Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #AcademicMentalHealth
Most recents (24)
If you’re considering an academic career, here’s how it works: #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter
Through a highly competitive process you might be lucky enough to be accepted into a #PhD program where you earn something similar to the minimum wage.
Through a highly competitive process you might be lucky enough to be accepted into a #PhD program where you earn something similar to the minimum wage.
In that time you’re expected to do world class research to boost the profile of your supervisor and university. There are regular assessments to ensure you’re on track in living up to these expectations.
You don’t enjoy the workplace protections or rights that the academics do though, since you’re not categorised as an employee and can far more easily be dumped. There’s a good chance your mental health will decline. #AcademicMentalHealth #PhDVoice
It’s undoubtedly the case more postdocs are reporting distress and poor mental health. It’s also true a lot of research in this area is very poor, with limited baseline data. It makes it very difficult to accurately provide appropriate support and interventions #AcademicTwitter
We need absolute clarity if we want to identify the needs of #PGRs and reduce any harms universities are causing or worsening. Ensuring nobody is left out or stigmatised. But so much of the current work in this field is patchy or poor. #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter #HigherEd
As I’ve said so many times I bore myself, we’re moving from #AcademicMentalHealth being an ignored area to suddenly it being a “hot topic” people view as being publishable on. And that is bringing opportunities and major threats. We don’t discuss this enough. #AcademicTwitter
1/4 I will pay $500 USD to the first person, by Aug 5,2022, to provide me with a peer-reviewed journal-published academic research paper that claims Terms of Service agreement as adequate informed consent for research on crisis conversations in USA. My “Terms and Conditions”: ...
2/4 It can’t be this 2019 JMIR paper (the only one I could find, making the claim for #CrisisTextLine), or any paper that cites to it. Must be research on the crisis conversations themselves—phone, text, transcripts, words. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
3/4 Hint: It could be research on conversations to any National Suicide Prevention Hotline (Lifeline/988/Vibrant Emotional Health), US Dept. of Veterans Affairs Crisis Line, Crisis Text Line, Trevor Project—any crisis line. Good luck!
In 11/2017 @Stanford’s General Counsel sent me a letter that included the following detail, a detail still startling to me in the ugliest way: Prof Jay Fliegelman (the General Counsel wrote) assaulted me in 2000 after playing for me a “porno video.” 1/
documentcloud.org/documents/4323…
documentcloud.org/documents/4323…
My response (in 2017 & today): I have no memory of being compelled to watch a “porno video.” (Was I drugged?) I do remember being compelled by Fliegelman to stroke a rare & expensive book covered with waste sheets from an 18th-c pornographic novel called Fanny Hill. 2/
From a 2/2018 article: «“I wanted the full report to know more about this detail that jarred me so much… it was this new detail out of nowhere after 17, 18 years. It was like the story suddenly changed,” Chu said.» 3/
stanforddaily.com/2018/02/26/pro…
stanforddaily.com/2018/02/26/pro…
Eine der (wenigen!) traurigen Dinge am Prof-Dasein:
Die Schulferien passen quasi NIE zum Semester.
Und natürlich wird da nirgendwo im Hochschulsystem auf solche Belange von Familien Rücksicht genommen - selbst nicht @UniLuebeck als #FamiliengerechteHochschule. Als Prof ...
Die Schulferien passen quasi NIE zum Semester.
Und natürlich wird da nirgendwo im Hochschulsystem auf solche Belange von Familien Rücksicht genommen - selbst nicht @UniLuebeck als #FamiliengerechteHochschule. Als Prof ...
@UniLuebeck ... kann man nämlich nicht einfach "Urlaub nehmen" - SH gehört hier wie Bayern zu #TeamAbgegolten - also:
hlb.de/ziel-professur…
hlb.de/ziel-professur…
@UniLuebeck "In den Landesgesetzen wird durchgehend bestimmt, dass der Erholungsurlaub in der vorlesungsfreien Zeit zu nehmen (z. B. Berlin) oder durch die vorlesungsfreie Zeit abgegolten ist (z. B. Bayern)." Super Sache das!
Aber hey: Das ist Nörgeln auf SEHR,
SEHR
Sehr hohem Niveau!
...
Aber hey: Das ist Nörgeln auf SEHR,
SEHR
Sehr hohem Niveau!
...
