Mental Health Care for Teachers

Mental Health Care includes finding ways to care for ourselves emotionally, psychologically, physically, and socially. The Mental Health.Gov website gives insight into factors that may lead to mental health problems, including Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry, Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse, and Family history of mental health problems. Mental Health Care is just as important as any other health care and should be treated as such. In The United States, we are experiencing an alarming rate of Teacher Burnout because of low pay, an abundance of take-home work, and extreme exhaustion, mentally, physically, and emotionally. How are Teachers expected to take care of their students, if they are not getting enough time or resources to take care of themselves first? 

Cartoon Graphic of a side profile of a head,
specifically the brain.  The brain has flowers coming
out of it. Includes cartoon characters on ladders and on
the ground tending to the flowers and adding other
elements to it. (a heart, lightbulb, watering can, and
another flower. 

Teacher burnout is a real issue in The United States. Teachers are overworked, underpaid, have very few resources to help them, and do not have adequate amounts of time to take care of themselves or their families. I have interviewed and discussed with multiple teachers who have told me, they never get burnt out from the children, but they never have time for themselves and feel extreme amounts of exhaustion. It makes me apprehensive to teach. I have dreamt about being a teacher since I was a child, but now that it's getting closer, I am only hearing negative things about it. I am trying to find ways to promote mental health care and prevent teacher burnout. The tips I have found are to try and set boundaries early on, focus on what you can control, stay physically active, stay in touch with loved ones, and many more ways. In my first three years of college, I was a part of the Lady Vol softball team and part of the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee which represents all of the NCAA athletes of The University of Tennessee. The subcommittee I served on was Mental Health and wellness committee. We discussed ways sports and athletics can help spread awareness of mental health. We researched ways to promote self-care in ways that are controllable by maintaining a healthy sleep routine, managing stress with healthy coping mechanisms, and practicing regular self-care activities such as exercise, meditation, and yoga. I have struggled with anxiety and depression since my freshman year of college, so advocating mental health care is one of the most important things to me. I will continue to passionately advocate for mental health care going into my teaching profession.