Beyond the awareness campaign: Varsity students struggling with mental health

Nearly three in 10 university students in Kenya are currently living with a mental health condition. 

“It’s Okay Not to Be Okay,” these are the words you will likely see written or hear being uttered as you walk through any university’ counselling block’s in Kenya today. For the students walking past them, however, the reality is far darker than a slogan. While “the silence” has been broken, a new and more complex crisis has emerged. One where awareness is high, but actual support remains out of reach.

According to the National Baseline Mental Health Survey 2025, nearly three in 10 university students in Kenya are currently living with a mental health condition. For such students, the challenge they are facing isn’t that people aren’t talking about mental health, but that the talking hasn’t led to alleviating the problem.

School lecturers and counsellors note that before, a student not doing assignments or having poor class attendance was usually seen as lazy and lacked focus, but now it’s seen as a call for help.

“Not all lecturers are equipped to handle mental challenges. Additionally, stigmatisation hasn’t completely disappeared. Many students still fear judgment or dismissal from their families and the society at large,” said a lecturer at Daystar University.

For many parents, the realisation that their child is suffering from mental illness often comes too late. Most parents often provide school fees, meals and accommodation, not realising that material support alone doesn’t guarantee psychological and emotional safety. Such students report feeling misunderstood and dismissed.

Brian Tole, who graduated from Multimedia University in 2021, reflects on his struggles with mental health, stating that his school pushed for more seminars and mental health talks instead of integrating professional therapy into their student insurance.

Brain adds that students need more than just seminars. They need 24-hour crisis lines that actually pick up. Additionally, mental health services should be integrated into student insurance.

The shift from “talking” to “treating” is where the system is failing. While the government has taken steps to decriminalize suicide, the 2026 Budget Policy Statement still shows a staggering gap in mental health funding.

The hard work of reducing stigma has been done, but what good is it if there’s no access to medical help?  When one decides to seek mental health services, they often find long waiting lists. Awareness without access is just another form of frustration.

As the 2026 academic calendar progresses, the message from students, parents, experts and lecturers is clear: the era of just talking about mental health must come to an end.

The “Degrees of Distress” are rising. “It’s high time we gave students a system that values their lives as much as their academic credentials. The question is no longer whether we are aware of the problem but whether we are finally willing to fund the solution,” said a peer counsellor.