***Trigger Warning***
I care about your mental health. I am a neurodiverse person and understand relative struggles.
I have a few policies and rules built into the course to help without divulging more than professionally needed in a student-and-professor relationship. You do not need to tell me about something going on with you, but if it is an issue that will severely interrupt course completion—especially attendance—I recommend you briefly inform me and contact a campus or outside mental health professional so that I can go through proper channels to help you.
That said, life happens, especially to people already struggling with mental health. Mental health issues can happen to anyone. You may begin a semester with no problems and end a semester with all the problems.
If we communicate in a timely fashion, I can guarantee you that I will try to best accommodate. I also ethically ask that you not create mental health scenarios such as a family member dying that did not—the most generated scenario. We can address issues like procrastination separately, and using a made-up scenario has not gone well for students in the past.
The main request I have is that if you have a serious issue related to your mental health to briefly let me know via email or during office hours. I do not recommend—for you or for me—to let me know before, during, or after a class unless the course content was a trigger (with all respect). If something during a class is a trigger, you may leave class—especially if it makes you angry or visibly upset—but I ask that you email me later to inform me of why or come to office hours.
If you come to office hours, I am more than happy to briefly talk about the issue and walk over with you to the campus Counseling Center (https://www.sfcollege.edu/counseling/). However, part of my own mental health (and boundaries in my job as a professor) is to not act like a mental health professional. Believe it or not, I am a person too, and when my students have a serious issue going on, it often affects me personally. I think about it on campus and at home because generally my students are wonderful people that I care about, build professional relationships with, and do not like to see suffer.
I am not mental health qualified, but I am mental health aid certified (as of Summer 2023). Part of that certification is knowing how to help make sure the proper people can help you. I can personally assure you that there is no shame in seeking help, and I’m happy to be a gateway. The professionals we have on campus are wonderful people that put their heart and soul into their profession. If you need to seek help from me first, I am comfortable with that, but understanding that I am not a qualified person to help you beyond referencing and listening briefly is good for both of our mental health.
Talking to a professional helps me to help you if your mental health will affect your success in the course. However, I cannot help you as much if you do not talk to me or wait until the end of the semester. I have serious rules and policies I must follow as well.
I hope you take this statement seriously but also with care. I have learned to embrace my own neurodiversity because of the care my students have shown for it and for me. I hope you know that academia is increasingly becoming a safe place for mental health discussion.