How To Talk To Your Professors About Your Mental Illness

For many students, academic pressure can cause or contribute to existing mental health challenges. Adjusting to a college course load and high expectations (both internally and externally) are just two of the many reasons that most students reported feeling overwhelmed at some point within the past year, and nearly a third remark that stress has negatively impacted their grades. 

With rigid deadlines and attendance policies, students can quickly feel like they are falling behind. Additionally, social stigma surrounding mental illness can often make students feel like they should cope with these struggles in silence, even if mental healthcare is available from a number of sources, including their college campus health center, nonprofit mental health groups, or online therapy.

If you are a student living with mental illness or mental health challenges, you are not alone. Whether or not you have been diagnosed with a mental illness, you deserve to feel supported in both your academic pursuits as well as your psychological well-being. Talking about mental illness is not always easy, but it is important that your professors and support system are aware of what you may be experiencing. Talking to a therapist can help you navigate how to start this discussion and create a path forward. This article will walk you through strategies and tips for addressing your needs with your professors.

The benefits of speaking up about your mental illness

Whether you are a student with a diagnosed mental illness or you’re experiencing a general decline in mental health, your symptoms can have an enormous impact on your comfort in a class setting as well as your academic performance. If certain components of a class are typically strenuous for you, such as public speaking, complicated assignments, or short deadlines, then speaking up can be important for your well-being. 

Speaking with your professors or exploring mental health resources offered by your school often has many benefits for maintaining mental wellness both in and out of the classroom. For example:

• Speaking with your professor about your mental illness may help you both identify specific triggers or hardships and find solutions. For example, your professor may excuse you from attending a class covering potentially triggering topics, or they may be able to have an exam date moved. Getting on the same page towards the beginning half of the semester can allow your professor to accommodate requests proactively and help you avoid a failing grade. 
• Acknowledging your mental illness often builds self-agency. Standing up for your needs is a commonly used strategy to improve confidence in yourself. By approaching your professor, you will have stood up for your needs, and the next conversation may feel less intimidating as your confidence grows.
• Discussing your mental health struggles can help decrease self-stigma. It can be easy to internalize the stigma around mental illness in our society, but by speaking about mental health issues openly, you can empower yourself to accept the validity of your mental illness. An open and honest chat to let your professor know about your current challenges related to your class – an extension for missed class work or missed assignments, partial credit for a late assignment, participation points, or a modified class syllabus with some due dates moved, may be all that’s needed.
• By speaking up and decreasing your own self-stigma, you are likely making an easier path for the next student to approach that instructor about their mental illness. Your own courage could help someone else facing a similar challenge next semester.

Taking the first step in discussing your mental illness

The first step of initiating the conversation can be nerve-wracking. Remind yourself that by making this move, you are doing something valuable: you are advocating for yourself and your mental health, even if the idea of that sounds frustrating. You can usually find your instructor's office hours on your syllabus, or you can send a simple email asking if you could make an appointment to meet with them outside of class.

What to say to your professor

Finding the words to explain your mental illness or other personal issues can also be intimidating; you may fear that a professor will judge you or think that you are making excuses. Creating a script or brief notes can be very helpful for getting your point across during your initial meeting. It’s not necessary to reveal your entire mental health history, but it is important to discuss your current struggles.

Since classes and individual professors differ in style and expectations, it can be beneficial to allow for your instructor's input. They may have specific accommodations in mind or further questions or comments. Making a plan together allows for an arrangement that works for both of you. 

Mental illnesses and challenges are common, and your professor might surprise you. They might have made similar accommodations for other students in the past, or they might have someone in their own life who lives with a similar condition.

Tips for managing a mental illness in academia

If you’ve been Googling ‘how to tell professor about mental health’ and trying to create a conversation strategy, you don’t have to search anymore. Here are some tips for addressing your mental health concerns with your instructors.

• Talking to your professor about your personal challenges may be most effective at the beginning of the school year or semester. That way, you can proactively target sensitive subject areas in a class before issues arise and create a plan of support in case you start missing assignments.
• Try to go to as many classes as possible, and if challenges arise that require you to miss class, discuss options for remote attendance with your professor. Most professors will be more prepared to help you if they know you are engaged in the course.
• Visiting your university's psychological services can be another helpful resource if you are living with a mental illness or mental health challenge. Psychological services are designed to help students with specific mental health problems relating to academics.
• Disability offices at many universities allow you to register your mental illness. This can make you eligible for relevant accommodations to help you succeed, such as extra time on exams, due date extensions when needed, access to extra office hours, and a variety of other supports. This specific support is designed to help you succeed.
• If you want to talk with a trained professional therapist, you can check with your local college or university counseling center or reach out to a counselor through BetterHelp.
• Be honest when your mental health conditions are impacting your class performance. Instead of claiming a family emergency, let your professor know that your depression has kept you in bed all day. Your professors can’t help you if they don’t know the truth.

Online therapy offers convenient mental healthcare for college students

Experiencing mental illness while in college is more common than you might think. A majority of college students experience one or more mental health challenges, and nearly half of these students experience symptoms of anxiety disorders. Your psychological well being affects your academic performance in your college classes, so it’s better to proactively target problems when they arise.  

As overwhelming as higher education can be, you’re not alone and help is available. Recent studies show the effectiveness of online cognitive behavioral therapy for people experiencing anxiety and depression. These sessions can be just as effective as traditional in-person therapy. If you want help talking to your professors about your mental illness, or would like additional support, the online therapy services offered by BetterHelp may be a good fit.

Online therapy platforms like BetterHelp allow you to arrange sessions with a therapist around your schedule and lifestyles. You can work with a therapist through BetterHelp by video chat, phone call, or in-app messaging without leaving your dorm or couch. Additionally, online therapy may be a more affordable option than in-person treatments, and BetterHelp offers student discounts. After signing up, most people are matched with a therapist within 24-48 hours.