“Another teacher was forced to leave the profession for a while, due to her own mental health issues, but felt she had to hide the true cause of her need to step away.”
Weston et al. (2018)
What struck me about this article was the brief mention of mental health struggles that many teachers come to face and how this relates to student mental health issues. It was a reminder that mental health is not just a concern for students, but for teachers as well, which is in turn a reminder that students and teachers are both human beings with very real mental health and self-care needs that must be met before success can be achieved in school.
Teacher “burn out” is real and can be concerning, but what I find even more concerning is that many teachers feel they cannot be open about their own mental health issues and wellbeing. Perhaps feeling “burnt out” is seen as some sort of personal failure, making this something a teacher might not want to admit to anyone. Maybe some think it is inappropriate or unprofessional for students to know that a teacher is struggling with her mental health. But is it the worst thing for a teacher to be open with her students about this topic? Why is talking about mental health so taboo, even though it’s something that affects every single person? Why is the mentality of “suck it up and keep pushing forward” often believed to be the best solution to mental health problems?
Teachers and students both tend to experience a lot of stress due to school, which is ironic, since school is meant to be a safe and engaging learning environment, and stress can be quite the inhibitor of learning and engagement. Fortunately, there are many ways to deal with stress, to engage in self-care, and to improve mental health, both for those that have been diagnosed with mental illness and those that have not. I believe the first step, however, is to recognize and openly admit the problem. If we were to talk about mental health more openly, it wouldn’t be such an uncomfortable topic anymore. I think if students realize that mental health is a very real and important aspect of their lives, and that talking about it and learning how to take care of themselves can improve their mental health, they will ultimately perform better in school. I believe the same applies to teachers; teachers can also perform their jobs more effectively if they remember to take care of themselves too.
Hi Melisa,
I appreciate you bring this up! I talked about student teaching experience with some of our classmates, we all agree that (student) teaching is draining—it takes out so much energy from us, but in the meanwhile, we have to keep ourselves look good in order to stay a professional role. I believe teachers have this feeling even stronger. One of my student teacher friends told me that her CT once experienced a meltdown in front of the children because of all the stress she experienced. After that, school administrators decided to introduce a curriculum of emotions and feelings. Now both the students and teachers are having an easier time to manage their emotions better.
I believe the only way to solve mental health problem is that we are open to talking about it. One of my special education teachers told us that she once saw two cases of a student with a physical disability in the classroom. While one student’s family choose to be conserved with this topic, everyone else in the classroom including this student was quite sensitive; the other student and their family chose to talk about this issue with an open mind. The difference was huge. The second student was able to enjoy their school life better than the first one.
I think it is the same with mental health issues. The more we talk about it, the more we know it, and the better we can solve it.