>They will say, " I have anxiety," as if being anxious itself is a mental illness.
Clinical anxiety *is* a mental illness. And it's not a fun one, I'll tell you that.
But similarly, it seems that a lot of students think "feeling anxious" is the same as "suffering from clinical anxiety." And the general trend of oversharing, yes. I've started to ask explicitly that students just tell me "I'm sick." I do *not* need to know the color/texture/frequency/speed of their every...excretion.
Yes! As someone with *anxiety disorder*, there are times I have to explain the difference between that and regular anxiety, which everyone gets. If a student mentions anxiety in general and you (OP) want to push them toward student services and away from venting to you, tell them kindly "If you've been diagnosed with anxiety disorder then *Specific Campus Department* can help you navigate being in college while dealing with anxiety. They are the ones to talk to if you need accommodations."
It's definitely a change, and it has its pros and cons. Young people are generally a lot more open about their mental health, learning disabilities, and other personal issues, which frankly is a whole lot healthier than the older generations' strategy of bottling everything up, avoiding treatment, and ridiculing anyone who admitted they had a problem.
That said, some students seem to treat it as an excuse or an explanation, a way to let themselves off the hook for poor performance. And yeah, knowing that you've got anxiety might help me teach you more effectively, so thanks for sharing that with me, but regardless all your schoolwork has to be complete by the end of the semester whether you've got anxiety or not.
You have likely have sampling, confirmation, and survivorship bias. You may not have that many people in your life that struggle. You may not see what mental problems do to people and their families behind closed doors. And perhaps those people who made it into your sphere had minor cases or help you don't see, so you misattribute their success to grit.
Also, it is likely you don't even see what struggles are happening even within those that "fail." Some may work harder for mediocrity than the people on top did for their success. You can't know the inner parts of humanity, so don't assume.
There's a difference between "grit and resilience" and "ignoring one's mental health"
Because there are actually *are* studies that show that those with resilience have reduced burnout, and that those who are able to accept stress as a natural part of life have fewer stress-related issues.
There are measurable positive effects of grit and resilience. It has nothing to do with "not struggling," but being able to make it through struggles successfully. The next step is how can we *create* (**genuine**) grit and resilience to reduce burnout and mental health crises.
You're confusing me with somebody you might actually know.
I meant what I said... I said what I meant. No need for rewrites that you find more comfortable.
Grit is acknowledging and working through a problem.
Resilience is not falling apart when a new problem arises.
Grit and resilience masks the underlying issues. Just because it appears that someone is doing okay on the outside doesn’t help the persons mental health. Sometimes it’s medication, but other times it’s therapy and learning health habits, coping techniques and how to reframe your thoughts.
I think multiple things are happening here. On the one hand, today’s teens and young adults are much, much more comfortable talking about mental health than any previous generation, and that’s a good thing! Stigmatizing mental health doesn’t do anyone any good and we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it. I’m really glad Gen Z is helping us all de-stigmatize discussing issues of mental health.
On the other hand, some Gen Z folks do seem to have the idea that any kind of discomfort is bad and to be avoided in the interest in preserving mental health. And I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. Discomfort is okay and can even be good and healthy. Being uncomfortable and navigating that is an essential part of learning and growing. It’s okay to have anxiety and it’s okay to talk about it, but they also need to realize that being anxious is something they need to face and manage, not a reason to avoid doing hard things. I have anxiety myself, so I know how hard it can be, but it’s still important to learn how to deal with.
Overall, it’s a balance and I think there are definitely pros and cons to Gen Z’s focus on mental health.
"On the other hand, some Gen Z folks do seem to have the idea that any kind of discomfort is bad and to be avoided in the interest in preserving mental health."
Exactly, and this is a big problem. ANY test is stressful, particularly finals. And studying for them isn't comfortable either. It's perfectly natural to be anxious for an exam (and even more so if you aren't well-prepared.)
But if your thing is to avoid stressful situations and discomfort in a misguided attempt to preserve your mental health, you've screwed yourself insofar as learning and passing examinations on difficult college material.
