I was invited to speak in a Pardee Keynote Symposium on “Encouraging Positive Mental Health in the Geosciences” at the 2023 Geological Society of America meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.

The symposium was part of a NSF-funded grant to explore and ameliorate institutional triggers for mental health crises among faculty and students.

Abstract

Mental health is a pervasive concern in university settings, further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This intersection of circumstances has intensified the dilemma of balancing academic productivity, personal lives, and mental well-being among students and faculty alike. Factors such as uncertainty, financial stress, disruptions to social networks, burnout, and the current social/political climate significantly impair mental well-being. Institutional academic cultures often contribute to these mental health challenges, suggesting that these concerns are not purely individual but systemic within academia.

In my talk, I will explore these contributing factors to mental health crises among faculty and students and suggest proactive and responsive interventions. These interventions include individual stress management techniques and reconsidering how we structure our courses and departments. If we are to effectively address mental health concerns in academia, it is imperative that we collectively work toward creating a supportive environment.

Transcript

I’m honored to be invited to speak with you all today. I’m Adam Johnson, an anthropologist from UTSA. Recently, I began working on the issue of mental health in academia to understand triggers that affect student and faculty well-being and provide timely interventions for the growing concern at US institutions.
Anthropologists like to begin with a story, and here is mine. Just as a warning, I’ll be discussing mass violence and suicide.
Today is my first time speaking about the experience in a public venue like this.
On April 30th, 2019, during the last day of the semester at UNC-Charlotte, students presented their projects in my Science and Technology Studies class. The project invited students to consider how scientific knowledge develops and is situated in the historical and cultural dimensions of the times. The first team was presenting a pre-recorded presentation that looked at the transitional period of the post-Copernican world. Only a few minutes into the presentation, a former student who had dropped the course earlier in the semester entered the room and opened fire.
This event left two students dead, four injured, dozens of others forever scarred, and a campus shaken to its core.
Before this pivotal event, I underestimated the role of mental health in academic settings. While I saw myself as a considerate teacher and colleague, I rarely considered how personal lives intersect with academic pressures to impact mental well-being.
The mass shooting on April 30th was a pivotal moment for me, emphasizing the vital need to promote the well-being of my students and colleagues.
After the shooting, I was invited to co-author an article on academic trauma for the American Journal of Human Biology. Through my research for this piece, I recognized a broader, systemic issue: rising reports from around the globe indicate a growing mental health crisis in academia.
A 2021 study by scholars at University College London found that university students are more at risk of anxiety and depression than peers who do not attend. Research from King’s College London reported that mental health crises among university students nearly tripled between 2016 and 2023.
A 2019 survey by the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors found that nearly 90% of counseling center directors report that the number of students on campus with severe psychological problems has continually increased, and counseling centers struggle to keep up with the demand. Even more troubling, a 2015 study found that more than 10% of surveyed students “seriously considered suicide.”
Faculty are also struggling with their mental well-being. A 2020 study found that faculty increasingly report symptoms associated with anxiety and depression, such as dissatisfaction, insomnia, headaches, GI issues, hypertension, suicidal ideation, hypervigilance, and panic attacks.
As a quick side note, many of the issues I discuss were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, to be clear, the pandemic did not cause these issues—numerous studies in the decade before the pandemic reported on the mental health struggles associated with academia.
I will begin by discussing mental health triggers students experience and interventions faculty can make to mitigate their struggles. Then, I will discuss triggers for faculty and suggest things they can do to improve their mental well-being and support the well-being of colleagues. Finally, I end with a call to action.

Student Triggers in Academia

Faculty are pivotal interfaces between students, their education, and our disciplines. Within this nexus, my co-author and I identified three main triggers that exacerbate student mental health crises:

