in the way of your studies.
There are two main types of support you can access through your university.
Disability support services are there to help you make sure you are getting the most out of your learning and that you have all the same opportunities as everyone else. Their job is to make up for the barriers that OCD might bring to the academic side of things.
Wellbeing support, on the other hand, is less about studying and more about supporting you to take care of your mental health. Every university will offer different things as part of this, so it can be a good idea to find out what is available in case you ever need it.
If your university is in England or Wales, you can find out about the different support services available through your university Here.
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Disability services
You might not identify with the word ‘disability’ when it comes to your OCD, but you would probably agree that it causes obstacles in ‘normal day-to-day activities’ like socialising, studying, or taking care of yourself or your home. Under disability law, this means that you have a legal right to privacy and to something called ‘reasonable adjustments’.
Reasonable adjustments are there to make up for the ways in which OCD might get in the way of your work. If you take a longer time to write because of checking, for example, you can get extra time in exams or extensions on your coursework. You could also get things like flexibility with your attendance, assistive technology, or extra support from staff.
Disability Rights UK have a long list of examples of reasonable adjustments for students that you can look through, but really anything your university can do should be considered, so it’s always worth asking. If an adjustment needs to be paid for, the disability support service can help you apply for a Disabled Student’s Allowance.
The short answer is – whenever you want to.
You can choose to inform a university about your disability when you first apply (UCAS has a section for this) or at the interview stage, if you would like them to know from the start. Telling them straight away means that you can also ask for reasonable adjustments for the interview process. You are legally protected from discrimination, so your university cannot hold it against you that you have a disability.
That being said, you might not feel comfortable talking about your mental health needs until you have a definite place on your course. This is absolutely fine. You can contact the disability support service as soon as you’ve accepted an offer, or even months into your course.
It’s also important to know that you can sign up even if you don’t need any help yet. By signing up, you are simply letting them know you have a condition that can get in the way. If your mental health is good at the moment, it might not feel necessary to do so, but it can really come in handy if the time ever comes that you do need support. We have heard from many students that, with hindsight, they would have signed up for disability support earlier.
You have a legal right to privacy about your health, so it is always up to you who gets to know about it. It’s your choice whether to give the disability service permission to tell academic staff or anyone else about your OCD.
You could, for example, just sign up to the disability support service in case the need comes up in the future, and not share this information with anyone else unless it ends up becoming relevant.
You can also choose to just let one person know, like your personal tutor or academic advisor. They can then, with your permission, speak to the relevant people on a need-to-know basis.
If you would like support from someone who isn’t university staff, you can also get in touch with the Students’ Union. They might have an advice service, a peer mentoring project, or advocacy support.
In most cases a university will only require an official diagnosis for a ‘Specific Learning Difficulty’ like Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, or ADHD.
For other disabilities or mental health conditions (including OCD), you will usually need medical evidence, but this doesn’t have to be a formal diagnosis. This can be a letter from your GP or a report from another professional that describes your condition and how it affects your day to day life, including studying. This letter doesn’t need to go into any detail about your specific symptoms or intrusive thoughts, just their impact.
If you don’t have any medical evidence yet, the disability support service can explain what you need and how to get it. Most of the time, this will involve going to speak to your GP and getting a letter from them or asking them to fill out a document provided by the service.
One of the main worries we hear from students is that their need for support will be put on a record and be seen by future employers. This is not the case.
Remember, you have a right to privacy, so any information about your health is yours to share (or not). If you don’t want an employer to know about your condition or the support you have received in the past, you just need to not tell them. Your university and the NHS cannot share that information without your permission, and employers can’t ask about it.
Talking about your needs to an employer carries the same rights as telling your university. Employers must follow the same disability laws, so you are protected from discrimination and have a right to reasonable adjustments at work. Again, you can inform your employer at any point, even after you’ve started the job.
Having a disability is not a bad thing, and you shouldn’t assume that the university or a future employer will see it as one. In fact, having successful support at university is a good thing, because it shows that you’ve learned how to support yourself and set up an environment that lets you be the best student / employee you can be.
Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)
DSA is a financial support grant that is there to help with any extra costs for the support you need. This can be used for helpful technology like a voice recorder or to pay for one to one support from a professional. Like with reasonable adjustments, what a grant can provide depends on your individual needs. If you need to travel for university but struggle to take public transport, for example, you might get an allowance to help pay for a taxi.
This financial support is not based on your financial situation, just your needs. You can apply for it even if you don’t currently need it, so that it’s approved in advance in case you ever do.
You do not need a formal diagnosis to apply for DSA. A letter from your GP outlining your condition and how it affects you is enough. This letter doesn’t need to go into any detail about your specific symptoms or intrusive thoughts – what your university needs is a clear idea of the effect OCD has on your day to day life, including studying.
You can also ask a medical professional, including your GP, to fill out a Disability Evidence Form instead of writing a letter.
You can apply for DSA at the same time as applying for other student finance or separately. The disability support service can help you through the application process. You can also read about it in more detail Here.
The process can take quite a while, and will involve an assessment. If you would like support with preparing what you want to say during an assessment, you can contact the OCD Action Helpline.
If you are receiving funding for your studies from specific sources, like an NHS bursary or the research council, they might have their own application route.
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Mental health and wellbeing services
The only type of therapy that has been proven to help recover from OCD is called ‘CBT with ERP’. Most university mental health services only offer general counselling or therapy, though, which is much less likely to help. If you want to treatment for your OCD, you can access this through the mental health team(s) in your area – we have a resource about your Treatment options that covers how to do this.
This doesn’t mean, though, that your university’s mental health service doesn’t have anything for you. Research shows that, although counselling and therapy services are the ones people sign up to most, they’re not necessarily the ones they find most helpful. Most students getting peer support like buddies or mentors say this has been very effective for them. Here at OCD Action, we are great believers in peer support and encourage this through our Support Groups.
Most universities offer support with mental health and wellbeing through a number of services. You can inform yourself through your university’s website or a member of staff about what is available to you. It doesn’t always have to be something as formal as regular therapy and it doesn’t necessarily need to be support for your OCD. You might find out about something that better suits what you’re needing help with in the moment, like a peer group about procrastination or an anonymous conversation on a helpline.
What is available to you will depend on where you are. The most common services include:
- Counselling or therapy
- Wellbeing advice and support – including self-help resources, groups, and workshops
- Mental Health Advisers – regulated by the University Mental Health Advisers Network
- Student mentors or buddies – usually someone who has had their own experience of needing support at university
- Drop-in centres or helplines – for if you need to talk or you are in a crisis
One or more of these options might be a useful part of creating a positive environment around you to help in moments of high stress or pressure. You can read more about how a good support system can help in our resource about Keeping well.