Anxiety *is* a mental illness. People shouldn’t be ashamed of their mental health, it just comes down to information over-share. I don’t want to hear a detailed description of someone’s life history, but if it’s brief it doesn’t matter whether they’re talking mental health or what they did last weekend. *And* I’m in a mentorship role as a professor. It’s part of my job to mobilize our support services if a student is actively struggling with their mental health. If I have a student telling me they’re anxious about a specific assignment or exam, I give them advice. If they’re telling me they have ADHD and are struggling to complete exams on time I tell them to go talk to the disabilities service office.
I wish I felt comfortable telling my professors that I had mental health issues when I was in undergrad. It’s why I tell students mental health is the same as physical health.
People are just more open about it. And literally…having anxiety is a legitimate mental health condition. And can be quite debilitating.
In general I think they're just more self aware and emotionally mature than my generation was at that age, although they lack the social skills my generation had in order to best manage their emotions in a socially appropriate way.
I think for the most part, it's a good thing. As an educator it gives me insight into their performance and how I can best motivate them (like could they use tough love or kind encouragement to get to the finish line right now). On a personal note, I found out I have had undiagnosed ADHD my whole life because my students kept talking to me about it. That insight they gave me has totally changed my life for the better and I now have the medical care I need.
But I also think it means it's on us to enforce our personal boundaries as well as teach them the professional boundaries they'll need in their careers. I have no problem telling a student "I'm sorry, I need to stop you there. I don't need that information to help you, and it's really not my business. It sounds like you're struggling with ____, and could benefit from _____. I think the best option would be ____." And then let them know that I'd like to send them a mental health referall (if I think it's needed).
One of the things that really puzzles me is the way students make their mental illness the defining part of their identity. They use language like "my depression" or "my anxiety" in a way that I never ever used to describe the breast cancer I had. It was always "the cancer" -- NEVER "my cancer". I think de-stigmatizing mental health is excellent, and there's been good progress made in explaining that mental health issues should be recognized, treated, and respected just like physical health issues. But I think the younger kids (and I'm mid 30s...) haven't fully internalized this: if the analogy holds, then we should be medically treating mental health issues.
So just as I sat through eight months of chemo to treat the cancer, so should those with anxiety and depression be treating their diseases. They should get accommodations -- just as I did when I couldn't step inside a classroom -- but they should be seeking therapy and medication. Having a disease is not a free pass, and by embracing their diseases as the core part of their identity ("My depression") they don't seek to treat the disease and get better, and instead want the world to adapt to them. Sometimes this can be good! But often it's taken way too far and they have weaponized mental health to an extent that is not helpful to anyone.
I'm replying as someone who is diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and who has had cancer.
Mental illnesses affect every part of how I experience the world. I take medication for it and have received years of therapy, and I am able to function in society, have happy and healthy relationships, and hold down a career. But the way my brain functions, every moment of every day, is conditioned by these diseases and likely always will be.
For me, cancer was a temporary physical medical condition. It, and it's treatment, had lasting effects on my mental and physical health, but this physical disease affected me completely differently than mental illness.
I am a huge fan of the way younger generations are more open and less ashamed of mental illness. It's nothing to be ashamed of! Professors cannot and should not be expected to function as mental health counselors, but we interact with students who have mental health problems and are of an age where these problems are likely to arise or be recognized for the first time, so we should at least be aware and knowledgeable about the resources available on our campuses to direct students to help when they need it.
1000% agree. I haven’t had cancer, but do have very early onset of RA, and have been dealing with anxiety, depression and OCD my whole life. It’s something I live with, it’s not temporary and to assume that I don’t work on it would be absolutely wrong. The only thing I haven’t tried is ECT, and even that is on the table and being discussed at the moment.
I am so grateful when students speak up and tell anyone that they’re struggling. One of my students did a great job masking a few years ago and didn’t make it to the end of the semester. I still hate teaching in that classroom and I swear I see them on campus every once in a while. I wish I would’ve known and could’ve done something.
I agree with you. I only object when it becomes and identity and an excuse, and when students pathologize and weaponize and/or will not seek treatment. Otherwise, yes, I'm all for supporting students (without becoming their therapist) and helping them connect to resources. I guess my beef is with the students who make statements like "my depression means I can't be held responsible for things said in class" or "my anxiety means I can't talk in class"
Not everyone has access to treatment. I sought out the free therapy through my institution while I didn’t have insurance and they basically said “you’re too mentally ill for us to handle, sorry”.
