Mental health

In this special episode of the agile academic, Dr. Stephanie Gilbert and I discuss our grief experiences and her research on bereavement in the workplace.

Knowing how to approach a fellow educator who’s struggling with their mental health can be difficult; you don’t want to cross boundaries or offend anyone. Here are six strategies for thoughtfully approaching a check-in conversation with a colleague.

Work stress is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to get in the way of a good night’s sleep. To avoid thinking about work in the middle of the night, the author offers five strategies: 1) Make a to-do list. The act of writing down uncompleted tasks decreases cognitive arousal, rumination, and worry. 2) Keep a journal. Writing down your thoughts and feelings, rather than just thinking about them, has been shown to help process emotions and reduce stress and anxiety 3) Exercise self-compassion. Practicing self-compassion allows you to break the cycle of negative thoughts that come with rumination, which is linked to insomnia. 4) Engage in physical activity. Research shows that a single instance of moderately intense exercise can decrease rumination 5) Practice meditation. Researchers in the Netherlands found that even small amounts of mindful meditation (10 minutes before and after work for two work weeks) helped calm racing minds, improve sleep quality, and sleep duration.

Guest post by Dr. Inken Gast, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

on avoidance, value-driven decisions, and fall term in #HigherEd

Respondents to the Student Voice survey on health and wellness feel pressure to do well at different rates based on mental health, with students who describe their mental health as poor feeling the most pressure. What’s going on and how can higher ed help?

In the newest Student Voice survey, students say stress negatively affects their academic success, and reducing stress is their No. 1 health goal. Students also see faculty members as bearing responsibility for reducing stress.

While looking for self care ideas, you're probably reading about massage, meditation, & learning to say no. An unexpected source of energy is your strengths.

A third of students aren’t clear where to turn on campus should they or a friend experience a mental health crisis. Boosting awareness of urgent mental health care resources can involve faculty as messengers, direct student outreach and mobile apps.

Rob Eaton and Bonnie Moon share about building community in the college classroom on episode 470 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

A new advisory out this week from the US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has deemed loneliness a public health challenge that needs immediate attention. And some of those most severely affected are young people.But it's not just loneliness. Across the country, kids are struggling with challenges to their mental health - from social isolation to poor grades at school. NPR's Sarah McCammon speaks to Lisa Damour, a psychologist, and author of the book "The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents", about what's going on with kids and how they can be helped.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Also, what are you reading this summer?

Sarah Rose Cavanagh shares about her book Mind Over Monsters on episode 465 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

On today’s podcast, I talk with the authors of a new book that can help college teachers better understand their students as whole people, while also providing lots of advice for instructors who want to better support their students’ learning. Rob...

Instructors who develop and deliver courses with evidence-based principles of teaching and learning ease course-related student stress and well-being.

Mandated mental-health breaks on campus and a very full March.