Blogs

How often do you consider the possibility that you could be wrong about your most cherished beliefs? How much time have you spent thinking through arguments you deeply disagree with? How often do you seek to engage intellectually with those who hold opposing views?

I raise these questions because I value intellectual exchange and would like to see it flourish, not flounder, in the face of heated disagreement.

You’re a student and you like extra guac on your burrito, mimosas in the afternoon, and organic almond milk in your porridge. You’re subscribed to Netflix, to Spotify, to the gym, and when you look at your overdraft you’re reminded of that Battle of Hastings exam you have coming up… -1066… hmmm, how did that happen?

When you start university and are warned about mental health issues, you assume that the warnings and reminders of support are for other people. The ones who already have mental health issues, and the types of people we might assume are already at risk. It’s not true. Mental health at university exists in a whole different realm to mental health anywhere else and it’s time that that is acknowledged. It doesn’t play by the rules everyone seems to have constructed.