Psychological Support Program Launched for University Students

HiDoctor launches psychological support programme for university students through partnership with Ahbap. Within the scope of the project titled "University Students Have Someone to Talk To," university students identified through Ahbap will be able to receive psychological support from HiDoctor specialists. The aim is to raise awareness so that university students can free themselves from anxiety and become confident and happy individuals, and to draw attention to the role of young people's mental health in reaching a happy society with a high quality of life. HiDoctor CEO Ahmet Bal noted that they have created a programme consisting of 3,600 sessions annually in the first phase, and explained: "Taking into account students who need longer-term support, we can also provide additional sessions. Since the sessions are conducted online, we can reach students from all across Turkey." University is one of the most important turning points in life. For young people it is on one hand the beginning of a new adventure and personal independence; on the other hand, it is a period filled with unknowns and the anxieties they bring. Essentially, it is the first step in the transition to adulthood. HiDoctor, which set out with the mission of improving society's quality of life and happiness, launched a project to support the mental health of university students based on these realities. By partnering with Ahbap, which has both a wide communication network across Turkey and strong ties with university youth, the platform brought to life the "University Students Have Someone to Talk To" project, allocating a portion of its consultants to young people in need of psychological support.

3,600 sessions of consultancy support over one year

HiDoctor CEO Ahmet Bal, saying "With this programme, we aim to free university students from anxiety, help them become confident and happy individuals, and be someone they can talk to comfortably about their problems from the past and present," continued: "Through Ahbap, we plan to provide 3,600 sessions of psychological consultancy support to university students in need of psychological support over 1 year. Sessions started as of November. The student selection process is being carried out entirely by Ahbap." Noting that they can also provide additional sessions for students who need longer-term support, Bal stated: "We are entering a path where we will undertake longer-term and much broader work with Ahbap. This project is the first step in our cooperation."

Reaching university students from all across Turkey

Ahmet Bal noted that online psychology sessions are easily conducted through the HiDoctor website or mobile application, and emphasized that this allows them to reach young people in need from all across Turkey, continuing: "HiDoctor is a platform where expert clinical psychologists, combined with high data security and confidentiality, anyone can access with peace of mind. We have organised a portion of our psychologists to serve young people in the coming period. HiDoctor's purpose of existence is to ensure that individuals can easily access the support they need to increase the happiness and quality of life of society, and even earlier, to raise awareness about mental health. This is why every step we take is fundamentally aimed at serving the individual's complete wellbeing. Young people are one of the groups where the multiplier effect of happiness is strongest. We find great happiness in being able to provide even some support to the problems that our young people, who are the guarantee of our future, cannot cope with in their finest years."

Today's youth will be tomorrow's workers

Also drawing attention to the fact that Generation Z is now beginning to dominate working life, Ahmet Bal said: "We believe that understanding Generation Z and being able to contribute to their wellbeing is one of our responsibilities. As HiDoctor, in the literature review conducted within the scope of our 'Corporate Practices Supporting Mental Health, Turkey Awareness Level and Needs' research, which we carried out recently with Deloitte, we found that the highest resignation rates are among young people aged 18-24. When demographic data on happiness from the same research's field study is examined, Generation Z emerges as one of the groups with high unhappiness and greater need for support. In the workplace, the proportion of workers aged 18-24 who consider seeking psychological support is also observed to be higher compared to other age groups. We are aware of the critical importance of understanding and supporting this age group both for young people and for the working world to continue in a healthy, human-centred manner. The most striking finding of this research, however, is the gap that emerges between a person's statement about feeling happy and the net happiness score measured. While the net happiness score of those surveyed about feeling happy in life was 58, when a happiness scale was applied to these individuals, the net happiness score measured was 13.6. The score difference between felt happiness and measured happiness is 44.4. This needs to be seriously questioned. Regardless of age, we understand that people's consciousness of happiness is low. This also proves to us that we need to take actions to increase individuals' self-awareness above all else. University is a very appropriate place to sow the seeds of this awareness."

We prioritised students in earthquake-affected areas

Haluk Levent, Founder and General President of Ahbap Association, noting that young people's greatest problem is "anxiety about the future," said: "Psychological support can sometimes, without anyone realizing it, improve a young person's life and future. For this reason, if in this project we can support even one young person in shaping their future, we are grateful. When selecting students, we gave priority to students who have relocated cities and are having difficulty adapting to the social environment. Because it is an extremely difficult process, and in addition to scholarship support, we wanted to provide psychological support to students who lost their parents in the earthquake," he said. Pointing out that Ahbap has scholarship recipients throughout Turkey, Levent noted that providing psychological support services over the internet is therefore a great advantage. Levent stated: "Based on my observations, young people who can acquire these skills and rebuild themselves do not worry about entering social environments and experiencing new things. Every experience that involves young people supports them emotionally and opens a door for their career. With this project, we aim to support young people's social life and help them gain feelings such as self-confidence, self-efficacy and self-compassion. In this way, young people will be able to express their views, set their goals, build social relationships and contribute to themselves through individual or team work, and thereby develop the society in which they live."

Society does not yet know how to raise Generation Z

HiDoctor Expert Psychologist Nur Erdil, pointing out that universities are places where vastly different groups are accommodated together, says: "People from different socio-economic backgrounds, ages, cultures and orientations come together in the same environment at university. For this reason, social adaptation becomes the most important problem. We have in front of us a generation that confines itself to the internet and suffers from serious socialisation problems. Added to this are economic problems that push young people further into a corner." Emphasising that society still does not yet know how to raise Generation Z, Erdil says: "Young people do not come to us with problems like alcohol and substance addiction. They come with internal issues they feel they cannot resolve. Long-term relationships, sexual orientations, depressive periods, personality problems, depressive tendencies they come with. And there are of course professional and academic anxieties. Going to school and studying are meaningless for many young people. Parents do not know how to cope with this generation either. We wanted to be part of such a project with the aim of creating a healthier, evolving, transforming, changing society that keeps pace with the age of technology."

Male students are struggling with bigger problems

Noting that female students request help more easily, Erdil says that although males are struggling with bigger problems, the way they are raised makes their acceptance processes more difficult. Stating that she has been working in this field for a long time, Erdil says the biggest advantage is being able to provide services independent of time and place. Erdil continues: "I live in Izmir. Physically I could only reach people in Izmir. But through this platform, I have clients from a much wider region across Turkey, and even from abroad."