Since it's #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek let's talk about the specific ableism regarding mental health in academia. There has been a lot of concern about student mental health (see @SarahRoseCrook research for context) but less consideration that lecturers come from that population>

If students experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and other challenges to mental health than the general population (which might be true) then lecturers are likely to as well. Especially if those conditions are exacerbated by the culture of academia (certainly true)>

So there are likely to be higher instances of depression & anxiety in universities than other workplaces. Are we set up to deal with this? No. Wellbeing programmes aside, universities expect staff to work at full capacity & have problems with all sick leave >

Missing or moving a lecture is a real problem, missing a grant application deadline could mean months of work lost. Longer periods of ill health that impact publishing will prevent promotion even for permanent staff, & extend anxiety inducing precarity >

A friend who desperately needed sick leave for mental health issues once told me she would take leave when she had finished the paper she was coauthoring. I said that was like someone with a back injury doing when they've finished moving a pile of boxes >

But she was right. She stopped before the paper was finished and when she came back her coauthor had published without her, taking credit for her substantial contributions. Naturally her coauthor was also her boss so she had no comeback >

Some of the best work in heritage studies is being written by people with no permanent or even stable position. Mostly written without financial or institutional support. Those brilliant people I know are mostly depressed. Of course, it's depressing, but is there more? >

Getting a stable position in academia is a lot about networking and 'fit' (which supports lots of other inequality too) Enthusiasm, energy, focus, and good humour are currency. If you can't perform them, if you are (whisper it) 'flaky' all the brilliance won't get you a job >

I'm nervous to talk about my own depression, and have never included it on an Occupational Health form, justifying myself by saying I've never been medically assessed. But the truth is I'm worried about being discriminated against >

So, it's not just about well-being, or even talking, or even stigma. Academia has to recognise that depression and anxiety need support in our working structures. So that mental health challenges are not a barrier to progression. End.

PS perhaps this also contributes to the 'brightsiding' in heritage policy and scholarship - the unquestioning assumption that heritage is good for us. We've become so used to performing positivity it seeps into scholarship