Mental Wellbeing for Early-Career Researchers

Slides from a seminar and discussion I led at Michigan State University on May 30th, 2018. To download a pdf of the slides, click on the download button on the lower right of the slides.

I will occasionally re-upload a newer version of the slides as resources change. Latest update: 31 May 2018.

Transcript

1. MENTAL WELLBEING
   for early-career researchers
   Abbie Stevens
   alstev@msu.edu
   

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2. WHAT DOES “MENTAL WELLBEING” OR “MENTAL HEALTH” MEAN?
   ➤ Mental health: emotional, psychological, and social
   wellbeing
   ➤ How you see yourself, how you interact with others, etc.
   ➤ Mental health is important!!
   ➤ Mental illness, mental health problems: factors
   (situational, clinical/biological/chronic) that get in the way of
   your emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing
   

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3. WHAT DOES “MENTAL WELLBEING” OR “MENTAL HEALTH” MEAN?
   ➤ Mental health: emotional, psychological, and social
   wellbeing
   ➤ How you see yourself, how you interact with others, etc.
   ➤ Mental health is important!!
   ➤ Mental illness, mental health problems: factors
   (situational, clinical/biological/chronic) that get in the way of
   your emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing
   ➤ Why should we discuss this?
   ➤ While individual mental wellbeing is very personal, a
   community has a responsibility for its ‘climate’ and
   towards its members
   

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4. EXAMPLES OF MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS
   ➤ Depression
   ➤ Anxiety
   ➤ Stress, work pressure
   ➤ Burnout
   ➤ ADHD, ADD
   ➤ Substance overuse
   ➤ Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
   ➤ Grief, loss
   ➤ Homesickness
   ➤ Seasonal Affective Disorder
   

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5. 1 in 4 will have some kind of mental illness in their lifetime.
   Mental Illnesses.
   1 in 10
   Source(s): Psychological Bulletin, The Harris Poll, Haris Interactive, Nielsen, “U.S. Smartphone Battle Heats up”, 2011 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, World Health Organization. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc.
   1 in 6
   More common than grey cars
   1 in 4
   Just how common is 1 in 4?
   Just as common as iPhone® customers.
   60 Million
   Americans are
   affected each year.
   More common than left-handed people
   How can we fix it? Talking.
   The more we talk, the more we’ll realize that these illnesses
   are not unique and that they are treatable.
   It’s how we’ll make it ok.
   A public survey showed most people
   thought mental illnesses were related to:
   THIS IS
   STIGMA.
   STRESS
   LACK OF WILLPOWER
   WEAKNESS
   1 in 7
   More common than
   people with tattoos
   

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6. STUDIES SHOW
   ➤ Nature Biotechnology, March 2018 (covered by IHE)
   ➤ 2,279 respondents, 90% PhD candidates, 38% bio &
   phys sciences
   ➤ 26 countries, 234 institutions
   ➤ 39% scored in the moderate to severe depression range
   ➤ Compare with 6% of gen. pop. on same scale in same
   range
   ➤ Gender minorities had significantly higher rates of
   problems than cis-men
   ➤ (Lack of) satisfaction with mentorship/advising is a
   predictor of mental health problems
   

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7. STUDIES SHOW
   ➤ Research Policy, May 2017 (covered by Physics Today &
   Science)
   ➤ 3,659 PhD candidates in Flanders Belgium, 66% STEM
   incl. biomedical
   ➤ 32% at risk of having/developing a mental illness, esp.
   depression
   ➤ 51% experience at least 2 symptoms of mental health
   problems, and this is twice as high as comparable non-
   grad-school pop.
   ➤ Odds of mental health problems significantly higher for
   women than men
   ➤ Work and organizational context are significant
   predictors of PhD students’ mental health
   

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8. STUDIES SHOW
   ➤ Nature Biotechnology, March 2018 (covered by IHE)
   ➤ 39% scored in the moderate to severe depression range
   ➤ Compare with 6% of gen. pop. on same scale in same range
   ➤ Research Policy, May 2017 (covered by Physics Today & Science)
   ➤ 32% at risk of having/developing a mental illness, esp.
   depression
   ➤ 51% experience at least 2 symptoms of mental health
   problems, and this is twice as high as comparable non-grad-
   school pop.
   ➤ Gender minorities had significantly higher rates of problems than cis-
   men
   ➤ Work and organizational context (incl. satisfaction with mentorship/
   advising) are significant predictors of PhD students’ mental health
   ➤ Also institutional studies at, e.g., UC Berkeley, U Arizona, U
   Amsterdam (‘FNWI’ is the Faculty of Science)
   