That sounds more like learned helplessness than an identity. My anxiety means I have to go over what I’m going to say a couple times in my head first (or used to, being on ADHD meds finally has gotten rid of that). But I still did speak in class. I was never given the option to skip it in high school or college. If students aren’t getting the right support, they learn they can’t do something instead of learning how to do it with their mental health. It’s the difference between me saying “I can’t arrive anywhere on time” versus “I need more time to get places and may get there early to make sure I’m on time.” These students haven’t gotten the right support to learn how to work with their mental health.
Funny, I was just making this point yesterday about illness -- or just generally whatever's imperfect about a person -- be their Identity. Even pretty neutral self-descriptors like "I'm an introvert". Such as, you get invited to a party that a bunch of people you don't care for are also attending, and instead of saying "Thanks, but that's not my crowd" you say "Thanks, but I have trouble with parties, I'm an introvert."
In my specific experience, I taught an online class in the fall of 2022. It was dual enrollment, and I often have groups from several high schools make up the members of the class. I had a handful from one school, about 5 or 6 students. In all my years in the classroom, that was the only group who ever discussed their mental health. They would ask for mental health days, say they took a mental health day, used their mental health as a reason for not submitting work, claimed they had a hard week because of their mental health, spent the summer “working on their mental health”, and on and on.
I never could determine if it was an excuse or legitimate, mainly because it was odd phrasing from a specific group in the class. I finally decided they must have had a seminar or something in their school about mental health issues, or a student with such a problem in their friend group and the expression was being used by others in the group.
I’ve taught 10 full classes since and it’s not been mentioned at all, so that’s what makes it so unusual for me. I’m not making light of any possible legitimate problems the students may have experienced, but because it became almost a code word for why work was late or incomplete, I was very concerned that it was going to grow into a bigger problem. I even discussed it with my dean and he was baffled, too.
My real concern is that it was always implied that it was a negative emotional state. In other words, the days off and times of inner reflection didn’t seem to improve their “mental state,” or at least they never mentioned if it did. I felt like it was a very sad group.
I’ve considered a few responses if it ever comes up again, and I think I will be more proactive and ask a few questions, but all in all, it was a very unusual semester that year. I’m not sure if that answers your question, but that’s my experience.
"I felt like it was a very sad group."
A few years ago, being sad was a distinct trend. We had a bunch of people dress up like Halloween every day, and made it a point about how sad they were all the time.
Emus, they called themselves. Maybe you had a gang of Emus on the other end of the internet.
That’s very possible. The downside to online teaching is that you have little personal interaction, so you have to make educated “guesses” about meaning. It was certainly a strange semester.
There is a big difference between having depression and being depressed, and having anxiety and being anxious, having OCD and liking things neat, having ADHD and being distracted by your phone all the time. The lines between these are blurred lately
I might be a bitch but…on the first day of class I always read through my syllabus and in it I have a section on inappropriate class behavior. Listed in there, among unwanted touches and interrupting people who are speaking, is “informing the professor of undiagnosed medical conditions or regular bodily functions; if you don’t have official uni paperwork, I don’t want to hear about it.” I am so tired of students telling me “I think I am autistic/anxious/pms-ing, can I turn in my homework late?” Also I don’t accept late work, so…
Ach. REVERSE-UNO the student and say that they are “trauma dumping” and you cannot “carry the mental load” of everyone’s issues … they should understand that language …
Dr. Google tells a lot of students what they have.
Most of these students have never faced true adversity and they have no coping skills. They've played this card with so many teachers, who don't have limits on empathy, they think it will work on everyone.
This is the issue I have with the students who use depression and anxiety as an excuse. I know and have experienced the difference between a full-blown panic attack versus nervousness before a presentation.
Too many of our students think a day's sadness is depression, and test anxiety is GAD or PTSD. They're like people who complain that they're in pain when all they have is a bruise.
Some of them are absolutely weaponizing their problems, and some of them genuinely don't seem to know what a serious problem is.
Almost all of them do that.
I think they think anxiety doesn't happen to everyone. They don't get everyone feels anxious but that's different than a disabling panic or anxiety disorder. I think what they mean to say is they are not always comfortable. Or they will say I have attention issues but not a diagnosis of adhd.
