Brainstorming department mental health policies

In the comments section of, "Reader query on presenting to a department on mental illness", the reader who submitted the query suggested it might be helpful to gather a list of potential departmental guidelines or policies regarding mental health. I think it's a great idea, and thought we might attempt to brainstorm a rough list of policies here!

Before I open things up for discussion, allow me to briefly float a few policies for consideration. The policies I'm inclined to favor map on broadly to the list of topics I discussed in the earlier post:

Guidelines against stigmatizing mental illness: I'm inclined to think there should be departmental guidelines educating faculty and students about the stigmatization of mental-illness--guidelines emphasizing that mental illness is an illness no less than a physical illness such as cancer; that we should therefore treat it the same way we treat physical illnesses (with compassion, understanding, etc.); that gossip regarding a person's known or suspected illness is inappropriate; that "bad choices" people make while suffering from mental illness may be a temporary manifestation of illness rather than reflective of the individual's true personal or moral character; and that many forms of mental illness are highly treatable, such that a person's personal or professional struggles (and "bad decisions") may resolve themselves once receiving effective treatment.

Firm policies on privacy: I'm also inclined to think there should be clear and binding policies regarding disclosure of illness and personal privacy. As I am most readers are no doubt aware, universities typically have clear policies regarding the disclosure of things like learning disabilities and sexual assault--as well as very clear and binding policies regarding confidentiality. Given that an individual's mental illness can affect their performance in a graduate program, I'm inclined to think that students should be able to disclose their illness to individual faculty members (such as one's faculty advisor) or multiple faculty (one's dissertation committee or even the grad faculty as a whole) without fear of word getting out to others. There is no reason why a student should have to hide their illness out of fear of loss of privacy, any more than an individual with a physical disability or victim of sexual assault should fear disclosing their situation due to privacy concerns. Because making faculty aware of one's illness may be necessary for faculty to understand a student's academic performance or behavior--among other things, again, that a student's struggles may be due to temporary illness rather than defects of character, etc.--I think clear and binding privacy policies are vital: policies the violation of which should be attached to substantial sanctions (which, hopefully, will rarely be necessary to impose).

Guidelines on understanding: In addition to guidelines against stigmatizing students with mental illness, I'm inclined to think there should be positive guidelines related to demonstrating certain forms of understanding--among other things, guidelines favoring patience with students with mental illness. For instance, in some earlier otherwise unrelated discussions at the Cocoon, I've heard some people say that departments should push out of their programs students who are not performing well ("the earlier the better", some have said). I generally disagree with those suggestions (I struggled a great deal in grad school for a few years, but turned out okay) -- but I especially disagree with them due to their potential implications for students with mental illness. For suppose a student is performing poorly, but it is primarily a result of clinical depression or a severe anxiety disorder. Such a student's poor performance may well be temporary and not indicative of their actual philosophical promise. In my view, grad programs should be patient with students with mental illness, just as they would (and should) be patient with students with other physical illnesses, demonstrating understanding when feasible. For instance, if a department gives grad students annual reviews and a struggling student comes forward with and documents some struggle with mental illness, the annual review might say that although the student is not currently meeting expectations, the faculty recognize the student's situation and are willing to work with the student as they seek effective treatment (this is yet another reason why I think firm policies protecting privacy should encourage students to come forward rather than hide their illnesses).

Anyway, these are just a few of my initial thoughts about potential departmental policies. I am not entirely sure about all of them, and am sure important policies are slipping my mind. Which is where you come in! What policies and guidelines do you think departments should have regarding mental illness?

Comments

[Original Anonymous Reader]

Looking forward to hearing the community's thoughts on this- perhaps once the beginning of the semester madness has died down? :)

[Amanda]

I hate to be a downer, but what I have seen in my experience suggests that these type of reforms are not soon in coming. I think a lot of people still think mental illness is an excuse, alas.

[Marcus Arvan]

Amanda: maybe so - but every movement has to begin somewhere. The more of us who choose to speak up and draw attention to these issues, the better the chance may be that things (slowly) begin to change.

[Original Anonymous Reader]

Right, I think it will be one department at a time. My former department definitely has a number of people interested in this- I'm hopeful that my talk will help spark change in that department. And change will be slightly more likely to take place if I can present them with an intelligent draft of guidelines for them to mull over :) I also think I can present the issue in a way that the department can see that it is in its own best interest to make these changes. The placement record of my former department is not that great in recent years- obviously a lot of that has to do with the job market crash. But I think that one way to improve a department's placement record is to have a more open environment with respect to mental health awareness :) For example, in my own case, I was by no means a rockstar, but I think I was considered by faculty to be one of the grad students who had a decent shot at being able to find a job somewhere. Then depression helped take me out of the game. Now I am listed on the department's placement record as someone who did not seek a position in academia after graduation. Whereas, perhaps with a better environment in place in the department [I am in no ways BLAMING the department, my own advisers were incredibly supportive], I might now be listed in the department's placement record as someone who got a job in academia. This isn't the only way that depression can affect a department's placement record, but it is one way. And I think it is plausible to think that if we can improve the mental health awareness environment in a department, we can decrease the negative tolls that mental diseases can have on a department's placement record :)