Mental Health and Teaching

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INTO Equality Conference 2013 Mental Health and
Teaching
Carmel Browne, INTO Equality Committee
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Mental Health Research Aims and Objectives

• Aim
• To examine the nature of personal experiences of
  primary school teachers with mental health
  difficulties.
• Subsidiary Objectives To ascertain
• The perceived impact mental health difficulties
  have had on teachers professional lives
• In what ways teachers with a mental health
  difficulty can be reasonably accommodated in the
  workplace
• Ways in which we can create awareness of mental
  health difficulties in teaching.

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How teachers became aware they had a
mental health difficulty
I was so tired and so irritable, I was getting
less and less done, I had no energy. There was an
irritability in my stomach there was something
wrong it was kind of a heavy feeling
I just stopped sleeping, that is just what
happens to me I just completely dont sleep a
huge thing was tiredness

I got night time panic attacks At the start
there were mornings when I was driving to school
when I had panic attacks. I had to pull over onto
the hard shoulder and I had to breathe and talk
to myself. I thought to myself if I can only get
to school, if I can get through the door, if I
can start teaching I will be alright
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How teachers became aware they had
a mental health difficulty
Everything was an ordeal, I couldnt make
decisions. It would take me half an hour to
decide what clothes to wear when I went to a
shop I couldnt think what I wanted to buy
I started to definitely feel down, it was kind
of coloured with guilt feelings, negative
feelings. I felt I was no good, that I couldnt
do the job

• 
  

Before I was in charge of everything in my life,
now I feel physically drained, I cant make
decisions or plan to do anything. I am not
comfortable with it on a daily basis but I go
with the flow because I dont seem able to hold
the responsibility that I held before.
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Perceived Work Related Triggers

The first time anxiety came was when I had a big
change When I was going back from job sharing to
full time teaching, it was going to be a huge
jump to go back into the classroom because when
you are out of the classroom like that for a
while it is difficult because you feel as if you
are not going to be able to go back in and I let
that feeling take over and that is what happened
It was gradually creeping up on me I had been
doing learning support for 13 years and then I
was put back in the classroom, that was a huge
shock, I wasnt able to cope. The job contributed
to my depression, I was back in the classroom in
a position I was not familiar with after 13 years
out and then there was the new curriculum
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General Impact on working Lives
I kept thinking I was useless, I convinced
myself that I was no good at teaching I thought
I just cant go in and stand in front of a class
Before, I was in charge in the classroom I was
driven, everything was done and it was done right
because I was doing it myself then my confidence
went. It hit me like a bolt one day the Learning
Support teacher came into the class and I stood
up and said I cant do this anymore and I
walked out, everything was getting to me, I had
no confidence

I compared myself with everybody else and felt
that I was failing all the time, I felt that I
was no good, that I couldnt do the job
I couldnt concentrate so it was very hard to do
a lesson with the kids sometimes if I was doing
a long passage I wouldnt be able to take it in
myself
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Response of Principal
My principal has been fantastic, really
fantastic, she has been really supportive. She
really helped me manage my difficulty and not be
overwhelmed by it
The principal was great, she came to the house
she told me what my entitlements were

Well the Principal teacher knew I wasnt coping
but didnt do anything to help she never asked
how I was getting on in class there was a lot of
things going on and the principals attitude
didnt help matters it exacerbated them really
My principal knew I wasnt coping but didnt do
anything to help. She tried to understand, but
generally her feeling was I dont know what this
is all about so get on with it pull yourself
together and get on with the job ..
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Provision of Reasonable Accommodation
The principal told me to come in as often as
you want and I did, I came into the classroom,
she supported that, I was teaching lots even
though I wasnt officially back and I was
reconnecting with the class, I was facilitated
that way
Take as much time off as you need You dont
have to go back to the same class, you could
think about resource teaching I went into
resource when I went back it did make it easier
to go back and Ive been fine since
It was agreed that when I returned I would job
share. This has really helped me manage my
difficulty especially with my low energy levels
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Perspectives on treatments
received
First of all Id say Deal with it. Go and get
help and deal with it. Talk to a friend about it
If you dont talk about it stress and anxiety
it will become more difficult for yourself
Get help as soon as possible I was delighted
when he the doctor put a name on it, I thought
This is amazing, he knows what is wrong with
me. That was such a relief, it was like a
lifeline
I needed the support of medication but the
psychiatrist encouraged me to try other therapies
as well
In an hours CBT you looked at your personality,
at the circle of anxiety and what was triggering
it I had to keep a diary and look for positives
every day. I found it worked very well for me it
was a holistic way of looking at things
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Self Help
I know now it is quite important for me to give
myself time to do things, just for me, to take
time for meditative moments it might be yoga,
exercise, art or just being mindful of you
time. Mindfulness isnt about meditation, its
about being aware at every moment of where you
are at and looking after yourself sometimes you
have to be selfish to look after yourself
Self help is really important, you have to do
that, look after yourself, have a bit of fun, go
shopping or out with your friends
We often spend time thinking about the past and
worrying about the future. If we do that there is
no happiness in the now. It is important to try
and live in the now and focus on good stuff, try
not to worry about whats happened or what might
happen
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Perceived stigma often associated with mental
health difficulties
I didnt want anybody to know what was wrong
with me. The whole thing was kept secret, I was
hiding it because I was afraid people would think
I was mad. I would have preferred even to this
day if nobody knew
I didnt want anybody to knowI was depressed so
I had to keep a very low profile. There is a
stigma around it depression so I had to pretend
I had a bad back I was so busy keeping the black
lie going that it was an extra burden all the
time having to go around pretending I had a bad
back.
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Teaching and mental
health difficulty
For me I would be concerned about what parents
might think of me ... if they thought the reason
I was out was because of anxiety and depression,
they would not want their children to be in my
class
I feel there is a stigma attached. It is not
helped by the fact that the image of a person who
is a teacher out there is a person who is
reliable and solid and in control and the image
of somebody with mental health difficulties is
somebody who is completely unreliable and not to
be trusted
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Two way process
There is a two way process there and it is not
fair to expect colleagues to be empathetic unless
you are actually prepared to be open about it at
the same time ... I think that unless you have
had mental illness, it is very difficult to
understand
Stigma, the terrible thing about it is, people
who have been through the system would create
their own stigma by not saying it. by hiding it
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Raising Awareness
There should be some education for all staff on
mental health. They should be aware of symptoms
It would be helpful if teachers could understand
the condition
I think in every school there should be
in-service on mental health.. the common
difficulties, the signs to look out for
We can raise awareness by educating people on
the signs and symptoms to look out for
colleagues isolating themselves not going to the
staffroom at breakslook for little things like
people stepping back from responsibility, being
irritable, acting out of character
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Its good to talk
When I look back on it my depression if I had
somebody to talk with, it could have been
diffused straight away before it stress got to
the point that I became anxious and depressed. If
you are able to talk about it, its much better
than hiding it. Your depression and anxiety can
get much worse if you are hiding away. Now I
think that most people are much more
understanding of depression than you think, it is
quite common most people have someone in their
family or a close friend who has depression
Talking has helped because I have been able to
admit to myself how bad I felt so its good to
talk
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Its good to talk
first thing Id advise - talk about it, I think
mostly people are very good about it, there are
very few
Talking about it definitely helps especially if
there is a colleague to talk to, often we are all
going through the same thingthey will be able to
relieve the situation for you much quicker than
somebody outside of the school because they will
understand what you are talking about. I know it
can be difficult when you are in that situation
you are quite paranoid and it is very difficult
to take the first step and talk to somebody but
it is still worth it if you can just take that
little step and talk to somebody
That is the first thing Id advise - talk about
it, I think mostly people are very good about it,
there are very few people who are going to be
making you feel awkward Once I was able to talk
about it my self esteem rose and I felt more
grounded I felt that what I was going through
was normal
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Empowerment
The triggers come from a lot of places, you have
to look at your whole life but the stress in
school is a big issue. I was glad to get the
opportunity to talk about it depression. Maybe
it will help someone else the main thing is
that you have to learn to forget about it
school go home and have some chill out time for
yourself
I may be the person that got the depression but
there are a lot of people around me suffering
from stress and anxiety and they are very close
they just havent tipped over yet. Its great to
get the chance to talk about it. We can all learn
from looking at ourselves
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Possible Supports

• There should be a more collaborative approach to
  planning
• There is a need for more ongoing professional
  development for teachers in newer subject areas
  e.g. science, ICT
• Break times should be sacred, a time to relax
  not an opportunity for mini staff meetings
• Colleagues and staff should be aware that a
  teacher working in a prefab away from the main
  building could feel isolated

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Possible Supports

• There could be greater consideration given to
  allocation of classes in some cases
• All staff especially principals should receive
  specialist training in the area of mental health
  difficulties in particular signs and symptoms to
  watch out for
• Mindfulness courses be made available for
  teachers

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Possible Supports

• A successful return to work for a person
  suffering a mental health difficulty can be
  facilitated by a flexible approach to staffing in
  schools e.g., Providing the opportunity to job
  share or work as part of a resource team
• The possibility of a return to work on a part
  time basis (partial resumption of duties) should
  be further considered and explored
• The INTO should set up a support group.