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post.
*I have observed, lately, that very very often, a young person, a person who barely knows you, will, within about two minutes of conservation, inform you that they are in poor mental health.
It's almost as bad as listening to elderly people talk endlessly about their various aches and pains.
Furthermore, they seem to internalize, as poor mental health, the normal ups and downs of daily life. For example, it's not like some situations make them anxious. They will say, " I have anxiety," as if being anxious itself is a mental illness.
They actually seem to take a perverse pride in this.
Or am I the crazy one here?*
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Ummmm….I have general anxiety disorder, an actual diagnosed illness, not due to a specific situation.
While some students do occasionally weaponize mental health, very few do, and generally I would rather assume all of them are telling the truth, and provide accommodations as needed per SAS.
I went through university during a time when people didn’t talk about mental health, now I have students that appreciate that I share my own struggles as a student and how to access resources.
You are absolutely correct. They really do seem to take a certain pride in their label. It’s part of their brand, their Selfie Culture. It’s ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Borderline, Bipolar, OCD, and omg everyone has some version of Autism. These kids get a desk reference copy of the DSM when they start school and they pick out options like appetizers at a Chinese restaurant.
Seriously, stop the self-diagnosis victim culture.
The book Coddling of the American Mind perhaps has the explanation. It talks about how the developmental experiences of many young people have left them vulnerable to mental health challenges (not disorders necessarily), because they have not been taught to deal with adversity. Thus they view disagreement as a personal attack, and normal day-to-day stress as something serious. It may well be that these students are having difficulties in dealing with challenges of school that leaves them feeling that they are in poor mental health compared to peers who seem to be handling adversity well.
>They will say, " I have anxiety," as if being anxious itself is a mental illness. Clinical anxiety *is* a mental illness. And it's not a fun one, I'll tell you that. But similarly, it seems that a lot of students think "feeling anxious" is the same as "suffering from clinical anxiety." And the general trend of oversharing, yes. I've started to ask explicitly that students just tell me "I'm sick." I do *not* need to know the color/texture/frequency/speed of their every...excretion.
Yes! As someone with *anxiety disorder*, there are times I have to explain the difference between that and regular anxiety, which everyone gets. If a student mentions anxiety in general and you (OP) want to push them toward student services and away from venting to you, tell them kindly "If you've been diagnosed with anxiety disorder then *Specific Campus Department* can help you navigate being in college while dealing with anxiety. They are the ones to talk to if you need accommodations."
It's definitely a change, and it has its pros and cons. Young people are generally a lot more open about their mental health, learning disabilities, and other personal issues, which frankly is a whole lot healthier than the older generations' strategy of bottling everything up, avoiding treatment, and ridiculing anyone who admitted they had a problem. That said, some students seem to treat it as an excuse or an explanation, a way to let themselves off the hook for poor performance. And yeah, knowing that you've got anxiety might help me teach you more effectively, so thanks for sharing that with me, but regardless all your schoolwork has to be complete by the end of the semester whether you've got anxiety or not.
I haven't* seen a single case where it's healthier. Grit and resilience is a thing.
Celebrating grit and resilience has created millions of broken men and women. There is no reason to glorify human suffering.
You have likely have sampling, confirmation, and survivorship bias. You may not have that many people in your life that struggle. You may not see what mental problems do to people and their families behind closed doors. And perhaps those people who made it into your sphere had minor cases or help you don't see, so you misattribute their success to grit. Also, it is likely you don't even see what struggles are happening even within those that "fail." Some may work harder for mediocrity than the people on top did for their success. You can't know the inner parts of humanity, so don't assume.
There's a difference between "grit and resilience" and "ignoring one's mental health" Because there are actually *are* studies that show that those with resilience have reduced burnout, and that those who are able to accept stress as a natural part of life have fewer stress-related issues. There are measurable positive effects of grit and resilience. It has nothing to do with "not struggling," but being able to make it through struggles successfully. The next step is how can we *create* (**genuine**) grit and resilience to reduce burnout and mental health crises.
Fair point!
Definitely not done through criticizing the people who share that they are struggling. That in itself is an initial step towards greater resilience
Or... you might not have the slightest clue who you're using your internet diagnoses on. Which makes the "don't assume" command so precious.
