果冻影院

Dr Murthy was joined by the 听Students鈥� Union 果冻影院 President Mary McHarg for a 鈥榝ireside chat鈥� where she asked Dr Murthy about topics such as mental health stigma, the university experience, and social media.

Originally born in Yorkshire but raised in Florida, Dr Murthy is the US government鈥檚 top advisor on health and wellbeing. He has served as both the 19th and 21st US Surgeon General and was co-chair of President-elect Joe Biden鈥檚 Covid-19 Advisory Board.

Throughout his career, Dr Murthy has been passionate about addressing the youth mental health crisis, the loneliness and isolation epidemic, and tackling burnout among health professionals.

In 果冻影院鈥檚 Sir David Davies Lecture Theatre, Dr Murthy began the discussion by framing social and emotional health as intrinsically linked to physical health.

Dr Murthy said: 鈥淥ur connections to each other are more than just a nice thing to have, something that makes us feel good. They鈥檙e vital to our survival鈥�.

He spoke about why he sees the mental health crisis as the defining public health challenge of our time and about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental resilience of young people.

On student and youth mental health, the Surgeon General stressed the importance of addressing the root causes of loneliness and isolation.

鈥�鈥淥ne university in the US recently told me that in the last 10 years they have tripled the number of mental health councillors they have. That鈥檚 a big deal! And you know what happened to the wait times? Nothing. Because demand also increased three-fold during that time.鈥�

On social media Dr Murthy repeated his call for better safety standards to limit features that manipulate users into excessive use, to limit exposure to harmful content and to protect people from the worst effects of social media.

He also advised the audience to protect key areas of their lives, from their study time to their sleep, from the influence of technology.

鈥�鈥淚 think we should be really proactive about re-negotiating the relationship we have with social media. Because something is commonly done, because it seems to be the norm now, does not necessarily mean it鈥檚 good for us.鈥�

As the floor opened up to audience questions, the Surgeon General was asked about support for children鈥檚 mental health within schools and the barriers to building social relationships among students.

果冻影院 offers a range of mental health and wellbeing support free of charge to students of all levels. Find out more here.

Links:

• Connecting for Wellbeing: An Audience with US Surgeon General Dr. Murthy
• 果冻影院 Mental health and wellbeing support
• Mary McHarg, President, Students' Union 果冻影院

Media contact

Sophie Hunter

sophie.hunter [at] ucl.ac.uk