Student Mental Health and Course Completion

[downer]

I suspect that even having a set procedure for dealing with students who give signs of self-harm is rare. We get training about other things, but not this.

But standard practice is to delegate most emergency-like situations to the dept chair.

[arcturus]

@EPW - On behalf of the student, I thank you for your care and concern. Such events take a psychic toll on the instructor, too. Take some time to relax (or work productively - whatever suits your style) and recoop your own energies. You likely have expended more than you think while finding the contacts and worrying about the student today.

My school has a care team and we are provided brochures on how to contact the counseling center. That makes it easier to determine who to contact, but does not make these situations easy to handle. This aspect of teaching was one I was woefully underprepared for the first time it happened (and still to the day, in fact).

[Caracal]

A little late on this, but when you say they uploaded a bunch of information, I initially took that to mean the student was seeing mental health professionals, but the subsequent discussion seemed to indicate that wasn't true and they were just telling you they were having suicidal thoughts? Regardless, you took the right steps, but the question of what to do about the initial request would depend for me on which one it was.

If the student hadn't been seeing any professionals, I would say that you should hold off on the request and tell the student that you're happy to help on your end but they should focus on their health and safety first and figure out classes after.

When students are dealing with some legitimate health crisis, I try to do what I can to get them through the class, including letting them make up a lot of late work-if it's feasible. However, in my experience students who are dealing with mental health stuff and vanish for large portions of the semester are almost never able to make up the work. If someone is dealing with a problem that has sapped their motivation, made it impossible for them to keep up with classes and communicate with professors, it usually is unrealistic to think that they are just going to be suddenly be able to finish a ton of work at the last minute.

Students in these situations tend to put way too much pressure on themselves and I suspect its often related to feelings of shame and guilt about their mental health struggles. Usually the best thing to do would be to petition for withdrawals from courses, focus on getting better, and get a fresh start next semester.

[adel9216]

So, one of my students who has contacted me sporadically about meeting, but always misses the meetings, just unloaded a lot of information concerning stu's mental health including suicidal thoughts and attempts. Stu wants to make up half a semester's work (turned in zero lab reports, but took the midterm exam). I don't want to sound insensitive and just say no (which I would never do). How would you handle this situation? Today is the drop date and I sent the email up the chain.

I would suggest that maybe it is wiser to take a break and take care of oneself considering the circumstances.

[AvidReader]

Students in these situations tend to put way too much pressure on themselves and I suspect its often related to feelings of shame and guilt about their mental health struggles. Usually the best thing to do would be to petition for withdrawals from courses, focus on getting better, and get a fresh start next semester.

When I interact with students who have mental health issues, I describe these as "health issues" (omitting "mental") as much as possible, and I emphasize that a health issue does not need to be visible in order to be valid.

Also, most of the schools at which I have worked have offered administrative or health withdrawals that are more generous than the regular withdrawals (two schools even allowed full refunds for these withdrawals, with appropriate documentation). I recommend these often.

AR.

[Puget]

Students in these situations tend to put way too much pressure on themselves and I suspect its often related to feelings of shame and guilt about their mental health struggles. Usually the best thing to do would be to petition for withdrawals from courses, focus on getting better, and get a fresh start next semester.

When I interact with students who have mental health issues, I describe these as "health issues" (omitting "mental") as much as possible, and I emphasize that a health issue does not need to be visible in order to be valid.

Also, most of the schools at which I have worked have offered administrative or health withdrawals that are more generous than the regular withdrawals (two schools even allowed full refunds for these withdrawals, with appropriate documentation). I recommend these often.

AR.

I understand the spirit of just referring to "health problems" and I'm sure your intensions are 100% good, but I think it is more helpful to just emphasize that mental and physical health are equally important and valid. When we avoid referring to mental health, we can accidentally signal to students that there is indeed something embarrassing or stigmatizing about mental health struggles (historically physical health euphemisms have often been used to cover up mental health issues). I certainly follow the student's lead in terms of the language they're comfortable with, but I try to always be clear that there is nothing wrong with talking about mental health, and to normalize it as much as possible.

Also, although withdrawing from the term is often the best choice, it isn't for every student. Some can really spiral if forced to withdraw and return home (especially if the home situation isn't great), and fear of that happening can discourage students from divulging their mental health problems to anyone. Staying on campus and engaged can be an important part of recovery for these students. In those cases, a reduced course load (we can do "medical under-loads" here), and/or some incompletes to give more time to complete the work may be the best choice. Of course, if the student has completely ghosted all semester a retroactive medical leave is the best we can do.

[AvidReader]

Thanks for that thoughtful feedback, Puget. I agree that it is important to reduce the stigma of mental health issues, and I certainly don't want to stigmatize them further with my rhetoric! I don't fully avoid using the term "mental health," but I do use a lot of general health terms in my discussions, e.g. "when you are feeling healthier" etc. and I do tell them that they can say "health issues" or "feeling unwell" to people to whom they aren't comfortable disclosing specifics (and that that is true for physical health issues also). I also include things like rheumatoid arthritis in my classification of invisible health issues. There are lots of physical and mental challenges students face that teachers can't see.

