A list of my #mentalhealth posters so far to highlight what I do for new followers. I make posters to raise awareness of issues people face in academia. They are all free to distribute. (1): Mental Health During your PhD - what you might experience #phdchat#AcademicTwitter (1/n)
(2) The toxic mix during a PhD - the stressors, the strains...what might make management of your #MentalHealth more difficult #phdlife
(3) Curated from comments, things didn't have the space to cover, from my followers on difficult situations that they face that contributes to poor mental health
(4) An A5 flyer for boards to help raise awareness of how to manage mental health and wellbeing during PhD rather than a massive poster #AcademicChatter
(5) What can the academy actually do? What are the active steps to make #Mentalhealth better for PhD students? #phdlife, because I'm sick of the narrative that it's the students problem, and the students problem only
(6) Shining a spotlight on imposter syndrome, on what we can do, what our peers can do to support, role the PI plays and what universities can do to support #AcademicTwitter
(7) A foray into the fact that #Mentalhealth issues do not stop at PhD level. The strains and stressors continue, and we like to say, well if you love research, then just crack on. This is not ok. #AcademicChatter#AcademicTwitter
I have major plans for mental health month in May, which I'm excited about. I'm also now starting to do talks on "Mental Health During a PhD".
If you don't see a topic covered and want it made into a poster, feel free to DM or comment. Posters can be given to you in an editable format if you DM me, as well as at a higher resolution. Let's get talking about #Mentalhealth during PhD studies and beyond.
Why do I do this work? Because although I finished my PhD, I want to make sure that the next gen of PhD students have more visible resources available.
(8) Adding "Work/Life balance" to the list of #mentalhealth poster resources. Looking after ourselves can often make us more productive in the long run, despite sometimes feeling that we must work 24/7 🌱 Some handy tips 👇for striving for balance. #AcademicChatter#phdchat
(9) By no means definitive, this poster looks at possible stressors during #undergrad studies that can impact #mentalhealth. Know that support is out there for you.
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Some accessibility tips for Twitter I've learned over the last few years that are simple to integrate into Twitter use and can make your content accessible for a wider audience. If we are to be allies this is something to think about. A thread ✍️
Put alt text on your images. This can be enabled in Twitter settings and involves writing a descriptive sentence about the image you have tweeted. Without this, the image you post is not accessible to visually impaired Twitter users. @AltTxtReminder is a good tool to remind you.
Capitalise individual words in hashtags (called Camel Case). For example #AcademicMentalHealth. This is important for screenreaders as it will then read every individual word in the hashtag rather than a muddle of blended words.
The thing with academia is I can sit here and tell you to set boundaries. To not work weekends for your mental health, because you shouldn't have to, but the culture of overwork means that if you take a step back and look after yourself, or take time to be with your family 1/
or simply, want to enjoy your life outside of the academy, I cannot guarantee you will be "successful" in academia. Because from where I sit, to be successful means to give everything. Your weekends, your health. You are meant to show up and deliver classes during a 2/
pandemic "for the love of it", with disregard for your life because you have no choice. And after all that your dedication and sacrifice might still mean nothing because of the the fact it's not a meritocracy. 3/
The Ghost 👻 - Never available. You have much less contact time than you need, but you get gaslit due to statements like "a good PhD candidate just gets on with stuff". Really you just aren't getting enough guidance.
The Paper Mill 📃- Sees you as nothing more than a way to bolster their tenure bid, and pushes you to the brink to produce papers, pretending that breaking point is for your benefit. Spoiler, it isn't.
So I received this DM today (shared anon with permission, because I think this is something I want to discuss publicly).
Honestly, it doesn't matter of some students "lie" about their mental health, or deaths in the family. We must believe them. 1/
If a student feels the need to lie like this they ARE struggling. Maybe they are working 3 jobs to make ends meet and can't hit deadlines, maybe they are neurodiverse and struggling, maybe their mental health is impacted but from our perspective we just can't see it. 2/
Perhaps more students coming forward and disclosing mental health concerns is because they've always been there but are only now getting the confidence to speak out about it. /3
The "my academic picture was taken in the 90s" academic.
You go to meet them, you've looked up what they look like, you realise their photo on the university website hasn't been updated in 200 years. They know their stuff, and are a solid 7/10.
The "Definitely got your back, what a Belle" academic.
Great mentor, always got your best interests at heart. Probably knee deep in diversity and inclusion initiatives and not getting enough credit for it. Alway makes you go back and read the literature. 11/10.
How can universities support graduate/PhD mental health? Here's some thoughts on what institutions can work towards today 👇#AcademicMentalHealth#AcademicChatter
1 - Acknowledge that the research culture plays a role 🏛️
The onus to improve mental health isn't just on the individual. It's time to acknowledge that the stressors at university impact grad students.
2 - Train PIs 🧑🏫
Promoted to positions of power based on research capabilities PIs often haven't been trained in mental health, like even for 2 hours. Providing basic training can help.