A reader writes in:
I finished my Phd in 2015 and decided not to go into academia. While I don't at all currently regret that decision, now that I have recently been able to finally be completely free of depression for the first time since maybe I was a little kid, I am able to recognize that my decision not to go into academia was at least partly influenced by depression. In short: I had been taking zoloft since my 2nd year in grad school; my marriage fell apart during my 8th year, and I coped by smoking way too much weed; my doctor decided to take me off zoloft because she was worried about its interactions with weed; during my 9th year I completely lost interest in philosophy (similar to my experience prior to taking zoloft during my 2nd year) and was able to eke out the rest of the dissertation but called it quits with philosophy.
Anyways: I was recently chatting with a few of my old advisors back at [redacted]… We talked about how we think it's really a shame that depression just isn't discussed openly within the department, even though so many people have it. I thought that it might be a good idea for me to come back and give talk, sharing my own experiences with depression in grad school, talking about resources at [redacted], etc. He agreed, so I'll be giving the talk in November 🙂 In the meantime, as I'm thinking about the content and structure of my talk, I was wondering if you have any thoughts for such a talk: What sorts of things might be good to include in a talk to a philosophy department whose students suffer from depression and at least some of the faculty are interested in helping and improving the environment of the department?
I think this is a great query, and would like to commend the reader, advisor, and department that took the initiative to organize this individual's upcoming presentation. I'm curious to hear what readers think. I myself feel fairly comfortable offering suggestions, as I have a good deal of experience with mental illness: I worked as an intern in an outpatient ward for a year, was co-director of a group home for the mentally ill for another year, and mental illness runs in my family, being more or less a constant in my life-experience since early childhood. Allow me to share some of my thoughts, then, before I open things up for comments…
My first comment–which I know doesn't really address the reader's query, but which I still want to mention–is that I think other departments should do what this one is doing: make it a priority to openly discuss ways in which they could be appropriately sensitive and responsive to mental health issues. While a number of studies suggest that mental health issues in graduate school–and academia more generally–are a real epidemic, it still seems to be something that grad students, faculty, departments, and institutions rarely talk about or address openly or directly (presumably, I think, because of the perpetual stigma associated with mental illness). So, I think, this kind of thing is a good first step that others departments should take.
But on to the reader's query. Here are a few topics that immediately jumped to mind that I think the reader might consider discussing:
Stigma: Recent studies show that that there is still a pervasive stigma surrounding mental illness, and that it is a barrier to people receiving effective treatment. I have experienced this first-hand, knowing a number of grad students who struggled with mental illness that kept it a secret from everyone in their program. As I'll explain below, I think this is bad for many reasons, not the least of which is that it can lead gossipy speculation about a person's mental stability, but also to a failure of faculty to understand that a student's temporary academic or social struggles in the department may not be reflective of the student's actual abilities (more on this shortly). Because stigma is such a pervasive and longstanding issue, this is the first thing I would recommend discussing. Few students would be afraid, I think, of telling people in their program that they had cancer, let's say. I wouldn't be afraid of it, at any rate–as I expect people would very much rally around a person with such a terrible disease. I would, however, be very much afraid of telling people that I was suffering from mental illness–from depression, or social anxiety disorder, etc.–as I would be very much afraid of what people would think. Mental illness is a health issue, no less than cancer, or a heart-attack, and so on. And people need to know that it should be treated as such. It is also a health issue that is treatable in many cases, which is why understanding rather than stigmatization is so important.
Institutional resources & departmental policy: Because mental health issues appear to be rampant in graduate school–exacerbated, no doubt, as a result of the inherent stress of graduate studies–I would suggest that our reader discuss the issue of institutional, above all proactive departmental policies, to respond helpfully to students with mental illness. For reasons I'll explain below, I don't think it is sufficient for a department to simply inform their students that there are mental health services on campus. It is important for grad students to have resources within their department, so that students have some opportunity to make their situation known to individuals in their program (such as faculty advisors) should they wish to do so, and in a way governed by clear, binding policies conducive to student privacy and faculty understanding. This is important, I believe, because as I will explain below, it can be very detrimental to students to feel that they cannot tell anyone in their department about their health issues without running the risks that (A) the information will get out, and (B) faculty may not be appropriately understanding of their health predicament. I am not exactly sure what such policies should include, but would suggest that they include some of the provisions below.
Privacy: In my experience, worries about privacy can be an immense deterrent to students letting anyone know of their health condition. Contrast, for instance, what might happen if word that one has cancer got out, versus what might happen if word that one has major depression. In my experience, people generally respond positively to physical health issues, offering support, comfort, understanding, and so on. Unfortunately, at least in my experience, things can be very different with mental health issues. Instead of support, there may be gossip; instead of understanding, people may wonder whether one has the mental fitness to "finish the program"; and so on. Because of the stigma attached to mental illness, there should be a binding expectation of privacy–one subject to serious institutional sanctions if violated, just as is the case with disclosing a student's entitlement to special accommodations due to disability or a report of sexual violence. Mental health issues are, once again, a health issue, and as such should be something students are entitled to discuss with faculty without fear.
Understanding: Finally, I would recommend discussing the importance of understanding. Once again, I suspect if a student told faculty or their department they were receiving treatment cancer, there would most likely be an outpouring of understanding. Among other things, faculty (and fellow students) might understand that the person's health issue may impact their ability to get their work done, perform to the highest level of their ability, and so on. Mental health issues should, in my view, inspire similar levels of understanding. I have known students who faculty thought were "performing badly"–not writing good papers, not participating in departmental events, making social faux pas (appearing angry, morose, etc.), making personally and professionally harmful choices (e.g. abusing drugs or alcohol)–because of their mental health issues. In these kinds of cases, it may be tempting for faculty and other students to think the person is a bad philosopher or a person who is "not cut out" for academic philosophy. Yet, I have also seen people like this entirely turn things around–writing good papers, making better personal and professional choices–once receiving effective treatment.
This is, in my view, one of the main reasons why students should have clear, effective departmental resources and policies. Faculty may misjudge the promise of a student suffering from mental illness, lowering their estimation of the student's promise on the basis of what appears to them to be "substandard performance", but what is in actuality the manifestation of mental health issues. Faculty need to be aware that such "substandard performance"–including "bad life choices" affecting their work–may not be indicative of a student's true character or abilities, but a temporary set of symptoms of disease that may be effectively treatable. In my view, this is crucial. One of the most important–yet very difficult–things for people to understand about mental illness is that a person's "bad professional or life choices" (the way they treat others, the way they comport themselves, etc.) may not be at all reflective of who the person really is, but instead a temporary reflection of their mental health disease. I've seen it many times with my own two eyes: a person having no control over their "bad choices", only to see those choices turn into "good choices" literally overnight after receiving effective treatment. It is vital, in my view, for faculty aware of students' mental health challenges to develop this kind of understanding.
Anyway, these are just a few suggestions that popped into my mind. Do you have any of your own? Do you agree/disagree with the suggestions I've made? Let's try to help our reader with their excellent query!
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