Depression in Academia: An unfortunate trend on the rise

Latitude Series

April 15, 2015

Speaker: Akanksha Jalan

Some Facts and Figures

• Traditionally, academics haven’t been a high-risk group for mental distress

• Changing shape of higher education high flexibility in pursuing leisure activities, low-key living gradually disappearing

• High pressure to publish, job insecurity

• Both faculty and students suffering from depression, anxiety, sleep disorders

Let’s hear Prof. Railton – Some ExcerptsThe Gregory S. Kavka Distinguished University Professor and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of

Philosophy at the University of Michigan

• As academics, we live in its midst

• We know how it hurts our students, our colleagues, our teachers, our

families. Of course, most of us are ‘educated’ about depression -- we like

to think that we no longer consider it a stain on one’s character. We've

gotten beyond that. Or have we?

• I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t say, ‘Look, I’m dying inside. I need help.’

Because that’s what depression is -- it isn’t sadness or moodiness, it is

above all a logic that undermines from within, that brings to bear all the

mind’s mighty resources in convincing you that you’re worthless,

incapable, unlovable, and everyone would be better off without you.

• Perhaps if enough of us, of all ages and walks of life, parents, children,

brothers, coworkers, spouses, relatives, deans and directors, tinkers,

tailors, soldiers, sailors, can be open about our passages through mental

illness, a shadowy stigma will fade away into the broad light of day.

• I know what has held me back all these years. Would people think less of

me? Would I seem to be tainted, reduced in their eyes, someone with an

inner failing whom no one would want to hire or with whom no one would

want to marry or have children? Would even friends start tiptoeing around

my psyche? Would colleagues trust me with responsibility?

• I’m now established in my career, so some of these questions have lost

some of their bite for me. But not all of them. And think of those who are

not as well-placed as I have come to be. Think how these questions can

resonate in the mind of a depressed undergraduate or graduate student,

trying and failing to do his work, trying to earn the confidence and esteem

of his teachers, worried what his friends and parents will think, afraid to

show his face in the department, struggling to find his first job. Will he feel

free to come forward and ask for help?

Source: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/25/professors-reflections-his-battle-depression-touch-many-recent-disciplinary-meeting

Why the shame??"Many of the questions we hope to answer are highly abstract; a good deal

of our research is done just through thinking carefully….It is no accident

that rationality and clear-headedness are lionized in our discipline. To

admit that one suffers from a mental illness, like depression, is to admit

that one is prone to bouts of irrationality. If one's audience is uninformed

about mental illness or unempathetic, that admission is tantamount to an

invitation to be taken as a less than full participant in our shared project of

answering those questions….More bluntly, to admit to mental illness is to

risk admitting that you don't have what it takes to be good at our

job. This is why [Railton's] uttering the words he did, even given his

standing in our profession, was an extraordinary act of courage.”

Janice Dowell, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Syracuse University

What does it feel being depressed?• Persistent and prolonged sadness/ ‘emptiness’

• Hopelessness and pessimism

• Guilt and worthlessness

• Loss of interest in once pleasurable activities

• Specifically – loss of hope

• Lack of energy and fatigue

• Inability to think clearly - Confusion and frenzy

• Difficulty making decisions and concentration

• Palpitation

• Insomnia or hypersomnia, difficulty getting out of bed

Are ‘we’ more prone?

• Self-driven and intrinsically motivated

• Lonely souls – please let me work!

• The classic effort-motivation mismatch

• Daily thirst for achievement

• What about the guilt of procrastination?

• Only tunnel, no light: Will I ever get out of here??

Some well-known victims of the ‘illness’

Could you guess from their faces??

It’s not that tough after all!• Learn the art of saying NO!

• Speak your mind – pent up emotions can be dangerous

• Multi-tasking: The solution to your boredom

• Admit your weaknesses and applaud your talents

• Encourage constructive criticism – it’s good for you

• You cannot please everyone – so don’t try

• Stop feeling guilty – you’re never going to shout EUREKA!

• Pursue a hobby – poetry, sports, art, theatre

• There’s at least one person around you who shares your problem

• The world’s busy - No one has the time to judge you

• Start talking..now is the time!

As I bid adieu…

• Good luck to some of the sharpest minds of the world!

• Thank you for lending me your ears – I’ll be happy to lend mine too!