Managing mental health issues in the classroom

[the-tenure-track-prof]

I teach Master`s level students in a mental health profession and the rate of students in my class who report mental health problems including official diagnoses of serious mental illness is rather high. In the class that I teach there are students with official diagnoses of bipolar disorder without medication, plenty of PTSDs, a number of major depression disorders with medication, plenty of anxiety disorders, OCD and one student with complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder and I suspect but this is not a confirmed diagnosis one psychopath.
This is a graduate-level course that I teach and in one of my courses students were required to present a final presentation. The presentations they were required to present was supposed to be about a mental illness that the student chooses and specific types of treatment that they`ve learned. Some of the students who presented in class talked about their mental illness which was not required nor the topic of the presentation. When some students (5 students out of 23) did that, it shifted the attention from an intellectual discussion about new interesting topics to caution and silence in the classroom. I refrained from making comments due to the sensitive nature of mental illnesses but I was caught by surprise that some of them opened up about their mental illness during a formal presentation especially that the class is not the right setting to handle mental illness and I cant intervene unless a student asks for assistance.
I know from scientific literature and from colleagues in other universities that mental illness among students in mental health professions is a serious concern and it is not uncommon to find students in mental health professions who suffer from mental illness themselves. Some of them are attracted to the helping profession due to their mental illness. My question is: is there anyone here with prior experience with students with mental health issues? Any advice on how to handle a classroom with students with deep needs who bring up their mental health issues in the class without getting involved and becoming their therapist?. I am puzzled as for how am I suppose to address this issue with students/other colleagues/without coming across insensitive towards my students?
I am reconsidering to revise the requirement of class presentations in future classes to prevent a situation where a student presents his mental health condition as an example in a classroom setting.

[ciao_yall]

I teach Master`s level students in a mental health profession and the rate of students in my class who report mental health problems including official diagnoses of serious mental illness is rather high. In the class that I teach there are students with official diagnoses of bipolar disorder without medication, plenty of PTSDs, a number of major depression disorders with medication, plenty of anxiety disorders, OCD and one student with complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder and I suspect but this is not a confirmed diagnosis one psychopath.
This is a graduate-level course that I teach and in one of my courses students were required to present a final presentation. The presentations they were required to present was supposed to be about a mental illness that the student chooses and specific types of treatment that they`ve learned. Some of the students who presented in class talked about their mental illness which was not required nor the topic of the presentation. When some students (5 students out of 23) did that, it shifted the attention from an intellectual discussion about new interesting topics to caution and silence in the classroom. I refrained from making comments due to the sensitive nature of mental illnesses but I was caught by surprise that some of them opened up about their mental illness during a formal presentation especially that the class is not the right setting to handle mental illness and I cant intervene unless a student asks for assistance.
I know from scientific literature and from colleagues in other universities that mental illness among students in mental health professions is a serious concern and it is not uncommon to find students in mental health professions who suffer from mental illness themselves. Some of them are attracted to the helping profession due to their mental illness. My question is: is there anyone here with prior experience with students with mental health issues? Any advice on how to handle a classroom with students with deep needs who bring up their mental health issues in the class without getting involved and becoming their therapist?. I am puzzled as for how am I suppose to address this issue with students/other colleagues/without coming across insensitive towards my students?
I am reconsidering to revise the requirement of class presentations in future classes to prevent a situation where a student presents his mental health condition as an example in a classroom setting.

When you present the assignment, tell the students what happened last time.

When some students (5 students out of 23) did that, it shifted the attention from an intellectual discussion about new interesting topics to caution and silence in the classroom.

Ask them if this is what they want for the presentation. Probably not. Then...

...the class is not the right setting to handle mental illness and I can.t intervene unless a student asks for assistance.

Ask them to come up with strategies if they decide to present on their own illness, and guidelines for the class in how to address the students presenting. You might be surprised with the maturity and grace they demonstrate.

They all might decide, as a group, not to present on their own illness. That's a possibility as well.

Because it's a master's level class, they will be spending their careers grappling with their own, and peers' diagnoses, along with those of patients. So this is an opportunity to learn this now.

[Hegemony]

Most academic stances (not all, I realize) require neutrality.  For instance, if you're writing about the history of Christianity, no one should be able to tell whether you personally are a believing Christian or not.  If you're a Wiccan and writing about the history of Wicca, no one should be able to tell if you're a practicing Wiccan or not.  I realize this is not true of certain kinds of ethnology, but for most kinds of history, literary studies, sociology, etc., it is indeed true, and gives you immensely more credibility.  I hope the students can be encouraged to understand that this is also true of their presentations about mental illness.  Their personal experience with it, whether they have it or family members do or whatever, should not be a part of their presentation (unless that's specifically the assignment).  I would also encourage them to present on a kind that they do not have experience of — that will broaden their knowledge base.

