When I submitted my thesis, I was hit by post-submission blues, which I was already aware of. What I didn’t expect was that the cloud didn’t lift with completion and graduation. I pretended otherwise, but the moments of genuine excitement and happiness were fleeting. I felt confused and ashamed, compounding my emotions. Wondering if anyone […] … learn more→

Before COVID, university and vocational education students were at high risk of developing mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety. This is because they already experience much higher levels of psychological distress than the general population. But since COVID, this group is even more at risk. Our study has found the percentage of university and vocational education […] … learn more→

About once a month I dream what Freud called the “examination dream”: the one that requires me to resit my finals, having done no revision. The dream is presumably a manifestation of impostor syndrome – that nagging fear, known to many academics, that we will be found out. But on one subject I never doubt […] … learn more→

Pursuing a professional degree can be extremely stressful for students, who often experience it as a time riddled with anxiety, uncertainty, fear and financial challenge. The emotional health of law students was recently brought to my attention in an email from a student at the University of Cape Town’s law faculty where I am the […] … learn more→

Depression is the leading mental health issue on college campuses in the U.S. In 2015, a survey of more than 90,000 students at 108 American colleges and universities found that during the previous year, more than one-third of them had felt so depressed at some point that it was difficult to function. More than two-thirds […] … learn more→