The right to imperfection: why the university must remain a safe place, beyond learning
I don't particularly like celebrating anniversaries, but today, 10 October, is World Mental Health Day and I think it deserves attention.
We often hear it repeated that fragility is the disease of our times and that the new generations are its predestined victims. Moreover, the current historical situation leaves no room for particular certainty: wars, climate crises, technological revolutions seem to further fuel anxiety, insecurity and indecision. Factors that are not theoretical.
Wellbeing statistics (source: ISTAT) show a worrying worsening of the mental health index between the ages of 14 and 19. This unease is exacerbated in the academic environment, where the pressure to succeed is very high. To investigate these issues, in 2025 the Politecnico di Milano carried out the first internal survey on perceived academic stress and the individual psychophysical wellbeing of students and doctoral students. Around 25 per cent of our almost 50,000 students and half of the more than 2,000 doctoral students responded, which is evidence of the attention paid to these issues. More than half of the respondents report anxiety disorders and a lack of self-esteem.
Over the past few days, I have been greeting new freshmen and attending graduation celebrations. I have been thinking about what we are leaving to these boys and girls and what tools (the peaceful weapons of thought) can help them to face a world in turmoil. I have been wondering whether knowledge is really an armour or rather an additional source of doubt. "I know that I do not know," Socrates reminded us. And although we have never been so educated and informed as we are today, there are still many things we do not know and aspects of our existence that we do not master. Just think of artificial intelligence: a car that drives at full speed, but mostly with the lights off. We talk about ethics, critical thinking, but the pace dictated by technology is often antithetical to that of reflection.
And it is precisely in these spaces of uncertainty that mental health becomes a central issue. Universities, in addition to being places of learning, should remain safe places: not only physically, but emotionally. Spaces where students can feel welcome and supported in their difficulties, without fear of stigma. Where they find the tools to understand what is happening around them.
