STUDENTS: What would you want your professors to know about your depression and/or anxiety?
I’m speaking on a panel to educate faculty at the college I work at in a few weeks. I recently graduated from the same college, and I have to say there are a lot of professors there who are definitely less than helpful, especially considering that faculty are not *required* to attend panels and seminars given by the disability services office, or really educate themselves in any way in regards to students with disabilities.
I have autism, with attendant neurological issues as well as diagnosed panic disorder and agoraphobia, and anxiety and depression are my more or less constant companions. But I know a lot of college-age people follow me, and I’m curious if anyone has any input on what they wish their professors knew about their anxiety and/or depression, and the ways in which ignorance about these conditions most affects your college experience.
[tw: rape, victim-blaming]
I’d love to tell my professors to watch their shit. One supposed ‘feminist’ professor was telling a story about how her niece had been hoping to save her virginity for marriage, but got drunk after a bad break-up and lost it. Prof was saying how she had said it was rape and then, addressing the class, pretended to be talking to her niece saying “Nope, wasn’t rape, you’re just a dumbass who made a mistake!”
And shit like that is fucking insensitive and stupid, especially since it was a PSYCHOLOGY class, where you’d think the professors would understand basic shit like PTSD.
Wow. That fucking sucks. And even worse, I’ve had similar experiences….also, I had to actually bring up triggers and PTSD in a lit class once, because like literally EVERY book had some kind of sexual assault or rape in it. The actual title of the class was Voices of Diversity. And like, every single discussion was from the standpoint of “these things only happens to other people; they’re for us to read about and analyze.”
I definitely feel like there needs to be more respect for students in discussions like these.
I have honestly tried to have this fight with administrators before. One professor triggered me so badly that I was reduced to tears in the middle of class, and when I tried to bring her behavior to the attention of the department head I was scolded.
Yeah. That happened.