[the-tenure-track-prof]

I like this idea, but how do I ask this question without coming across as labeling the students. If I send this question as an announcement to all students, some of them might assume that I am condescending and labeling them even if they come forward and share with me in emails and journals that they have a mental illness. On the other hand, if I email the students who shared with me their illness, I might also once again come across as the professor who is labeling and discriminating against students based on mental illness.

Ask them if this is what they want for the presentation. Probably not. Then...

...the class is not the right setting to handle mental illness and I can.t intervene unless a student asks for assistance.

Ask them to come up with strategies if they decide to present on their own illness, and guidelines for the class in how to address the students presenting. You might be surprised with the maturity and grace they demonstrate.

They all might decide, as a group, not to present on their own illness. That's a possibility as well.

Because it's a master's level class, they will be spending their careers grappling with their own, and peers' diagnoses, along with those of patients. So this is an opportunity to learn this now.

[the-tenure-track-prof]

I completely agree about the importance of neutrality in the classroom and I have an investigator spirit so I enjoy tremendously to ask and examine questions and I do not like to make assumptions as I truly believe that they mislead more often than inform any scientific investigator or instructor. I also like the idea that you`ve mentioned to ask them to present a mental illness that they do not have experience of to gain knowledge about it. I also thought to ask students to send me a one page summary of their presentation topic ahead of time and before they start preparing their presentation. Thanks for the suggestion.
I would also encourage them to present on a kind that they do not have experience of — that will broaden their knowledge base.
[/quote]

[ciao_yall]

Ask them if this is what they want for the presentation. Probably not. Then...

...the class is not the right setting to handle mental illness and I can.t intervene unless a student asks for assistance.

Ask them to come up with strategies if they decide to present on their own illness, and guidelines for the class in how to address the students presenting. You might be surprised with the maturity and grace they demonstrate.

They all might decide, as a group, not to present on their own illness. That's a possibility as well.

Because it's a master's level class, they will be spending their careers grappling with their own, and peers' diagnoses, along with those of patients. So this is an opportunity to learn this now.

You asked...

I like this idea, but how do I ask this question without coming across as labeling the students. If I send this question as an announcement to all students, some of them might assume that I am condescending and labeling them even if they come forward and share with me in emails and journals that they have a mental illness. On the other hand, if I email the students who shared with me their illness, I might also once again come across as the professor who is labeling and discriminating against students based on mental illness.

You can just share it as a fact - this is what happened last time - without naming names, or asking current students to out themselves.

I'm thinking of it as a discussion in which they, as a group, learn about the impact of sharing one's own experience, how to deal with ways in which one shares one's own experience, and, then coming up with guidelines for the presentation that they can all get behind.

They may decide on their own that sharing an illness with which they have no experience is a good approach. Or that if they share their own illness, they agree not to share that fact with the class. Or, if a student shares their own illness, how they can ask questions in a clinical, non-judgmental way.

[Hegemony]

Well, don't tell them after the fact that they did it wrong.  Tell them before they prepare their presentations.  Something like, "Because mental illness is so common in society, you may have experience of certain types of it in your family, friends, or in your own personal experience.  I encourage you to broaden your knowledge base by choosing a type that you are unfamiliar with, but you are also free to choose a type that you have closer knowledge of.  However, in an assignment like this, it is important to present a neutral and objective viewpoint.  I know this is not true of certain other kinds of assignments, for instance personal essays in composition classes.  However, for our assignment, please take care to present the evidence in as neutral as a way as possible — no one should be able to tell whether or not you've had closer experience with the syndromes you are discussing.  Please do come and see me if you have any questions about this or any other aspect of the assignment."

[drpepper]

I am a clinical psychologist who teaches undergraduate-level courses like Abnormal Psychology and Clinical Psychology. I agree with the suggestion to emphasize the importance of taking an objective perspective. In Clinical Psychology, I highlight how someone's personal experience of a condition may not match those of the client sitting in front of them, so it's really important for treatment providers to understand the difference between their personal experience and the scientific literature (and how relying on personal experience can lead to blind spots).

More generally, on the first day of those classes, I talk about how the content of these courses often lends itself to discussion of personal experiences. While I do encourage students to connect their lived experiences with course content, I also caution that a high level of self-disclosure in class can sometimes have unintended consequences for them (e.g., regret over sharing something on impulse, an inability to control what others do with the information once it is verbalized in the classroom). This disclaimer at the start of the semester works most of the time and I do not tend to have broad self-disclosure. Students are more inclined to share things with me one-on-one, and I offer resources if they are interested.

[the-tenure-track-prof]

Thanks for these suggestions and for sharing your experience in the classroom. These ideas could work and I will consider to use them. I have to see that I am still processing the self-exposure that graduate-level students in my new university did. I wonder if I would have to reiterate and remind them to be cautious about self-exposure and its long term consequences (Since I had to repeat a lot of rules in the classroom and then to receive a question in emails about the very detail that I`ve just explained in the classroom).