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9. UNIVERSITY & COMMUNITY RESOURCES
   TO PROMOTE MENTAL WELLBEING
   

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10. MSU RESOURCES
    ➤ MSU employee assistance program: 6 free counseling sessions for
    grad students, postdocs, profs, staff, etc. & family
    ➤ Counseling center at Olin Health Center (for enrolled students
    including grad students): best for at-risk/crisis, triage
    ➤ Website also has links to 24/7 emergency services like hotlines
    and a local domestic violence shelter
    ➤ Counseling with a “sliding scale” fee from HDFS at MSU
    ➤ Ask your GP for a referral to a therapist (insurance usually covers
    most of it; these two accept grad insurance, among others)
    ➤ Other support resources listed at https://grad.msu.edu/partners-
    in-wellness
    

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11. MSU RESOURCES
    ➤ MSU employee assistance program: 6 free counseling sessions for
    grad students, postdocs, profs, staff, etc. & family
    ➤ Counseling center at Olin Health Center (for enrolled students
    including grad students): best for at-risk/crisis, triage
    ➤ Website also has links to 24/7 emergency services like hotlines
    and a local domestic violence shelter
    ➤ Counseling with a “sliding scale” fee from HDFS at MSU
    ➤ Ask your GP for a referral to a therapist (insurance usually covers
    most of it; these two accept grad insurance, among others)
    ➤ Other support resources listed at https://grad.msu.edu/partners-
    in-wellness
    ➤ Ombudsperson for confidential advice about workplace conflicts
    ➤ Faculty Grievance & Dispute Resolution Office for workplace
    conflicts (for postdocs and faculty)
    

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12. PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY RESOURCES
    ➤ Talking to peers or a trusted colleague
    ➤ Grad student support Slack channel
    ➤ Talking with a mentor (in this department or elsewhere)
    

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13. PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY RESOURCES
    ➤ Talking to peers or a trusted colleague
    ➤ Grad student support Slack channel
    ➤ Talking with a mentor (in this department or elsewhere)
    ➤ At NSCL: Dr. Marsha Carolan, a licensed therapist, spends a few
    afternoons per week at NSCL and is available for free, confidential
    counseling to help NSCL employees connect with relevant
    resources
    

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14. WHAT RESOURCES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?
    ➤ Mandatory training sessions on mental wellbeing for everyone in phys &
    astro
    ➤ Mental health problems are proven to be widespread among grad
    students, and it’s reasonable to conjecture that it’s not rare among
    postdocs and profs
    ➤ Much is situational, comes from a lack of support from advisors &
    lack of mutual support from other grad students
    ➤ Learning appropriate work strategies
    

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15. WHAT RESOURCES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?
    ➤ Mandatory training sessions on mental wellbeing for everyone in phys &
    astro
    ➤ Mental health problems are proven to be widespread among grad
    students, and it’s reasonable to conjecture that it’s not rare among
    postdocs and profs
    ➤ Much is situational, comes from a lack of support from advisors &
    lack of mutual support from other grad students
    ➤ Learning appropriate work strategies
    ➤ Regular counselor like at NSCL, maybe monthly
    

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16. WHAT RESOURCES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?
    ➤ Mandatory training sessions on mental wellbeing for everyone in phys &
    astro
    ➤ Mental health problems are proven to be widespread among grad
    students, and it’s reasonable to conjecture that it’s not rare among
    postdocs and profs
    ➤ Much is situational, comes from a lack of support from advisors &
    lack of mutual support from other grad students
    ➤ Learning appropriate work strategies
    ➤ Regular counselor like at NSCL, maybe monthly
    ➤ Formally assign a second mentor/advisor to postdocs, to combat isolation
    

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17. WHAT RESOURCES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?
    ➤ Mandatory training sessions on mental wellbeing for everyone in phys &
    astro
    ➤ Mental health problems are proven to be widespread among grad
    students, and it’s reasonable to conjecture that it’s not rare among
    postdocs and profs
    ➤ Much is situational, comes from a lack of support from advisors &
    lack of mutual support from other grad students
    ➤ Learning appropriate work strategies
    ➤ Regular counselor like at NSCL, maybe monthly
    ➤ Formally assign a second mentor/advisor to postdocs, to combat isolation
    ➤ Organize support groups around known times of crisis (1st year with new
    environment & classes, quals, end of 3rd year with research but no results
    yet, final year with writing)
    ➤ “Buddy system” that partners incoming grad students & postdocs
    with current ones
    