I'm not aware of a medical under-load at most of my schools, but that sounds like a great option if the student can keep funding. My most recent school has more than 50% commuters, and my last three schools prior were community colleges without dormitories, so the returning home issue had not occurred to me, but you've provided a lot of food for thought. Thank you.

AR.

[Puget]

Thanks for that thoughtful feedback, Puget. I agree that it is important to reduce the stigma of mental health issues, and I certainly don't want to stigmatize them further with my rhetoric! I don't fully avoid using the term "mental health," but I do use a lot of general health terms in my discussions, e.g. "when you are feeling healthier" etc. and I do tell them that they can say "health issues" or "feeling unwell" to people to whom they aren't comfortable disclosing specifics (and that that is true for physical health issues also). I also include things like rheumatoid arthritis in my classification of invisible health issues. There are lots of physical and mental challenges students face that teachers can't see.

I'm not aware of a medical under-load at most of my schools, but that sounds like a great option if the student can keep funding. My most recent school has more than 50% commuters, and my last three schools prior were community colleges without dormitories, so the returning home issue had not occurred to me, but you've provided a lot of food for thought. Thank you.

AR.

And thanks for your thoughtful reply!
Yes, you certainly don't want to pressure students to disclose any more than they want to (and it sounds like you do a great job giving them options there), I just try to signal that I'm comfortable with them disclosing mental health issues if they want to (that's my research area, so I'm probably more comfortable than average with it and more likely to have students do so than average since they know that).

The situation might certainly be different for commuter and non-traditional age students than on a residential campus, but I think the point still holds that withdrawing is not always the best for the student-- having purpose, structure and social contact can be really important. The key thing is each student should get help making the decision that's best for them, rather than being forced to withdraw as the only option.

A lot of institutions used to force students to leave if they disclosed suicidal thoughts (for liability reasons mostly, though of course they claimed it was for the students' own good) which was really bad-- it kept students from seeking help, and being forced to leave made things much worse for many students. That's mostly a thing of the past (thanks to some successful lawsuits for discrimination under the ADA, and other cases that established institutions mostly can't be held liable of a student does commit suicide on campus), but some places still heavily pressure students to withdraw. 

[marshwiggle]

Will they also be trying to make up a half semester of work in their other classes or is yours the only one they fell behind?

This would be my assumption, and why I'd direct the student to the Dean's office for advice on a much more appropriate level. Given the kinds of problems mentioned, it's hard to believe only a single course would be affected.

[spork]

You've contacted the appropriate staff whose job it is to handle situations like this. Your job is done. Shut down your email for a day or two. Sit on your porch with an iced tea and a good book.

As for the student's original question, the answer is no. The attempt to "make up" half a semester's worth of missed course material will create more problems for the student and for you. The student needs an administrative leave of absence or medical withdrawal, neither of which is in in your power to grant.

Edited to add: before shutting down your email, I recommend replying by email to the person from the counseling center to say "Thank you for reaching out to this student," cc'd to your department chair, dean, and dean of student affairs, etc. so that other people know that other people know they know about the situation. Do this by forwarding the student's original emailing expressing suicidal ideation. This is your evidence that you reported the situation to the appropriate people.

[Ruralguy]

My school adopted an approach that refers such cases to a team that includes the Dean of Faculty, Dean of Students, Academic Counselor, Director of Mental Health Services, and probably a couple of others. That is to say, if any one of those people gets such a referral, they are supposed to send it t the team. Any student, staff or faculty can send a note through a online portal to this team directly.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

My school adopted an approach that refers such cases to a team that includes the Dean of Faculty, Dean of Students, Academic Counselor, Director of Mental Health Services, and probably a couple of others. That is to say, if any one of those people gets such a referral, they are supposed to send it t the team. Any student, staff or faculty can send a note through a online portal to this team directly.

I called the Dean of Students, left a message and they didn't get back to me. I don't think that's a good sign.

[Ruralguy]

If you gave them the students name,  then they went from there. All they really should tell you is that they are on it.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

If you gave them the students name,  then they went from there. All they really should tell you is that they are on it.

Actually, I gave the student's name to the Counseling Center. I'm just surprised that the Dean of Students didn't call back.

[Puget]

If you gave them the students name,  then they went from there. All they really should tell you is that they are on it.

Correct, information flows one way only. The most they can and will do is confirm that they are in touch with the student and taking action-- everything else is private. It can be frustrating, because you care and want to know the student is OK, but once you've reported out, you really have no right to any further information, unless the student themselves chooses to tell you or it is directly relevant to your course (like that they want to take an incomplete). Otherwise, you've done your job now and can't expect to hear back from anyone.