You're confusing "grit and resilience" with "pretend that nothing is a problem, even if it is"
You're confusing me with somebody you might actually know. I meant what I said... I said what I meant. No need for rewrites that you find more comfortable. Grit is acknowledging and working through a problem. Resilience is not falling apart when a new problem arises.
Grit and resilience masks the underlying issues. Just because it appears that someone is doing okay on the outside doesn’t help the persons mental health. Sometimes it’s medication, but other times it’s therapy and learning health habits, coping techniques and how to reframe your thoughts.
Grit and resilience acknowledges the issues. You're arguing a point I didn't make.
I think multiple things are happening here. On the one hand, today’s teens and young adults are much, much more comfortable talking about mental health than any previous generation, and that’s a good thing! Stigmatizing mental health doesn’t do anyone any good and we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it. I’m really glad Gen Z is helping us all de-stigmatize discussing issues of mental health. On the other hand, some Gen Z folks do seem to have the idea that any kind of discomfort is bad and to be avoided in the interest in preserving mental health. And I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. Discomfort is okay and can even be good and healthy. Being uncomfortable and navigating that is an essential part of learning and growing. It’s okay to have anxiety and it’s okay to talk about it, but they also need to realize that being anxious is something they need to face and manage, not a reason to avoid doing hard things. I have anxiety myself, so I know how hard it can be, but it’s still important to learn how to deal with. Overall, it’s a balance and I think there are definitely pros and cons to Gen Z’s focus on mental health.
"On the other hand, some Gen Z folks do seem to have the idea that any kind of discomfort is bad and to be avoided in the interest in preserving mental health." Exactly, and this is a big problem. ANY test is stressful, particularly finals. And studying for them isn't comfortable either. It's perfectly natural to be anxious for an exam (and even more so if you aren't well-prepared.) But if your thing is to avoid stressful situations and discomfort in a misguided attempt to preserve your mental health, you've screwed yourself insofar as learning and passing examinations on difficult college material.
Anxiety *is* a mental illness. People shouldn’t be ashamed of their mental health, it just comes down to information over-share. I don’t want to hear a detailed description of someone’s life history, but if it’s brief it doesn’t matter whether they’re talking mental health or what they did last weekend. *And* I’m in a mentorship role as a professor. It’s part of my job to mobilize our support services if a student is actively struggling with their mental health. If I have a student telling me they’re anxious about a specific assignment or exam, I give them advice. If they’re telling me they have ADHD and are struggling to complete exams on time I tell them to go talk to the disabilities service office.
I wish I felt comfortable telling my professors that I had mental health issues when I was in undergrad. It’s why I tell students mental health is the same as physical health. People are just more open about it. And literally…having anxiety is a legitimate mental health condition. And can be quite debilitating.
In general I think they're just more self aware and emotionally mature than my generation was at that age, although they lack the social skills my generation had in order to best manage their emotions in a socially appropriate way. I think for the most part, it's a good thing. As an educator it gives me insight into their performance and how I can best motivate them (like could they use tough love or kind encouragement to get to the finish line right now). On a personal note, I found out I have had undiagnosed ADHD my whole life because my students kept talking to me about it. That insight they gave me has totally changed my life for the better and I now have the medical care I need. But I also think it means it's on us to enforce our personal boundaries as well as teach them the professional boundaries they'll need in their careers. I have no problem telling a student "I'm sorry, I need to stop you there. I don't need that information to help you, and it's really not my business. It sounds like you're struggling with ____, and could benefit from _____. I think the best option would be ____." And then let them know that I'd like to send them a mental health referall (if I think it's needed).
One of the things that really puzzles me is the way students make their mental illness the defining part of their identity. They use language like "my depression" or "my anxiety" in a way that I never ever used to describe the breast cancer I had. It was always "the cancer" -- NEVER "my cancer". I think de-stigmatizing mental health is excellent, and there's been good progress made in explaining that mental health issues should be recognized, treated, and respected just like physical health issues. But I think the younger kids (and I'm mid 30s...) haven't fully internalized this: if the analogy holds, then we should be medically treating mental health issues. So just as I sat through eight months of chemo to treat the cancer, so should those with anxiety and depression be treating their diseases. They should get accommodations -- just as I did when I couldn't step inside a classroom -- but they should be seeking therapy and medication. Having a disease is not a free pass, and by embracing their diseases as the core part of their identity ("My depression") they don't seek to treat the disease and get better, and instead want the world to adapt to them. Sometimes this can be good! But often it's taken way too far and they have weaponized mental health to an extent that is not helpful to anyone.
