The 2021 Mental Health Month has just ended – in October we gave special attention to people suffering from all sorts of mental health issues. This was also a perfect opportunity to emphasize the importance of support and respect towards any mental health problems, no matter how big or small they might seem. The general attitude towards psychological disorders has changed tremendously over the past decades. The dynamics of this change varied a lot between countries and social groups but overall, there seem to be greater awareness of the importance of caring for one’s mental health, and deeper understanding of psychological challenges other people around us may be facing.
In academia, the issue of mental health is still largely neglected. Many institutions often offer specialist counselling services to their employees or organize events aimed at alleviating some of the psychological impact academic lifestyle can have on scientists (like, e.g., two Recharge Weeks organized at UNSW during the last COVID-19 lockdown). We still, however, lack universal acknowledgment of psychological difficulties so tightly linked to an academic career. The current research culture, by incentivizing productivity and overachievement as core characteristics of a successful academic, lacks mechanisms that would protect the mental wellbeing of scientists. In 2018, Evans et al. published a report in Nature Biotechnology that painted a bleak image of the mental wellbeing of graduate students: with roughly 40% of them suffering from various forms of anxiety or depression, the report concluded that this group was more than six time as likely to experience these psychological disorders than the general population. Independent researchers and faculty members may be similarly affected, although precise numbers are more difficult to extract. Towering piles of to-dos, faculty meetings, supervision of students that we would like to see excel and shine, and grant proposals only add to the constant pressure exerted by the community that seems to value unrealistically productive publishing activity, and that places more emphasis on one’s citation scores than on all aspects of the academic life. At times we are almost convinced the culture has moved away from traditionally valued h-indices and impact factors, only to realise it is like that all over again when we try to submit our next grant application.
Throughout my academic life, I always struggled to navigate this narrow labyrinth of expectations, having to tackle my own mental health issues. Mine were of the kind that could easily stop my scientific career to a grind: severe social anxiety has always prevented me from taking full advantage of conferences and meetings, and my attention deficit disorder (ADD) constantly makes it difficult to stay on top of my tasks and to-dos. For people that have never experienced ADD it may seem bizarre not to be able to focus on one task and lead it to successful fruition: it should be so easy to just sit and work your way through it, right? The key thing to understand is that in case of all similar psychological conditions we are trying to fight our own mind. In the same way as we would not expect anyone to be able to “will” one’s broken limb to suddenly heal and mend itself, it is impossible to wield one’s brain to repair mental illness or neurological differences. Also, as we would expect someone with a broken arm to seek specialist’s help, the same should be true for those struggling with their own mental wellbeing. Thus, in spite of still occasionally heard encouragements to “put oneself together” or “it’s only in your head” – we should never underestimate the importance of good mental health, and we should never delay seeking professional help if our mind makes our life difficult. Psychotherapy and medication are no longer a stigma – and your mind will thank you tremendously for the love and care you can provide it with.
Having said that – it is worth having a few tricks in your toolkit, to ward off the negative impacts of mental conditions you may be experiencing. Procrastination – a milder form of what people with ADD are experiencing – can be managed in everyday life by following a few simple rules:
- Define small, manageable goals (instead of “write the introduction” try breaking it down into smaller tasks, ideally achievable within short, e.g., 1 hour, chunks of time);
- Consider embarking on a journey with a Pomodoro technique – a work management tool that makes large swaths of to-do lists controllable by forcing you to work in small, 20-minute chunks;
- ADD sufferers love to endlessly scroll through social media as it relieves lack-of-focus tension – consider timing your social media attention (nowadays most phone operating systems offer such functionality; be realistic! – if you use social media for 4 hours a day, cutting down to 30 minutes won’t happen and you’ll be more tempted to cheat and override the time limits);
- Be easy on yourself and do not mentally punish yourself for not achieving your goals for the day;
- Try meditation – you can find lots of guiding videos in the web, I can also recommend the Headspace app; meditating regularly is not easy and requires commitment – but it can work wonders for your mind;
- Be honest with your supervisor – they likely have their own mental struggles too!; working together to find the routine that works best for you will benefit both parties.
You are probably wondering – what about social anxiety? For a long time, it has defined my life and the way I participated in conferences and similar meetings. With some surprise, I also learned a while ago that it is a much bigger issue than I expected and that many more people experience similar limitations. Although I have never fully overcome mine – there are some tricks you can use to help you push yourself a tiny bit out of your comfort zone:
- Again – be realistic J If mild social anxiety marks your life, you probably won’t jump into a loud, chatting group of people to meet an academic you’d love to talk to; instead – try planning ahead, e.g., send him/her/them an email beforehand asking for a chat, or try to catch them in a bit less socially heavy contexts (e.g., browsing through exhibitors’ stalls or attending a less crowded talk); such pre-emption requires some strategic planning (e.g., browsing through the program beforehand) but it pays-off!
- If you take part in organising a conference – consider suggesting a mixer or other social gather-up for shy people – believe me, this helps to break ice very quickly and empowers participants with much more self-confidence elsewhere during the meeting;
- If asking a question terrifies you (some may recognize this: you’ve just seen a wonderful talk, your head is buzzing with questions, but you just sit there trying to overcome anxiety, observing with horror all your best ones being asked by others) – make a contract with yourself: choose one question, and on the count of three just rise your hand – whatever happens after that will anyway drown in your excitement and you’ll do great, trust me.
Above all – if you feel overwhelmed – do not stay at home. Meet or call your friends, or just go for a walk. Nothing clears head better than mixing with a crowd of strangers or exploring a quiet forest path – whatever suits you better.
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