Students are increasingly relying on professors for mental health assistance. These professors are willing — challenging long-standing perceptions that it’s “not part of the job” — but they need and want more guidance on how to help, report says.
Maybe more than ever, faculty members are talking to students about mental health. Professors feel a responsibility toward students who are suffering and would welcome better — even mandatory — training on the topic, according to a COVID-19-era report from Boston University’s School of Public Health, the Mary Christie Foundation and the Healthy Minds Network.
At the same time, many faculty members report suffering from some of the same health challenges their students do: nearly 30 percent of surveyed professors report having two or more symptoms of depression.
Two in 10 professors agree that supporting students in mental or emotional distress has taken a toll on their own mental health. About half believe that their institutions should do more to support the psychological well-being of the faculty.
All of this “warrants a strong response by institutional leadership to better support faculty as they communicate with students about their mental health,” the report says.