She remembers it vividly, her first summer back home in Cyprus after months of feeling “overwhelmed” by her studies. “For the first two weeks of the summer holidays, all I did was sleep. I was completely exhausted. Even my mother commented on how hard it must have been.” Anna, now 22 (surname and study programme known to the editors), is currently in the third and final year of her bachelor’s degree at UM, but she has few fond memories of those first months. “I came from an education system where we had maybe two exams per year. Here, we had far more. And all those compulsory tutorial meetings… I had to get used to it, but there was hardly any time to do so. Everything just kept going, on and on. I’m a perfectionist; I want to excel, to get high marks. But Maastricht quickly crushed that expectation. The pressure was immense.” Although she ended up doing well academically in her first year, it took her weeks to recover, she says. “And when I had to go back for my second year, all I felt was stress.”
Crying
The stress didn’t go away, even though Anna was better prepared for the new academic year. “I now knew what to expect, but there were a lot of new challenges.” For example, tutors were often absent from tutorial meetings. “There turned out to be a reason for that”, Anna says. “They wanted us to discuss much more amongst ourselves and learn to think critically. After all, no one will hold your hand later in your career – you have to do it yourself. I was being tested.”
After a few months the proverbial lights went out. “I felt utterly exhausted, like I was paralysed. I’m naturally a very optimistic and positive person, but at that point, all I could do was cry. I went to tutorials because I had to, but I was unable to retain anything. Mentally, I wasn’t there.” Anna started experiencing physical symptoms; she fell ill and barely recovered. “My body just couldn’t cope anymore, on top of the mental exhaustion.” She became isolated and hardly saw her friends. Loneliness set in. “You end up in a vicious cycle – feeling unwell makes you pull away.”
Pressure to perform
Marie, 26 (surname and study programme known to the editors), knows exactly what Anna has been through. She came to Maastricht in August 2023 for her master’s degree, just two weeks after completing her bachelor’s in Germany, and she too felt overwhelmed by all the new impressions and the university’s education system. “It’s very different from what I was used to. More exams, more teaching periods, long days, weekly assignments. I felt so rushed. In Germany, you have more freedom to choose when to do what. I studied 10 to 12 hours a day so I wouldn’t miss anything. After the first course period, I was exhausted.”
"Within the university, students are constantly competing with each other – there’s always something at stake"
There was no time to recover: after one weekend off, she was right back in the thick of it. Marie, who had been diagnosed with migraine – a neurological condition that causes severe headaches – in 2021, fell ill. “I went to my study adviser, as I quickly realised it would be difficult to keep it all up.” Together, they decided it would be better for Marie to study at a slower pace, spreading her courses and exams over a longer period. It was a workable solution for her, but one made possible by financial support from her parents – a luxury not all students have.
“It was a great relief, but at the same time I felt like I had to perform even better so I wouldn’t fall behind. I don’t want to fail, and I constantly put pressure on myself, or feel outside pressure to build a successful career or achieve something big. And within the university, students are constantly competing with each other – there’s always something at stake.” Partly for that reason, she sees no future for herself in academia after finishing her master’s degree. “It’s too competitive and stressful. Before you know it, you just boil over.”
Anxiety, depression and stress
Anna and Marie’s experiences are far from unique. November 2025 saw the publication of the third National Monitor on Mental Health and Substance Use Among Students in Higher Education, a study by the Trimbos Institute, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Netherlands Municipal Public Health Services (GGD) surveying over 25,000 students. More than half of the respondents said their studies were their main source of stress, followed by financial worries, personal problems and uncertainty about the future. Four in five students struggled with anxiety or depression, and 25% reported sometimes feeling tired of life.
"The requests for help are often more complex and intense"
This comes as no surprise to UM’s nine student psychologists. The most common requests for help they received in 2024 (figures are not yet in for 2025) were related to stress, anxiety and fear of failure. That year, 925 students came to the daily walk-in hours and 383 received individual counselling.
Over the past three years (2022-2024), an increasing number of students have sought help from UM psychologists. More students made use of the daily walk-in hours and “the number of intake and follow-up appointments clearly rose in 2023 and again in 2024”, says team leader Frederike Vrancken-Hanouwer, referring to the individual counselling programme that offers students five sessions on average. “Students also seem more comfortable seeking help and opening up. But just because they find it easier to reach out doesn’t mean they aren’t in distress – their requests for help are often more complex and intense.” In recent years, the university has invested in additional staff; students can now be seen within a week.
Those who seek help come from all segments of the student body. No single group stands out, including international students, who are often away from home. There are also no clear differences between genders or between first-year students and those further along in their studies. “It’s a fairly accurate reflection of UM’s student population”, says Vrancken-Hanouwer. The university psychologists have noticed that international students who are not registered with a GP or are insufficiently insured for mental healthcare find it harder to get appropriate, regular support.
Help
Marie experienced this first-hand. She sought psychological help in her home country of Germany because she did not have Dutch health insurance. “I did reach out to UM, but five sessions weren’t enough for me.” She has since found a psychologist in Maastricht whom she sees regularly. “We talk about the things that cause me anxiety, stress and uncertainty about the future. It all just builds up at some point, and that’s when you need help. I’ve seen it among other students too – they’re depressed or anxious, and some struggle with eating disorders.”
"I didn’t know how to get help. University psychologists? Where?"
Unlike Marie, Anna did not seek professional help. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she simply didn’t know where to turn. “Our course coordinators kept saying we shouldn’t come to them with our problems. I felt intimidated. But I didn’t know how else to get help. University psychologists? Where? I felt abandoned, cast adrift.”
“That’s truly awful to hear”, says Vrancken-Hanouwer, head of the UM psychologists. She emphasises that they do everything they can to be visible and make students aware of their services through the university website and social media, for example. “But students can also turn to lecturers, mentors and study advisers at their faculties for help and support, including workshops.” The fact that some students still don’t manage to find their way to the university psychologists despite all these efforts “remains a key focus of attention”, Vrancken-Hanouwer adds.
Through a friend, Anna eventually found her way to the student chaplaincy The InnBetween, where she began attending Tafelen on Thursdays – three-course meals organised for students. “One day, I met Glenn Proctor there, one of the chaplains. He always asked how I was doing, and when it feels like someone genuinely cares, you just start to share your story. It happens very naturally; you don’t feel like you’re being analysed.” That is partly the aim, Proctor explains in a written response to Observant. He and his colleagues at the student chaplaincy seek to engage students in conversation in an informal and accessible way to understand their needs and arrange appropriate professional support.
Giving back
There are other places in Maastricht where students can freely share their stories and, as Marie puts it, “feel seen”. “I like going to Thuis, a Christian student community, and I’ve also been to @ease, where young people with problems can find a listening ear. I’ve tried a lot of things.” She is now a volunteer with UnliMited-Students, where students with disabilities, chronic illnesses and mental health conditions support each other. “It helps to know I’m not the only one struggling. It makes me feel like I can give something back.”
“I still wish I’d had a better sense of what studying in Maastricht would be like"
Anna does the same at The InnBetween, where she is now one of the coordinators of Tafelen and, she says, has “found a whole new family I can share my experiences with”. She’s happier now and doing much better, although the pressure to perform is never far from her mind. “I still wish I’d had a better sense of what studying in Maastricht would be like and how competitive it can be. For international students in particular, it’s a completely different world. I expected more support from the university and especially more consideration in terms of scheduling so I could plan trips home earlier. Last-minute flights are often unavailable or extremely expensive. It would be wonderful if there was a bit more understanding of the fact that students are far from home, need to make new friends and can feel lonely. Working hard is part of being a student, but at the end of the day, we’re just people.”