Student Well-Being and Mental Health at the European Student Affairs Conference (ESAC) 2026

The topic of student well-being and mental health was one of the most significant highlights of the ESAC 2026 conference. 

The question of how we can effectively support students' well-being during a widespread mental health crisis was tackled in five separate sessions throughout the two days.

On the first day, the session titled Students' Living Conditions explored the growing mental health crisis among students in higher education, following the pandemic and economic and geopolitical insecurities. We discussed how students are doing today and what kind of support is needed.

We delved into this question from data-driven perspectives:

• Dr Kristina Hauschildt: The Students Are Not Okay: What Can We Learn About Psychological Challenges Mirrored in the EUROSTUDENT Data?

Drawing on EUROSTUDENT's comparative data across the European Higher Education Area, this presentation examined the effects of financial strain, housing stress, social isolation, and study-related demands in shaping students' mental health. Dr Kristina Hauschildt interestingly pointed out that 37%-58% of students report poor well-being, with 1 in 5 scoring very low. She touched upon the pandemic, rising costs of living, the housing crisis, and the geopolitical situation and showed that students struggle when demands exceed resources. The session also displayed how the mental health situation differs by background and context, female, non-binary, younger students, students with disabilities are among those who are more affected. This presentation underscored the importance of basic needs like financial and housing in student well-being.

• Dr Isaora Rivierez: Special focus on the health and wellbeing of students

Presenting the French context and drawing from the French Observatory for Student Life (OVE) data, Dr Isaora Rivierez shared how student mental health has become a central point of concern, with 40% of students reporting psychological distress in 2024 and 26% reporting issues with general health. She presented the importance of seeing health and well-being as multidimensional, and highlighted challenges with access to care while sharing the support available in France today. As 52% of students have never consulted a psychologist, more attention needs to be paid to who accesses care and how.

The second half of the day focused more on solutions and prevention during the session titled Strengthening Student Resilience:

• Samantha Werthen & Sofie Giets: Going beyond the counseling room! High-impact, creative actions on campus

This session presented innovative, high-impact, creative preventive actions that transformed student mental health in LUCA School of Arts. Tackling the practical issues and budget limitations in creative ways, they shared projects like The Magic Bean, Substance Awareness, Spot Your Inner Critic, The Feedback Filter, Chewing Gum Machine and Photobooth, and many more as low-threshold but high-impact ways to reach students in their daily environments.

• Dr Lorraine Tansey, Riona Hughes & Mary O'Toole, Laura Woods: E-Module Training for Skills and Resilience of Student Volunteers

This session presented the impact of the e-Module Suite funded through the Irish Higher Education Authority, to equip students with essential transferable skills. They shared their Open Courses & Digital Badges for Student Wellbeing programme for students and staff, drawing on the Irish education and policy landscapes. It was also interesting to see the importance of student societies, student-led, democratically elected committees in nurturing a sense of belonging. At the University of Galway, over 85% students developed communication and teamwork skills and 46% felt a strong sense of belonging. The session also demonstrated how resilience and skill-building can be fostered through student volunteer journeys such as the Student Volunteer Ireland project.

• Lore De Keersmaecker: Informing students about mental health in preventive, accessible ways

This workshop walked through the Odisee College's learning paths, webinars, online/live sessions,, handouts and other materials that focus on breaking the stigma on mental health and well-being issues for their student target group. Lore De Keersmaecker especially pointed out the principle that prevention is better than cure / treatment.

On the second day of the conference, the conversation on well-being and mental health continued at full speed. The session Well-Being and Mental Health focused on neurodiversity, procrastination, and student well-being with case studies from different countries:

• Christine Bartho: ADHD in student counselling

This session highlighted how neurodiversity and ADHD are becoming increasingly significant in university settings. Affected students often struggle with the high demands placed on self-management, concentration issues or emotional difficulties. Christine Bartho delved into an in-depth explanation of ADHD, what challenges students with ADHD face and what issues arise in counselling.

• Anne-Marie Desmet: Tackling procrastination for better mental health

Anne-Marie Desmet showed how preventing procrastination can be essential for student well-being and academic success, reducing levels of anxiety, depression, burnout, and higher dropout rates. She shared data that 95% of students report procrastination, which may be linked with other mental health issues. The Belgian government roughly estimates the annual cost of student procrastination as around €70 million. The presentation shared several small, wise interventions to tackle procrastination.

The day continued with a session focusing on the importance of student communities, connections, and networks in strengthening student well-being and resilience, with the session titled Building Local Networks of Student Services:

• Severine Deliessche: Student Mental Health Council: coordinating stakeholders to better support students

This presentation highlighted a case study from the Crous de Lille. In collaboration with the University of Lille and the regional mental health centre, they jointly established the Student Mental Health Council to address students' mental health needs in light of the pandemic. She shared the objectives of this partnership: to coordinate stakeholders, facilitate access to psychiatric care, and improve training for professionals. It was also interesting to see the two initiatives, a mobile psychiatric and nursing team and a postvention protocol, that better equipped professionals in providing the appropriate support.

• Bart Sahuc: The Leuven Model: Cooperation for a nice and safe student life in Leuven

Bart Sahuc presented a case study from Leuven, a vibrant city of 100,000 residents and 60,000 students. With three higher education institutions in its academic landscape, around 60% of students live in student housing scattered throughout the city. Interestingly, he pointed out that most students live side by side with long-term residents in ordinary neighbourhoods. In order to ensure Leuven remains welcoming for everyone, the City of Leuven, the higher education institutions, student umbrella organisation and the local police work together through shared initiatives, clear communication, and proactive engagement.

The conference concluded the student well-being theme with a workshop on Evidence-based Counselling Services, sharing an innovative example of counselling and group training:

• Katharina Böcker: "ACT for Health" – a group training for students

Katharina Böcker presented Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as an approach that helps people deal with difficult thoughts and feelings in a healthier way. She introduced the six-session ACT group program for university students developed at the University Hospital in Kiel, which focuses on making room for unpleasant emotions while staying focused on what matters most. Since 2023, the program has been offered regularly by STW Schleswig-Holstein in cooperation with the University Hospital.

These sessions made it evident that mental health and well-being for students across Europe is a topic we can no longer ignore. 

By sharing knowledge across countries on data and evidence-driven programmes, innovative approaches, creative projects, prevention strategies, and partnerships across different institutions, we can ensure that the mental health crisis is urgently addressed for the well-being, development, and success of all young people in Europe.

If you're interested in finding out more about these sessions and delving into the content more in-depth, take a look at the documentation on the ESAC 2026 website to access the full presentations: