In Academic Culture, Mental-Health Problems are Hard to Recognize and Hard to Treat

I came across an article, as I’m sure others have, that appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled In Academic Culture, Mental-Health Problems Are Hard to Recognize and Hard to Treat by Jennifer Ruark. The article focused on the shooting deaths of “three biology professors at the University of Alabama at Huntsville.”

The article lays out the multiple aspects that relate to the difficulty of the universities burden of assessing the mental health of its employees. I thought that he article was interesting because the focus was the difficulty of assessment and the burden falls on those who are not trained in this type of assessment.

The premise was that the university system needs to step up its procedures relating to the identification and mandated support of those struggling with mental health issues. The article identified that those who work in higher education experience more stress than their private sector peers. What I found interesting was that the author wrote of the responsibility falling on the department heads to assess the health of the individuals in the department.

I found it interesting that the world of higher education feels that it can assess an individual’s health without the necessary tools and training. Issues such as academic freedom and misunderstood brilliancy complicate an already delicate situation. The article made me uncomfortable to say the least however, I struggle to identify a better option.