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Last week I did a thread on student mental health during COVID. Now, its time to do faculty mental health. I suspect that the experiences of faculty are quite diverse. I say that b/c if faculty friends have things they want to add to this thread, I'd be really interested (1/n)
First, I and many colleagues are really trying to show high levels of empathy and understanding toward students. Overall, I'd say the vast majority are. Some, however, are not. They shift the burden of emotionally supporting our students to those of us showing empathy (2/n)
This is utterly exhausting. Some faculty are shouldering a much bigger burden than others because some feel the need to have control over something and that something is their student behaviour, due dates, etc. (3/n)
Second, I think there is an unspoken expectation that we are supposed to provide some sense of normalcy. Some institutions are really explicit about this. Others are unspoken. Few seem to acknowledge we are in the midst of a pandemic. This expectation is impossible (4/n)
Third, some members of our campus communities *refuse* to behave according to the rules set forth to protect health of the campus community. Is there some expectation that we are supposed to be enforcers? Or not? I still have no idea. (5/n)
Whether we are supposed to or not, its psychologically exhausting to have to deal with people who refuse to follow the rules set forth. At best, it's an annoyance. At worst, it's an attempt at gaslighting those of us who are trying to take this as seriously as possible (6/n)
Fourth, everything takes so much more time. Teaching prep takes more time. Research (when you get to it) takes more time. E-mail takes more time. Handling student concerns takes more time. I'd say everything takes twice as long as the before times. (7/n)
Fifth, for those of us with children--childcare is a nightmare. There is no consistency in what is happening. Sometimes schools are open. Sometimes they are not. Trying to make informed decisions is hard. That's really making life very difficult for many (8/n)
Sixth, for a lot of colleagues there is immense uncertainty around the financial situation at their schools and what the future holds. I'm a lucky one--this is far less of a concern at my institution. But, this leads to significant guilt for me. (9/n)
Seventh, I have utter compassion fatigue. I love my students. I worry about them--constantly. But, I feel like virtually nobody wants to extend that empathy to faculty. This is impossible and the lack of acknowledgment has become a psychological burden. (10/n)
Finally, for folks like me with pre-existing mental health issues, this is an absolute nightmare and it seems like there is a real lack of structural support to help relieve the very real, constant stress that exists. (11/n)
I personally feel on the verge of a total mental breakdown constantly. I've been programmed to constantly work, get self worth out of my research and teaching, and wrap up my identity with my job as a professor. This has lead to a constant existential crisis during COVID (12/n)
This is hard and I hate it. We need some real structural supports to deal with this. There is light at the end of the tunnel...but Winter (Spring at many places) semester is shaping up to be MUCH harder than this one. Here's to a far more normal Fall 2021. (end)