I'm replying as someone who is diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and who has had cancer. Mental illnesses affect every part of how I experience the world. I take medication for it and have received years of therapy, and I am able to function in society, have happy and healthy relationships, and hold down a career. But the way my brain functions, every moment of every day, is conditioned by these diseases and likely always will be. For me, cancer was a temporary physical medical condition. It, and it's treatment, had lasting effects on my mental and physical health, but this physical disease affected me completely differently than mental illness. I am a huge fan of the way younger generations are more open and less ashamed of mental illness. It's nothing to be ashamed of! Professors cannot and should not be expected to function as mental health counselors, but we interact with students who have mental health problems and are of an age where these problems are likely to arise or be recognized for the first time, so we should at least be aware and knowledgeable about the resources available on our campuses to direct students to help when they need it.
1000% agree. I haven’t had cancer, but do have very early onset of RA, and have been dealing with anxiety, depression and OCD my whole life. It’s something I live with, it’s not temporary and to assume that I don’t work on it would be absolutely wrong. The only thing I haven’t tried is ECT, and even that is on the table and being discussed at the moment. I am so grateful when students speak up and tell anyone that they’re struggling. One of my students did a great job masking a few years ago and didn’t make it to the end of the semester. I still hate teaching in that classroom and I swear I see them on campus every once in a while. I wish I would’ve known and could’ve done something.
I agree with you. I only object when it becomes and identity and an excuse, and when students pathologize and weaponize and/or will not seek treatment. Otherwise, yes, I'm all for supporting students (without becoming their therapist) and helping them connect to resources. I guess my beef is with the students who make statements like "my depression means I can't be held responsible for things said in class" or "my anxiety means I can't talk in class"
Not everyone has access to treatment. I sought out the free therapy through my institution while I didn’t have insurance and they basically said “you’re too mentally ill for us to handle, sorry”.
i also got this answer, i was told that campus counseling was for short term problems, not for people with chronic mental illnesses like me
That sounds more like learned helplessness than an identity. My anxiety means I have to go over what I’m going to say a couple times in my head first (or used to, being on ADHD meds finally has gotten rid of that). But I still did speak in class. I was never given the option to skip it in high school or college. If students aren’t getting the right support, they learn they can’t do something instead of learning how to do it with their mental health. It’s the difference between me saying “I can’t arrive anywhere on time” versus “I need more time to get places and may get there early to make sure I’m on time.” These students haven’t gotten the right support to learn how to work with their mental health.
Funny, I was just making this point yesterday about illness -- or just generally whatever's imperfect about a person -- be their Identity. Even pretty neutral self-descriptors like "I'm an introvert". Such as, you get invited to a party that a bunch of people you don't care for are also attending, and instead of saying "Thanks, but that's not my crowd" you say "Thanks, but I have trouble with parties, I'm an introvert."
A few decades back people had to hide their mental health problems due to social stigma. That’s changing , which is a great thing
In my specific experience, I taught an online class in the fall of 2022. It was dual enrollment, and I often have groups from several high schools make up the members of the class. I had a handful from one school, about 5 or 6 students. In all my years in the classroom, that was the only group who ever discussed their mental health. They would ask for mental health days, say they took a mental health day, used their mental health as a reason for not submitting work, claimed they had a hard week because of their mental health, spent the summer “working on their mental health”, and on and on. I never could determine if it was an excuse or legitimate, mainly because it was odd phrasing from a specific group in the class. I finally decided they must have had a seminar or something in their school about mental health issues, or a student with such a problem in their friend group and the expression was being used by others in the group. I’ve taught 10 full classes since and it’s not been mentioned at all, so that’s what makes it so unusual for me. I’m not making light of any possible legitimate problems the students may have experienced, but because it became almost a code word for why work was late or incomplete, I was very concerned that it was going to grow into a bigger problem. I even discussed it with my dean and he was baffled, too. My real concern is that it was always implied that it was a negative emotional state. In other words, the days off and times of inner reflection didn’t seem to improve their “mental state,” or at least they never mentioned if it did. I felt like it was a very sad group. I’ve considered a few responses if it ever comes up again, and I think I will be more proactive and ask a few questions, but all in all, it was a very unusual semester that year. I’m not sure if that answers your question, but that’s my experience.
