Transcript

PATRICE BELTON

For me, growing up in the Caribbean, mental health was often stigmatised. It was taboo. And it was shunned if you so experienced it. So those who really needed the help often went unsupported or did not receive the support that they deserved.

For me, coming to the Open Uni, it was the same. I was unfamiliar with getting support around my mental health because I hadn’t declared it in such a way. And I had a lot of lack of confidence, a lot of self-doubt, a lot of self-loathing, and definitely isolated myself, which placed a lot of pressure on my studies.

However, what changed or broke that chain was my dad falling ill with cancer, which caused me to report my mental health and to defer. My advice to you as a student is if you are challenged with mental health, don’t delay. Report it. Seek help. It’s here for you. And there’s lots of it.

And I’ve never felt better knowing that I was open about that and that I could get help when I really needed it the most. My study’s been great. I’m in my final year of study. And I am just one EMA away from graduation. If I can do it, so can you.

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