1. First is financial hardship: Tuition has soared by nearly 40% in the past decade, even as funding was reduced by 15%. Over 80% of students surveyed in a 2018 study cited financial stress as a key driver of anxiety and depression. Additionally, over 30% face food insecurity, which amplifies their mental health challenges and impedes academic performance. Lisa Henry’s 2017 study found that food-insecure students tend to suffer in silence, making it difficult to identify and intervene.
2. Second is uncertainty about post-graduation employment: A 2020 study revealed the dread students feel about post-graduation unemployment, intensified for those with substantial educational debt. To allay this fear, students overload on majors, minors, and extracurricular activities, inadvertently cultivating burnout and mental strain.
3. The final major trigger is course structure and content: The classroom can become an arena of anxiety for students. This is intensified by current debates restricting academic freedom, such as the legislative restrictions on teaching subjects like critical race theory. Moreover, curricula often marginalize non-White perspectives, diminishing the representation of scholars of color.
   In my discipline of anthropology—a field inherently concerned with both cultural and biological diversity—there is an unsettling paradox. Despite our focus on diversity, we lag in student diversity relative to other similar disciplines. In 2018, my investigation of this paradox showed that a lack of representation in both faculty and canonical texts alienates potential majors who are students of color. Since receiving the invitation to speak here, I’ve had conversations with geologists who have expressed similar concerns about the discipline of geology.
   
   Interventions for Students
   
   So, the question is: how do we mitigate these struggles for students? I am certainly not qualified as a clinician to intervene for students. I think it’s safe to assume that most instructors are not. However, there are things that we can do to mitigate the mental health struggles of students.
4. Be clear about available university services in your syllabus and LMS. Students often lack awareness of resources like food banks or financial aid. Include information about Title Nine offices, especially as they help students at higher risk for mental health crises due to discrimination or violence. Also, mention disability services for academic accommodations and stress relief. If unsure how to help a struggling student, consult student services or the university ombuds. Including these details offers students immediate resources and signals that their academic and mental well-being are your priorities.
5. Be intentional about how you structure your class.
   a. Syllabus design is the first step to mitigating mental health crisis associated with the class. We should be transparent about course expectations. Being clear about what we expect in the class can alleviate academic stress.
   i. However, there is more that we can do. The movement to “decolonize pedagogy” is the process of moving away from representing our disciplines with traditional sources – mostly White men. Including more diverse voices in readings allows students who belong to marginalized identities to see themselves in the discipline. Michalinos Zembylas argues that decolonizing pedagogy is an act of empathy that centers a diverse array of student experiences. This can reduce anxiety students experience in the classroom and improve academic performance by enhancing overall course engagement. Additionally, our disciplines benefit because they become more attractive to a broader range of students.
6. Acknowledge that students juggle various responsibilities alongside education. Strive to balance rigorous learning and respect for students’ personal lives. Choose meaningful assignments to maintain engagement and minimize stress. In some instances, this means cutting ineffective tasks; in others, it means clarifying the assignment’s purpose. The Transparency in Learning and Teaching project offers guidelines for curriculum design.
7. Consider the financial strain course materials may impose on students. Expensive textbooks and lab equipment add to their financial burdens. Opt for cost-effective alternatives like open-access texts and library resources to alleviate stress and remove barriers.
   
   Faculty Triggers
   
   The mental health crisis among faculty is an increasing concern as institutions shift toward productivity and profit models. Cascading effects include changes in institutional governance, promotion expectations, time budgeting, and workload. Faculty face multiple challenges, from relocating for work to navigating discrimination and unpredictable funding. For example, women, particularly women of color, are often relegated to emotionally draining, low-status service roles, affecting their tenure prospects and contributing to stigmatization.
   Additionally, the trend toward “streamlining” academic departments creates a pervasive sense of insecurity among faculty as we have seen entire departments, including sciences, get cut at various institutions around the country in the name of profit and synergy.
   Many triggers are felt unevenly across different career stages.
   Contingent faculty live with the constant threat of non-renewed contracts. The shift toward adjunct positions only amplifies their insecurity, often leaving them without essential benefits, including mental health care. Research by Crick and colleagues illustrates that contingent faculty report experiencing exploitation, powerlessness, and, consequently, high levels of mental distress.
   For tenure-track faculty, the ideal of meritocracy clashes with the stark reality of political entanglements at departmental and university levels. The “up or out” tenure structure, dwindling funding, and a “publish or perish” mentality exacerbate the stress of tenure and promotion.
   Early-career, pre-tenure faculty suffer from immense pressure to produce scholarship rapidly while also reporting a dearth of mentorship as more senior colleagues are saddled with growing responsibilities. This group reports elevated stress, anxiety, and depression levels.
   Mid-career faculty, though more secure in their positions, face a different set of challenges, including increased responsibilities that may result in burnout, and a many report a sense of hopelessness as they attempt to keep up with administrative, service, teaching, and publishing expectations.
   For senior faculty, reaching the top of the tenure hierarchy presents its own problems. Freed from promotion pressure, they now shoulder heavier administrative and mentoring responsibilities. A 2021 study found that many senior faculty members, as they contend with associated responsibilities and nearing the end of their careers struggle with questions of meaning and identity.
   