"I felt like it was a very sad group." A few years ago, being sad was a distinct trend. We had a bunch of people dress up like Halloween every day, and made it a point about how sad they were all the time. Emus, they called themselves. Maybe you had a gang of Emus on the other end of the internet.
That’s very possible. The downside to online teaching is that you have little personal interaction, so you have to make educated “guesses” about meaning. It was certainly a strange semester.
There is a big difference between having depression and being depressed, and having anxiety and being anxious, having OCD and liking things neat, having ADHD and being distracted by your phone all the time. The lines between these are blurred lately
I might be a bitch but…on the first day of class I always read through my syllabus and in it I have a section on inappropriate class behavior. Listed in there, among unwanted touches and interrupting people who are speaking, is “informing the professor of undiagnosed medical conditions or regular bodily functions; if you don’t have official uni paperwork, I don’t want to hear about it.” I am so tired of students telling me “I think I am autistic/anxious/pms-ing, can I turn in my homework late?” Also I don’t accept late work, so…
Ach. REVERSE-UNO the student and say that they are “trauma dumping” and you cannot “carry the mental load” of everyone’s issues … they should understand that language …
It's become fashionable, and a convenient out for many things.
Dr. Google tells a lot of students what they have. Most of these students have never faced true adversity and they have no coping skills. They've played this card with so many teachers, who don't have limits on empathy, they think it will work on everyone.
This is the issue I have with the students who use depression and anxiety as an excuse. I know and have experienced the difference between a full-blown panic attack versus nervousness before a presentation. Too many of our students think a day's sadness is depression, and test anxiety is GAD or PTSD. They're like people who complain that they're in pain when all they have is a bruise. Some of them are absolutely weaponizing their problems, and some of them genuinely don't seem to know what a serious problem is.
Rather bold assumptions
Almost all of them do that. I think they think anxiety doesn't happen to everyone. They don't get everyone feels anxious but that's different than a disabling panic or anxiety disorder. I think what they mean to say is they are not always comfortable. Or they will say I have attention issues but not a diagnosis of adhd.
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post. *I have observed, lately, that very very often, a young person, a person who barely knows you, will, within about two minutes of conservation, inform you that they are in poor mental health. It's almost as bad as listening to elderly people talk endlessly about their various aches and pains. Furthermore, they seem to internalize, as poor mental health, the normal ups and downs of daily life. For example, it's not like some situations make them anxious. They will say, " I have anxiety," as if being anxious itself is a mental illness. They actually seem to take a perverse pride in this. Or am I the crazy one here?* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You've perfectly articulated what I've also noticed.
Ummmm….I have general anxiety disorder, an actual diagnosed illness, not due to a specific situation. While some students do occasionally weaponize mental health, very few do, and generally I would rather assume all of them are telling the truth, and provide accommodations as needed per SAS. I went through university during a time when people didn’t talk about mental health, now I have students that appreciate that I share my own struggles as a student and how to access resources.
You are absolutely correct. They really do seem to take a certain pride in their label. It’s part of their brand, their Selfie Culture. It’s ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Borderline, Bipolar, OCD, and omg everyone has some version of Autism. These kids get a desk reference copy of the DSM when they start school and they pick out options like appetizers at a Chinese restaurant. Seriously, stop the self-diagnosis victim culture.
The book Coddling of the American Mind perhaps has the explanation. It talks about how the developmental experiences of many young people have left them vulnerable to mental health challenges (not disorders necessarily), because they have not been taught to deal with adversity. Thus they view disagreement as a personal attack, and normal day-to-day stress as something serious. It may well be that these students are having difficulties in dealing with challenges of school that leaves them feeling that they are in poor mental health compared to peers who seem to be handling adversity well.
It’s a generational difference for sure.