The Mental Health Crisis in Higher Education

The data released this week by the study “Healthy Learning Ecosystems in Higher Education Institutions in Portugal” are a brutal and unequivocal reflection of our reality. More than half of university students are suffering from burnout, 40% are taking psychotropic drugs, and emotional exhaustion is a constant across courses, faculties and institutions. These numbers are not just cold statistics; they are alarming signs of a crisis that directly affects the lives, future and projects of a country that wants to be developed, fair and innovative.

It is imperative to understand that students’ mental health is not a peripheral, decorative or circumstantial issue. On the contrary, this area of ​​student life is the beating heart of academic quality and pedagogical success itself. Ignoring this dimension means perpetuating a cycle of silent suffering, early abandonment, loss of talent and, inevitably, the cultural and scientific impoverishment of our society.

Responsibility is, of course, shared. It lies with the State, the universities, but also with civil society and the academic communities themselves. However, it is not enough to recognise the problem; it is urgent to implement structural, ambitious and integrated responses, both preventive and reactive.

The extension of Law No. 54/2025 to Higher Education, ensuring a minimum ratio of one psychologist for every 500 students, is a decisive and fundamental measure. But it cannot stop there. Strengthening services, modernizing hiring models, creating collaborative networks between academic institutions and the National Health Service, and ensuring that the “Psychologist Check” is an effective, inclusive and comprehensive instrument are just some of the legislative actions that must be imposed quickly.

Mental health is intrinsically linked to the way we learn and are taught, and therefore it is also developed outside the doctor's office. Higher education cannot continue to be held hostage by outdated, monotonous, dehumanized methodologies that focus exclusively on quantitative assessment. It is necessary to invest in an innovative pedagogy that values ​​the cognitive diversity of students, and promotes their creativity, critical thinking, and empathy. Training teachers to recognize and respond to the needs of today's students is a fundamental part of this equation.

Without this profound transformation, we run the risk of witnessing the perpetuation of a system that fuels burnout, anxiety and exclusion, instead of producing knowledge, resilience and full citizenship. Pedagogical innovation is not a luxury, it is an imperative necessity to restore the dignity of the act of learning and teaching. Education that recognizes the student in his or her entirety, that values ​​difference and that places well-being at the center of its mission.

This is a call for immediate action. We cannot allow students’ mental health to be ignored or relegated to the background. The future of a generation and, by extension, the future of our country is at stake. It is urgent to break the silence and build, with courage and determination, a higher education system that not only produces competent professionals, but also healthy, upright citizens capable of transforming society.