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18. WHAT RESOURCES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?
    ➤ Mandatory training sessions on mental wellbeing for everyone in phys &
    astro
    ➤ Mental health problems are proven to be widespread among grad
    students, and it’s reasonable to conjecture that it’s not rare among
    postdocs and profs
    ➤ Much is situational, comes from a lack of support from advisors &
    lack of mutual support from other grad students
    ➤ Learning appropriate work strategies
    ➤ Regular counselor like at NSCL, maybe monthly
    ➤ Formally assign a second mentor/advisor to postdocs, to combat isolation
    ➤ Organize support groups around known times of crisis (1st year with new
    environment & classes, quals, end of 3rd year with research but no results
    yet, final year with writing)
    ➤ “Buddy system” that partners incoming grad students & postdocs
    with current ones
    ➤ More funding for the Counseling center at Olin so they can work with more
    students
    

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19. COPING TOOLS
    

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20. MY WELLBEING CHECKLIST FROM MY PHD
    

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21. HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN YOUR MENTAL WELLBEING?
    ➤ Drink enough water daily
    ➤ Make getting a full night of sleep every night a priority (8-9 hours)
    ➤ Taking breaks at work to walk around the arboretum or building
    ➤ Exercise regularly (yoga, pilates, jogging, fitness classes, etc.)
    ➤ Have an exercise buddy!
    ➤ Free weekly fitness classes through COGS
    ➤ Try not to rely on sugar to get your energy, since you’ll crash soon after
    ➤ Maintain your gut health with probiotics (someone’s therapist
    recommended this one for them; check with your doc)
    ➤ Get a massage every few months
    

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22. HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN YOUR MENTAL WELLBEING?
    ➤ Enforce regular working hours. More than 50 hours per week is
    unsustainable and has diminishing (or even negative) returns
    ➤ Connect with colleagues (don’t suffer in silence)
    ➤ Spend regular time doing hobbies outside of work
    ➤ Cooking with others, gardening, team sports, artistic pursuits
    ➤ Spend time with loved ones (family, friends, significant other, etc.)
    ➤ Daily meditation (with an app like Headspace or Calm)
    ➤ Read a book for fun! Abbie likes Bill Bryson and Terry Pratchett
    ➤ Take real vacations. Turn on your email auto-responder and leave your
    laptop at home!
    ➤ Turn off notifications for work email (& social media apps) on phone
    ➤ Don’t check your results before going to bed
    ➤ See a counselor/therapist regularly, take prescribed medication
    

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23. WHAT HELPS YOU WHEN YOU’RE IN “PANIC MODE”?
    ➤ Get up from your desk and go for a walk in nature nearby (link)
    ➤ Take 10 slow, deep diaphragmatic breaths
    ➤ Have a (healthy) snack and a glass of water. Your brain can’t work
    when it’s out of fuel. There is time for this.
    ➤ Listen to a music playlist that helps you calm down and re-center
    yourself
    ➤ Use “stress ball”-type objects (like a fidget cube) to distract your
    mind and give it something else to focus on
    ➤ Break down Insurmountable Task into many small bite-sized chunks.
    Write it all down and cross them off as you do them. Use an
    analog list so that you actually cross it off and not just delete the
    item digitally
    ➤ “SOS” sessions in the Headspace meditation app
    

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24. INTERNET RESOURCES
    

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25. LINKS TO RESOURCES
    ➤ Self-Care with Drs. Sarah, a podcast (see esp. the Meltdown episode)
    ➤ The Hilarious World of Depression, a podcast
    ➤ YouTube Yoga! "Yoga with Adriene", "Fightmaster Yoga"
    ➤ "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" by Dr. D.D. Burns, a book on
    doing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on yourself, recommended by
    therapists
    ➤ "The PTSD Workbook" by Dr. M.B. Williams and Dr. S. Pouijula,
    recommended by social workers and therapists
    ➤ "Living Well With Depression and Bipolar Disorder" by J. McManamy
    ➤ #PhDchat, #ECRchat, @chron_ac, @academic_chatter on Twitter
    ➤ Mental Health Awareness Week 2018 focusing on coping with stress
    ➤ "81 Awesome Mental Health Resources When You Can’t Afford a
    Therapist"
    ➤ "14 Free and Low-Cost Mental Health Resources"
    ➤ "5 Things to Do (And Not to Do) to Support Someone with Depression"
    ➤ MakeItOK.org: conversation scripts, posters, stats
    

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26. ARTICLES WITH ADVICE AND PERSPECTIVES
    ➤ "I’d Whisper to My Student Self: You Are Not Alone"
    ➤ Wear Your Voice’s guide to destigmatizing mental illnesses
    ➤ "A Cartoonist’s Playful and Pragmatic Mental Health Guide"
    