   Faculty Interventions
   
   There are things that faculty can do to mitigate some of their struggles.
8. Some faculty benefit from finding more effective approaches to organization. This can include maintaining a diary or planner. There are online tools available to plan out projects and organize your short and long-term responsibilities. These tools include things like Monday.com and Gantt Chart, which allow you to organize obligations, estimate time commitments, and address competing responsibilities.
9. It can be incredibly socially tough in academia. Arguably, most of us are uprooted from our hometowns and the life-long networks we have to take jobs where they are available. Departmental and institutional politics can further exacerbate this issue. While establishing friend networks within academia through collaboration and mutual interests such as teaching can be helpful, looking for connections outside of academia is equally important. Being insulated within academia can further mental health struggles, such as guilt from not working and imposter syndrome as you might inadvertently compare yourself to your academic peers. Looking for social activities outside of academia can serve as a buffer.
10. Set boundaries. While the pressures to be productive are ever-present and can often feel oppressive, setting boundaries and sticking to them are a boon for mental health.
    a. For teaching – including in your syllabus that you do not respond to emails after 5pm on weekdays or on the weekend sets an expectation for students. This can mitigate their discontent when they don’t get immediate responses from you, something the age of the internet has intensified.
    b. Setting periods during the week that are dedicated to particular kinds of work and confining your work to those is the first step to establishing some work-life balance. This creates more leisure and socializing time, reducing burnout and improving your day-to-day mood.
    c. It is also worth noting that many faculty report that having a dedicated workspace and not carrying work outside of that space can help transition your mind away from “work mode” which can reduce the time you spend fretting about what needs to be done.
11. Get to know your institutional resources. Knowing where to go for support and how to use the services can substantially reduce anxiety and stress. For example, if you experience peer conflict in your department, reaching out to the ombuds for guidance can be a useful step in resolving the issue. Additionally, knowing where to direct students for support can both reduce teaching anxiety and work burden and improve student outcomes.
12. If you need help to support your mental well-being, many resources are available outside your institution.
    a. Telehealth and teletherapy have expanded in the last several years. Since time may be a barrier to seeking mental health intervention, being able to schedule therapy sessions online improves the likelihood that faculty will take advantage of the services. BetterHelp, Talkspace, and Brightside are top-rated online-only services that can provide short- and long-term care.
    b. Self-care apps such as Depression CBT Self-Help Guide, Headspace, Moodfit, and Shine are designed to mitigate struggles through daily interventions such as journaling, meditation, and breathing practices.
    c. Of course, traditional interventions such as in-person therapy is also always an option and many express that they find in-person sessions more productive than those online. This is ultimately down to personal preference and the time you have.
    
    Of course, stress management strategies are for naught without institutional support. Unfortunately, the current and pervasive US higher education models increasingly exacerbate many triggers leading to mental health crises. Recognizing struggles in our colleagues is important, although, for many of us, we do our best to mask our crises. Proactivity can mitigate mental health struggles. Being intentional about how service work is divvied out, having fair and transparent departmental review and promotion standards, and avoiding creating arbitrary work that does not support departmental or institutional missions can help.
    
    For our senior colleagues, as people in positions of authority, advocating for more junior colleagues and molding the institution to be more just and inclusive is paramount!
    To close, academic cultures can contribute to, exacerbate, or even instigate mental health challenges for faculty and students alike. Knowing what to look out for, how to mitigate potential problems, and how to seek different kinds of help are critical components of a successful academic career. At the same time, mental health is not simply an individual concern. All participants in academic life bear some responsibility for perpetuating harmful and damaging policies, practices, and norms of behavior, even if only by accommodation or inaction. It is incumbent upon all of us not only to attend to our own well-being but also to work actively to enhance and protect the well-being of others around us.