Mental Health for Teachers

As we close Mental Health Awareness Month, I'd like to share a story. At the beginning of my fourth year teaching, the Superintendent brought in a motivational speaker. The district was going through tough times, and the speaker was meant to improve morale.

The theme? We can't choose our circumstances, but we can choose our reaction to them. If we are unhappy, it is because we choose to be unhappy. There is a way to be positive even in the worst of times. I came away with the message that any negativity is our fault for not looking for the beauty of a rainstorm.

Background:

The year prior, I found out the day before school started that I was unexpectedly pregnant. My brother-in-law had been diagnosed with cancer and that was in addition to his previous diagnosis of ALS. My grandmother passed away, and then shortly before my son was born, my father-in-law unexpectedly passed away.

At the start of my fourth year teaching, my husband's unemployment from losing his job in the recession ran out before he could secure a job in a county with 14% unemployment overall. Then we found out my mom had cancer.

Sometimes the rainstorm is just a shitty rainstorm and we can't find the beauty in it while the basement floods.

Amid this "find your positivity" yearlong theme, my mom passed away, then we had to move to a smaller house and found it shared property with neighbors who had....frequent visits from the sheriff. Then my brother-in-law passed away and shortly thereafter my grandfather passed away as well.

I don't know if you have experience with depression, situational or not, but my husband and I both got slammed at the same time. It was a really, really hard time.

As teachers we have a lot of pressure put upon us. I was under pressure as a teacher new to the district to be "on" at all times. I remember my formal observations that first year - one in the midst of first trimester morning sickness, exhaustion, and round ligament pain; the second just before the 9th month when every step was excruciating. I was told that I needed to be more enthusiastic and energetic with my students. "I'm not saying that you're not a good teacher. But if you could just...step up the energy a little, you would be a great teacher."

After my mom passed away, the same administrator commented to my BTSA support provider and another teacher that he was worried my performance was slipping. Then another teacher offered to cover my afternoon class every Wednesday so I could attend a hospice support group. I declined, worried that regular, frequent absences would compound the "slipping performance" impression, even if the reason was therapeutic. I didn't have faith that seeking mental health support wouldn't backfire big time, and being the sole provider for a family of three, I didn't want to take the risk. I pushed through. Eventually I did seek assistance through the Employee Assistance Program only to find that there were precisely zero local mental health providers contracted with the program. When I told our benefits coordinator she was surprised, which is dismaying in itself. What good is an Employee Assistance Program if no one in the district knows what is actually accessible?

So teachers. We need self-care. But for some of us, a motivational speaker and positive thinking won't do it. We need an environment that feels secure and supportive as much as we need regular exercise. We need an effective Employee Assistance Program that covers mental health and has referrals to local providers as much as we need regular, quality sleep. We need to know that if we seek mental health services there will be no retaliation. This is a demanding and exhausting job in the best of times. We need to know that when we are facing tough times that our district will have our back, rather than send us the message that any negativity is our fault for not looking for the beauty of a rainstorm.