Mental Health Awareness Week: Teacher Edition
It's October.
The first marking period ends in just a couple of weeks. Professional Development meetings and PLCs keep coming -- each time with more added to our plates. The excitement of back to school has dwindled and we are settling in to the time I jokingly call the abyss: it's 8 full weeks until Thanksgiving break. This is the time we start to feel the grind.
The American Federation of Teachers’ 2017 Educator Quality of Work Life Survey found that 61 percent of teachers said their jobs were always or often stressful—more than double the rate of non-teaching working adults—and 58 percent said they had poor mental health due to stress levels.
October 1-7 is Mental Health Awareness Week and I want you to take some time to check in with yourself. How are you doing, teacher friends? Like... really?
One of the best things I have come to terms with in my teaching career is the realization that you "can't pour from an empty cup". Teachers are incredible humans -- the educators I work with are resilient, compassionate, and the absolute hardest workers on planet earth. But, we aren't super-humans. The best educators pause, every now and again, to evaluate their mental health.
The reality of our profession is this: it's hard. Like Atlas, we often carry the weight of the world on our shoulders each day. We wake up at 5am knowing each day the work we do will demand every ounce of patience, compassion, and brain power we have to give. And, we do it anyway. Happily. In case no one has told you lately, I will tell you something you need to hear: It's okay to not be okay.
Please know you matter, your feelings are valid, and you make a difference. Even if it's hard, prioritize filling your cup this week. Rest, recharge, and check in with yourself. The children we teach need us to be the best version of ourselves and that begins with self-care.
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Today is National Depression Screening Day. Take a screener provided my Mental Health America here: https://screening.mhanational.org/screening-tools/depression/
Need support? Call the NAMI Helpline at
800-950-6264
Or text "HelpLine" to 62640