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27. ARTICLES WITH ADVICE AND PERSPECTIVES
    ➤ "I’d Whisper to My Student Self: You Are Not Alone"
    ➤ Wear Your Voice’s guide to destigmatizing mental illnesses
    ➤ "A Cartoonist’s Playful and Pragmatic Mental Health Guide"
    ➤ "We Cannot Continue to Overlook ‘High-Functioning’ Depression"
    ➤ "This Is What It’s Like To Live With High-Functioning Depression"
    ➤ "Letitia Wright Opens Up About Her Struggles With Depression, Advocates For Black Mental
    Health Awareness"
    ➤ "Learning That Depression Lies: My Mental Health Management Strategy"
    ➤ "A Day With: Depression";
    _
    

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28. ARTICLES WITH ADVICE AND PERSPECTIVES
    ➤ "I’d Whisper to My Student Self: You Are Not Alone"
    ➤ Wear Your Voice’s guide to destigmatizing mental illnesses
    ➤ "A Cartoonist’s Playful and Pragmatic Mental Health Guide"
    ➤ "We Cannot Continue to Overlook ‘High-Functioning’ Depression"
    ➤ "This Is What It’s Like To Live With High-Functioning Depression"
    ➤ "Letitia Wright Opens Up About Her Struggles With Depression, Advocates For Black Mental
    Health Awareness"
    ➤ "Learning That Depression Lies: My Mental Health Management Strategy"
    ➤ "A Day With: Depression"; "With: Social Anxiety"; "With: Panic Attacks"
    ➤ "How I Learned to Make Friends with My Anxiety"
    ➤ "Anxiety Is An Invalid Excuse"
    ➤ "How To Talk Yourself Down From An Anxiety Spiral"
    _
    _
    

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29. ARTICLES WITH ADVICE AND PERSPECTIVES
    ➤ "I’d Whisper to My Student Self: You Are Not Alone"
    ➤ Wear Your Voice’s guide to destigmatizing mental illnesses
    ➤ "A Cartoonist’s Playful and Pragmatic Mental Health Guide"
    ➤ "We Cannot Continue to Overlook ‘High-Functioning’ Depression"
    ➤ "This Is What It’s Like To Live With High-Functioning Depression"
    ➤ "Letitia Wright Opens Up About Her Struggles With Depression, Advocates For Black Mental
    Health Awareness"
    ➤ "Learning That Depression Lies: My Mental Health Management Strategy"
    ➤ "A Day With: Depression"; "With: Social Anxiety"; "With: Panic Attacks"
    ➤ "How I Learned to Make Friends with My Anxiety"
    ➤ "Anxiety Is An Invalid Excuse"
    ➤ "How To Talk Yourself Down From An Anxiety Spiral"
    ➤ "Why ADHD Is A Feminist Issue And What Happens When It’s Overlooked"
    ➤ "10 Signs That Made Me Realize I Was An Alcoholic"
    ➤ "Can Science Save Us From a Failed State of Burnout?"
    ➤ "Impostor Syndrome Isn’t The Problem — Toxic Workplaces Are"
    ➤ "How to Define Success for Yourself"
    ➤ "How Do You Keep Social Media From Destroying Your Mental Health?"
    ➤ Really good advice columns like Captain Awkward, Ask Polly, Ask A Manager
    _
    _
    _
    

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30. ADVICE ON ADVISING
    ➤ "Modest Advice for New Graduate Students"
    ➤ “20 Warning Signs Your Professor’s Abusing You”
    ➤ “Good Advising” (written by a prof, for profs)
    ➤ What To Say when someone tells you about a mental health
    problem
    ➤ National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (MSU has
    institution access), productivity and wellbeing resources for
    researchers and mentors
    

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31. SELF-CARE
    ➤ "23 Ways to Treat Yourself Without Buying or Eating Anything"
    ➤ "Is That Self-Care or Self-Sabotage?"
    ➤ @tinycarebot and @selfcare_tech on Twitter
    ➤ "What Nobody Tells You About Self-Care"
    ➤ "You Feel Like Shit" - an interactive flowchart (also useful in a
    crisis)
    

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32. IN ALL OF THIS, EXERCISE CAUTION
    ➤ Non-experts (a.k.a., all of us) should be very wary of giving
    mental health advice
    ➤ Don’t self-diagnose (or ‘diagnose’ someone else) based on
    what you read on the internet! Seek out a trained medical
    professional such as a counselor/therapist, psychologist,
    psychiatrist, or your main doctor.
    ➤ People at all career levels in academia can have mental health
    problems and feel like they aren’t productive enough.
    

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34. QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT
    ➤ Why should or shouldn’t we discuss mental wellbeing at
    work?
    ➤ What workplace climate factors could negatively impact
    mental health?
    ➤ What is missing from the “maintaining mental wellbeing”
    list?
    ➤ What is missing from the “help in ‘panic-mode’” list?
    ➤ What changes would you like to see on an interpersonal level
    to better support mental wellbeing? on a departmental level?
    

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