Keeping the door open: Exploring experiences of, and responses to, university students who disclose mental illness

Abstract

University educators increasingly manage situations where students disclose serious mental health issues. This is a significant issue, particularly for health and human service professions, as the importance of valuing the lived experience of mental illness lies alongside concerns for professional practice standards. Thus the responsibilities of students to disclose their mental health status and the responsibilities of Universities to provide appropriate support within established disability frameworks must be clear. However, students often do not know who they should disclose to, what will happen to disclosed information, and who has access to this information. Student's often fear embarrassment, stigma, and shame about disclosing mental illness, which is compounded by the diverse attitudes, experiences, and beliefs of educators. Consequently, this paper will review existing literature on university responses to, and students' experiences of, mental illness in order to set a research agenda for this topic. The authors argue that such research must be undertaken urgently, in a context of inclusivity in higher education that gives voice to the experiences of students, their families and carers, university staff, and practitioners in the field.

Student mental health and well-being: Overview and Future Directions

“…Mental ill health impacts negatively on academic performance and course completion rates (Orygen, 2017). Mental illness can impede university-to-work transitions, damage early stages of career path formation and the acquisition of work values, work ethics and core work skills (McAuliffe et al 2012). Well-being is an important determinant of successful transition across stages of life and career acquisition and retention (Haase et al 2011).…”

‘We barely survived’: Social work students’ mental health vulnerabilities and implications for educators, universities and the workforce

“…Further, it has been identified that the stigma and shame of mental illness, and fears of discrimination following students through their studies and into the workplace, constitutes a powerful disincentive to revealing mental health issues and seeking help (McAuliffe, Boddy, McLennan, & Stewart, 2012). Martin (2009) argued that "many students went to considerable efforts to hide their mental health matters and in doing so struggled to meet university study requirements" (p. 259).…”

“…Yet Covarrubias and Han (2011) identified that many students entering social work programmes held stigmatising attitudes toward people with mental illness. McAuliffe et al (2012) highlighted further complexities for social work educators who sought to value students' lived experiences QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ORIGINAL ARTICLE of mental ill-health and encourage students to access support services, yet who needed to uphold the profession's duty of care to ensure graduates are fit to practice.…”

“…Robins et al (2017) recommended early interventions for university students, including increased supervision, peer mentoring, and resilience-building curricula. Early intervention may help optimise student fitness for professional practice, prevent costly workforce burnout, particularly early career burnout, and help build a resilient, mentally healthy workforce (McAuliffe et al, 2012;Robins et al, 2017). What is not recommended is action limited to the promotion of individual self-care and responsibility.…”

Supervising Art and Design Students Who Integrate Mental Health Experiences with Autobiographical Research

“…In that time, I have supervised a number of highly gifted thinkers who have negotiated both mental health and creative inquiry. Although a decade ago, McAuliffe et al (2012) noted a paucity of research exploring the ways in which university staff work with students who disclose mental illness, a review of current literature indicates that the situation remains relatively unchanged.…”