Number of Helsinki students in need of mental health services increases
Queues for therapy extremely long
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Queues for the mental health services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) in Helsinki are longer than ever before. Some 300 university students are awaiting the start of their therapy in the capital city.
In previous years, this figure has been around 200. The Helsinki unit of the FSHS provides health care services to some 50,000 university students. No new longer treatments begin during summers, but acute cases receive help.
The government allocated an additional 600,000 euros to the mental health care of teenagers and young adults in June, a move which should ease the backlog affecting students beginning in August.
The situation has deteriorated in Helsinki in particular, as the increase in the number of patients has outpaced the ability of the FSHS to hire new employees. Acute cases also eat away at the resources of long-term therapy.
Many students are also plagued by sleep and attention disorders. One in three report feelings of loneliness. In its own survey a few years ago, the FSHS estimated that one in four university students may have some type of mental health problems.
Helsingin Sanomat