[ online community pedagogy thread 🤍🧵]
hi, i ran a fully-online first year writing course this term and managed to get 70-80% of my class to show up ALL TERM for synchronous sessions.
i'll show you how i did that in this thread.
here's my syllabus: docs.google.com/document/d/1Y1…
hi, i ran a fully-online first year writing course this term and managed to get 70-80% of my class to show up ALL TERM for synchronous sessions.
i'll show you how i did that in this thread.
here's my syllabus: docs.google.com/document/d/1Y1…
the theme of the course was "community" and i did a lot of experimenting re: how to engage, evaluate and energize communities to self-care and care for others in a pandemic semester where nobody wants to do that but everybody really needs people who can do that.
i was really inspired by @AimiHamraie 's crip technoscience, @SFdirewolf 's covid oracles, @banville_morgan & @brennacgray 's surveillance work and @TheTattooedProf & @Jessifer 's radical evaluation methods. also @smhumphreys 's textbook was a saving grace for this course. 💜
PhD students are systemically mistreated & exploited by the academic system. In Australia, scholarships amount to less than the minimum wage, without factoring in that most PhD students work far beyond work hours & implicitly expected to. #AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter
1/12
1/12
The demands and sacrifices of obtaining a PhD are enormous. Despite being highly skilled, educated & playing a major role in academic research output they are not treated as employees and not granted the workplace protections academics are.
2/12
2/12
They live under enormous stress and highly uncertain job prospects should they choose an academic career path, where demand for jobs far exceeds supply, regardless of field of study.
3/12
3/12
Drug use among students and staff, particularly when self medicating because of the stressors caused/worsened by universities undoubtedly need addressing. Am unsure if/how this proposed plan will centre or undo damage caused by unis themselves.
At this point we have few comprehensive, inclusive or accessible #AcademicMentalHealth policies or practices. We need universities to recognise the role they play in making or maintaining situations. And we need better care and support for exhausted students and staff.
Addressing drug and alcohol use within a context of wellbeing is only going to work if there are structures in place to reduce harms and enable students and staff. That is largely missing and has broken further with the pandemic.
Universities that expect #MentalHealth sessions for students and staff but do not have any budget to pay for this are truly showing how little they value safety and wellbeing. #AcademicChatter #AcademicMentalHealth #AcademicTwitter #gradschool #HigherEd #PhDChat #MedEd
I am asked on a daily basis to write and deliver talks on #AcademicMentalHealth, usually with a matter of days or a week’s notice. With the assumption I can provide this service either for free or a very low fee. It’s a big 🚩 #AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter #HigherEd
This approach from unis is exploitative. If students and staff need training it should be from those who’re experienced and skilled. Whose time and expertise should be appropriately compensated. It mirrors other uni extractive practices. That ironically worsen mental distress.
WHY MEDS WORK AND WHY ITS NORMAL TO BE HESITANT TO TAKE THEM AT FIRST: A thread 🧵(slightly long read so bear with me)
Today was the 1st group meeting of the sem! I usually have silent panic attacks every meeting & mask it by staying silent since everyone in my group sounds so smart & they know what they're doing as opposed to me who's not been able to generate a single dataset in the last year +
I was diagnosed with anxiety & depression a couple of months ago - I was really really scared to take meds since I couldn't believe I wasn't strong enough to produce the chemicals I needed. It took a great deal of persuading from my psychiatrist to start them and cut to today, +
Some accessibility tips for Twitter I've learned over the last few years that are simple to integrate into Twitter use and can make your content accessible for a wider audience. If we are to be allies this is something to think about. A thread ✍️
Put alt text on your images. This can be enabled in Twitter settings and involves writing a descriptive sentence about the image you have tweeted. Without this, the image you post is not accessible to visually impaired Twitter users. @AltTxtReminder is a good tool to remind you.
Capitalise individual words in hashtags (called Camel Case). For example #AcademicMentalHealth. This is important for screenreaders as it will then read every individual word in the hashtag rather than a muddle of blended words.
[thread on online pedagogy 🤍🧵]
1/ i am hell-bent on proving that Discord is not only a useful agent of online instruction, it's better & more accessible than the pandemic canon options. last year i did a talk on this, this year i'll SHOW you how this works in real time.
[img]
1/ i am hell-bent on proving that Discord is not only a useful agent of online instruction, it's better & more accessible than the pandemic canon options. last year i did a talk on this, this year i'll SHOW you how this works in real time.
[img]
2/ the first screencap shows the "classroom", a series of TEXT and A/V channels that by default DOESN'T REQUIRE VIDEO (no wall of blank screens!). it prioritizes text interaction and voice without video. THIS IS IMPORTANT. the left-hand side also features a NUMBER of sorted text
3/ channels that DO NOT DELETE after calls end, and they do not separate between calls. this keeps the text threads fluent and not dependent on synchronous lectures/video feeds. the right panel is the class, colour-sorted into "teams" (for peer editing) as well as avatars etc.
