Presented By: Michigan Institute for Research in Astrophysics
Let's Talk About It: Mental Health in Academia
Johanna Teske, Carnegie Observatories
Note: Refreshments will be served in Room 337 following the talk
Abstract
Mental health struggles are often equated with personal weakness or deficiency, rather than an illness, in society at large and particularly within academia. This has led to a stigma around mental health and little meaningful discussion of the significant effects it can have on happiness, productivity, and overall health. Recent studies have shown that large fractions of people working at universities are at risk of having ordeveloping mental illness, and that graduate students are especially susceptible due to the great demands on their time, high expectations, and little control over the direction of their work and/or job prospects. In this talk I will present results from some of these studies, and I will also share my personal journey with mental health struggles. I will conclude with recommendations for what we can do as a community to help break the silence surrounding mental health and make academia a more supportive and inclusive environment.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Astronomy
About the Speaker
Johanna grew up in Central Pennsylvania, with a farm field at the end of her street. This meant she was lucky enough to have relatively dark skies, and found inspiration watching meteor showers in the early morning hours, although she also enjoyed creek-walking, writing short stories, and pretending to be a spy. Johanna got her B.S. degree in Physics in 2008 from American University in Washington, DC, and then went to graduate school at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, where she got her Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2014. For the first two years of her Carnegie Origins Postdoctoral Fellowship she lived in Washington, DC and worked at the Carnegie Department of Terrestrial Magnetism before moving to Pasadena in August 2016 to work at the Carnegie Observatories. In her free time Johanna likes teaching astronomy to others (and learning from them!), watching baseball, and running marathons.
Abstract
Mental health struggles are often equated with personal weakness or deficiency, rather than an illness, in society at large and particularly within academia. This has led to a stigma around mental health and little meaningful discussion of the significant effects it can have on happiness, productivity, and overall health. Recent studies have shown that large fractions of people working at universities are at risk of having ordeveloping mental illness, and that graduate students are especially susceptible due to the great demands on their time, high expectations, and little control over the direction of their work and/or job prospects. In this talk I will present results from some of these studies, and I will also share my personal journey with mental health struggles. I will conclude with recommendations for what we can do as a community to help break the silence surrounding mental health and make academia a more supportive and inclusive environment.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Astronomy
About the Speaker
Johanna grew up in Central Pennsylvania, with a farm field at the end of her street. This meant she was lucky enough to have relatively dark skies, and found inspiration watching meteor showers in the early morning hours, although she also enjoyed creek-walking, writing short stories, and pretending to be a spy. Johanna got her B.S. degree in Physics in 2008 from American University in Washington, DC, and then went to graduate school at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, where she got her Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2014. For the first two years of her Carnegie Origins Postdoctoral Fellowship she lived in Washington, DC and worked at the Carnegie Department of Terrestrial Magnetism before moving to Pasadena in August 2016 to work at the Carnegie Observatories. In her free time Johanna likes teaching astronomy to others (and learning from them!), watching baseball, and running marathons.
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