In total, 709 students knocked at the psychologists’ door, as opposed to 542 the year before. That is an increase of more than 30 percent. It is a striking rise, says psychologist Ineke Leenders. She hesitates to hazard a guess at the reason. ‘Student numbers have of course risen tremendously in recent years, but the percentage of students making use of the psychological support always remained fairly constant.
• Demand for support growing by at least 30 percent.
• The reason for the increase is ‘anyone’s guess’.
Where the growth comes from is anyone’s guess at the moment. We are currently analysing the figures.’ In 2013, students mainly reported to the service with personal problems such as depression or anxiety. In 2013, 65 percent of the students who went to a student psy chologist were women. Most of the students were Dutch. In order to cope with the additional demand, an extra psychologist was taken on at the end of 2014. Leenders: ‘The waiting time for an intake interview was six to seven weeks at one point. That is just not on.’ The waiting time has now shrunk to two weeks.