Observations on academia as we move into another term impacted by the pandemic
- everyone is exhausted, lots are fearful about the coming months
- unis are still not attending to student/staff need
- wellbeing isn't understood in terms of work/teaching practices
#AcademicTwitter
- everyone is exhausted, lots are fearful about the coming months
- unis are still not attending to student/staff need
- wellbeing isn't understood in terms of work/teaching practices
#AcademicTwitter
- accommodations students and staff are entitled to have still not been met
- the impact of Long Covid is barely recognised
- staff and student concerns about Covid-19 safety are being ignored
- many conflicting messages re: health and safety
#AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter
- the impact of Long Covid is barely recognised
- staff and student concerns about Covid-19 safety are being ignored
- many conflicting messages re: health and safety
#AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter
- because of the legacy of bad academic practices prior to the pandemic and poor management from unis since, trust is very low
- therefore where support is offered students/staff are wary
- where excellent support is available people are too tired to take it
#AcademicTwitter
- therefore where support is offered students/staff are wary
- where excellent support is available people are too tired to take it
#AcademicTwitter
This tweet taking off is a reminder if something supports your world view you’ll like and use it when you should be engaging critical skills. Here are academics enthusiastically sharing a small Twitter poll as a survey. Try sharing useful and nuanced research - tumbleweed 😢
Also if you’re going to share a poll or anything else your first job is to cite the original. This is basic research practice and it did not happen here as @InductiveStep and others rightly pointed out.
How can we do better when sharing research on academic life?
- use robust research (there’s lots of it)
- cite and link to it
- check against other research
- critique and question
- synthesise research and share
- put it into practice
- tell others how it worked out for you
- use robust research (there’s lots of it)
- cite and link to it
- check against other research
- critique and question
- synthesise research and share
- put it into practice
- tell others how it worked out for you
Anonymous Story #11 - Campus Tutor
We will be posting this story as a thread below but if you'd prefer to read it as a blog you can do that
CW: Sexual Assault, Suicidality
[blog post] disabledinhighered.weebly.com/blog/campus-tu… (1/6)
#DisabledInHigherEd #DEHEM21 #DisInHigherEd
We will be posting this story as a thread below but if you'd prefer to read it as a blog you can do that
CW: Sexual Assault, Suicidality
[blog post] disabledinhighered.weebly.com/blog/campus-tu… (1/6)
#DisabledInHigherEd #DEHEM21 #DisInHigherEd
My community college didn't have disability testing. They required doctor letters that have been written in the past 30 days. The only accommodation was 10 mins extra on test time, nothing else--no interpreters, notetakers, nothing. I'm Deaf. 2/
CW: Sexual Assault, Suicidality
I went to campus tutors constantly to help with notes, then was raped by 1 of them. No investigation. No sympathy. There were no counseling services. 3/
I went to campus tutors constantly to help with notes, then was raped by 1 of them. No investigation. No sympathy. There were no counseling services. 3/
Anonymous Story #10 - Removed from Campus
We will be posting this story as a thread below but if you'd prefer to read it as a blog you can do that [blog post] disabledinhighered.weebly.com/blog/october-2… (1/7)
#DisabledInHigherEd #DEHEM21 #DisInHigherEd
We will be posting this story as a thread below but if you'd prefer to read it as a blog you can do that [blog post] disabledinhighered.weebly.com/blog/october-2… (1/7)
#DisabledInHigherEd #DEHEM21 #DisInHigherEd
Content Warning: PTSD, Bipolar Mania
I want to let people know my story, but I wish to remain anonymous because of the stigma. I have bipolar 1, autism, C-PTSD, and a constellation of chronic physical illnesses. 2/
I want to let people know my story, but I wish to remain anonymous because of the stigma. I have bipolar 1, autism, C-PTSD, and a constellation of chronic physical illnesses. 2/
My first semester of college, the only mental health diagnosis I had was PTSD, so I had no idea I am bipolar. I was experiencing my worst ever manic episode for over four months my whole first semester, and although I remember very little, I can tell you the outcome. 3/
1/ Thread: This thread will discuss my journey into mental health, disability, and DEI advocacy in higher academia: it started because struggling with my mental illnesses as a Latina in a STEM degree felt alienating.
2/ Per my last thread: many marginalized folks involved with advocacy in academia speak out and do extra work because of traumatic experiences. For me, I needed an outlet. I pursued self-advocacy and advocacy to stay in my field and higher education.
3/ I also speak out to normalize mental illness and bringing awareness that disabled people deserve a seat at the table with DEI initiatives. Higher education was not built with mental health and disability in mind.
1/ CW: Mental illness + depression
Thread: This is my story about my hospitalization and recovery Fall semester of my Senior year October 2018: I had to put my life on hold, and I could no longer hide my struggles with mental illness anymore.
Thread: This is my story about my hospitalization and recovery Fall semester of my Senior year October 2018: I had to put my life on hold, and I could no longer hide my struggles with mental illness anymore.
