Zoomed in shot of two sets of folded hands on a wooden table.
Zoomed in shot of two sets of folded hands on a wooden table.

A few weeks ago, we published SIP 16.12, Supporting Anxious Students. We received comments from readers thanking us for explaining why students may suffer from anxiety and how their anxious thoughts may manifest in behavior. In the spirit of extending the same empathy to our colleagues that we extend to our students, we offer today’s SIP about supporting anxious faculty members. 

 

Take a SIP of this

In his article Mental Health in Academia: What About Faculty? Hilal Lashuel (associate professor and director of the Laboratory of Molecular and Chemical Biology of Neurodegeneration in the Brain Mind Institute at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), writes that “the life of a professor is a constant balancing act where we try to juggle personal and professional responsibilities under the pervasive stress of managing expectations in an often hypercompetitive culture.” Additionally, according to a Boston University School of Public Health study, “Nearly 80% of higher education faculty (members) report dealing with student mental health issues and almost 90% of faculty (members) believe those issues have worsened during the pandemic.” Every day, in trade journals and various news sources, faculty members read attacks on higher education, misinformation about the value of a college degree, questions about the validity of science … the list goes on. The combination of internal and external stressors that faculty members face can lead to high levels of anxiety and other mental-health challenges. 

When faculty members experience disruptions in their mental health, they often suffer alone. A 2014 survey of over 2,500 academics by the Guardian found that 61% of faculty members who were facing a mental-health challenge did not disclose their struggle to their peers, and 66% said they didn’t disclose to their superiors. Survey results suggest that the most commonly reported conditions are anxiety (83%), depression (75%) and panic attacks (42%). Keep in mind that these alarming statistics were from before the pandemic. 

So what can faculty members do to take care of themselves and support their peers?

  • Try to give yourself the same grace you would extend to your students. Faculty members are often amazingly generous with their students and fantastically hard on themselves.  
  • Understand that anxiety and related disorders are a form of mental illness and not a sign of professional incompetence, lack of collegiality or a behavioral problem. Framing a comment to a faculty member by asking what kind of support they might need rather than asking them to exert more discipline, produce better work or exercise more self-control may yield more caring and productive outcomes.  
  • Approach peer-to-peer communication with intention. When faculty members are stressed, it can be easy to jump to conclusions or be dismissive. Instead, give your fellow faculty members the space to lean into their stress or feelings of being overwhelmed without judgment. 
  • See this SIP on disclosing your disability. The same principles apply to mental health. If you feel comfortable talking to your peers or students about your mental-health challenges, please do. 
  • Individual self-disclosure and other acts of normalizing discussion around mental health can create a culture of mutual support among colleagues. Look to leaders, such as department chairs, to assist with this culture-building — but individual faculty members may want to “lead up” by contributing to this dialogue. 
  • When possible, try to organize your schedule in ways that minimize potential stressors. For example, avoid assigning a paper that your students turn in the week before you give a conference talk. Or if the winter holidays are particularly stressful for you, consider alternate forms of assessment that can reduce your workload at the end of the fall semester. 
  • Visit the Counseling Center. Faculty members are offered a one-session consultation/referral. Faculty members may also seek free counseling services from the Colorado State Employee Assistance Program. 
  • Be kind to one another! As cheesy as it may sound, practicing acts of kindness (random or otherwise) can improve mood and decrease stress. 
  • Most important, even during high-stress times of intense deadlines, remember to engage in self-care.

Still thirsty? Take another SIP of supporting anxious faculty members 

See these two articles that were cited in the “Supporting Anxious Students” SIP: 

Check out this fun article on kindness in the academy. 

Download a free copy of Promoting Supportive Academic Environments for Faculty with Mental Illnesses: Resource Guide and Suggestions for Practice by Margaret Price and Stephanie Kerschbaum. 

Read Hilal Lashuel’s full article Mental Health in Academia: What About Faculty? 

https://elifesciences.org/articles/54551 

Chairs and deans may benefit from this article.

https://higheredconnects.com/leading-faculty-in-a-time-of-anxiety/  

Visit the Well for more great ideas and resources for Strong Instructional Practices in your higher-education classroom.