2/ One thing I wish I learned earlier before recovery was that the system is the system was not built for folks that struggle with mental health + mental illness. I spent so much energy trying to fight it – a lot of it was due to internalized ableism.
3/ Hospitalization opened my eyes – I was going down a path overworking and perfection that was not sustainable and lead me to destruction. That week, I slowly transitioned from denial and self-hatred to acceptance of my conditions.
CW / mental illness, suicide
Thread: This is my story of being diagnosed with severe depression, bipolar (II), panic, and anxiety disorders in the middle of my undergraduate career while prioritizing my grades and work over my mental health and well-being. 1/
Thread: This is my story of being diagnosed with severe depression, bipolar (II), panic, and anxiety disorders in the middle of my undergraduate career while prioritizing my grades and work over my mental health and well-being. 1/
2/ I always struggled with anxiety and situational depression throughout my life and childhood. I was able to cope with these things and compartmentalize them because mental health and illness is stigmatized and is a ‘taboo’ in Mexican American culture. I hid it the best I could.
3/ Entering a math & physics-intensive major as one of the first in my family to pursue STEM, I felt like I was sinking before I was swimming. I had no idea what to do or how to do it. Based on my experiences in my culture, we believe working hard and doing it ourselves.
Thread: This week, we’re talking about disability-related minority stress and highlighting the disabled academics advancing this area of research.
What is minority stress?
1/
What is minority stress?
1/
Minority stress is defined as chronic stress experienced by members of stigmatized minority groups due to marginalization, objectification, discrimination, and internalized stigma among others.
2/
2/
Minority stress has been linked to both mental and physical health disparities, including hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, substance abuse, depression, suicidality, and adverse birth outcomes.
3/
3/
Anxiety Struggles: What you see VS what the person living with anxiety feels
This list might not reflect everyone's lived experience of anxiety. So pls feel free to add to this thread! 🙂
Source: BlessingManifesting
#AcademicMentalHealth #PhDVoice @OpenAcademics @PhD_Balance
This list might not reflect everyone's lived experience of anxiety. So pls feel free to add to this thread! 🙂
Source: BlessingManifesting
#AcademicMentalHealth #PhDVoice @OpenAcademics @PhD_Balance
ALT text (1/)
What you see: Needy
What I feel: It's difficult to go places and do things by myself
What you see: Not a Team Player
What I feel: Group settings either make me shut down or do everything myself.
What you see: Needy
What I feel: It's difficult to go places and do things by myself
What you see: Not a Team Player
What I feel: Group settings either make me shut down or do everything myself.
ALT text (2/)
What you see: Ignores you
What I feel: I love you but it's hard to invite you over or answer calls/text/ emails
What you see: Homebody
What I feel: I want to go, but I am too anxious and overwhelmed to go. I'm sorry.
What you see: Ignores you
What I feel: I love you but it's hard to invite you over or answer calls/text/ emails
What you see: Homebody
What I feel: I want to go, but I am too anxious and overwhelmed to go. I'm sorry.
(1/) Over the last few weeks, we've been working on a very special video series, and we're so happy to finally share it with you! 🌻💚
Presenting "Some days are better than others" (Part 1):
#AcademicMentalHealth #PhDVoice #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
Presenting "Some days are better than others" (Part 1):
#AcademicMentalHealth #PhDVoice #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
(2/) When talking about mental health (MH) in academia, there’s often discussion about how the individual can cope. But there isn’t enough focus on the day-to-day experiences and struggles that come with mental illness or MH issues, and on the people living with mental illness.
(3/) Through the experiences and stories shared in this video series, let's try to focus on the bad days and on just how difficult it is for someone living with mental illness to do basic life tasks, work, show up, and survive on these particularly bad days.
The Ghost 👻 - Never available. You have much less contact time than you need, but you get gaslit due to statements like "a good PhD candidate just gets on with stuff". Really you just aren't getting enough guidance.
The Paper Mill 📃- Sees you as nothing more than a way to bolster their tenure bid, and pushes you to the brink to produce papers, pretending that breaking point is for your benefit. Spoiler, it isn't.
I had two research papers accepted today. TWO! And a third was accepted two weeks ago. I am thrilled these projects are going to see the light of day, but I need to be honest about how draining it has been to do so much work in my free time that I am no longer being paid to do.
Academia left me in June 2020, yet I am still finishing out projects from my post-doc. In what other career are you expected to continue doing your old job — unpaid — for months and years after your last day at work? This is an abusive practice, & we need to stop normalizing it.
There should be a clean slate, especially as you transition your career out of academia. But there isn’t. You feel like you have opened the window and begun to crawl out, but one leg is stuck.
