A Conversation on Mental Health: Discussing the Vanderbilt Basic Sciences Hidden Disabilities Panel
Written by Kathryn Brewer
During the month of October, Vanderbilt Basic Sciences hosted a Hidden Disabilities Panel on Thursday afternoons. The purpose of these panels, which highlighted issues such as ADHD/autism, diabetes/hypertension, mental illness, and living with long COVID, was to introduce aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI) that sometimes go overlooked in DEI initiatives. While I was unable to attend all of the Hidden Panels discussions, I was able to sit in on the Mental Illness panel. For this installment of the Biochemistry DEI blog, I want to give a brief summary of that panel discussion, and highlight some advice that could be particularly beneficial for our department.
The panel consisted of four participants, including:
- Chimine Arfuso, PhD, a professor at California State University, Fresno and an avid disability advocate
- Thao Le, a graduate student in the Ayala lab in Molecular Physiology & Biophysics at Vanderbilt University
- Aaron Brinen, PsyD, an assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital
- and Julia Acker, BSN, a nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt University Counseling Center
Broadly speaking, the panel discussed what it means to have a mental illness, what sort of prevalence it has and what biases are often attached to it, and ways that we at Vanderbilt can better support and accommodate those with mental illness in our community.
The panel began with defining what a mental illness is. Importantly, mental illness is a continuum, rather than a series of specific diagnoses. Two people can both be diagnosed with the same category of mental illness but have different symptoms and severities. They can also respond better to different kinds of treatments, in the same way that two people may have broken bones, but one may have more severe fracture than the other and require more extensive care. And, as with physical illnesses, a person with a mental illness has a condition that in some way impairs that person’s ability to function. Everyday life and tasks are made more difficult as a result. In both mental and physical illness, a person is experiencing suffering that keeps them from living in an ideal, thriving way.
The prevalence of people living with a mental illness may be higher than what you expected. Dr. Brinen reported that approximately 10% of adults have some kind of mental illness. It was also noted that this number is probably underestimated, due to lack of resources available for assessment and treatment. Yet, despite the commonality of mental illness and its serious impact on day-to-day functions, people living with mental illness still encounter stereotypes surrounding their conditions. Thao noted that although no two people have identical symptoms, there can be assumptions about what a mental illness is “supposed” to look like, such as thinking all people with anxiety suffer from visible panic attacks. Thao also pointed out that there is often an assumed constancy in mental illness, when in reality, the symptoms ebb and flow. Just as a migraine sufferer doesn’t constantly experience migraines of the same intensity, a person with mental illness is not always experiencing their symptoms in the same way. Thao noted, “I can have an illness but not be ill as a whole person.”
Other stereotypes noted in the discussion included how others can minimize someone’s experience of mental illness. A person dealing with depression can be misunderstood as “lazy”, or someone navigating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may be seen as disorganized and “not working hard enough” to get their act together. In more severe cases, such as someone dealing with schizophrenia or an auditory hallucination disorder, others might even think, wrongly, that they’re dangerous. Dr. Arfuso wrapped up this section of the panel by noting that for many people with mental illness, others assume that they are fragile or “can’t handle being pushed or receiving hard news,” when, in reality, those with mental illness “are very good at structuring life and prioritizing our time to accommodate our illness.”
Considering how common the experience of mental illness is, addressing these stigmas is a critical step in creating a more inclusive community. To highlight how we can do that, Thao addressed the need to create a safe space for student disclosure and support, and that modeling by faculty and peers is especially needed. Dr. Brinen, speaking particularly to Principal Investigator (PI)’s and others with positions of authority, noted the importance of asking how you can help your students/employees. For instance, a PI could ask how effectively a particular work structure is working for their student, and if the student has any thoughts on how to improve their work experience. Creating a space where feedback is encouraged and support is the default is critical for success. Dr. Arfuso noted that these kinds of conversations, whether they be peer-to-peer or PI-to-student, should “always be proactive, and never an afterthought.”
The panel discussion ended with a particularly sobering conversation about the barriers that can arise when a person with a mental illness seeks accommodations. Thao told her story of learning she had ADHD, and the process she went through to get help for it. After struggling to focus when reading papers, Thao want to access a text-to-speech software through Vanderbilt to help her better digest the material. When she asked for help in procuring this expensive software, she was told that she needed to obtain an official diagnosis and fill out a series of paperwork before the university would approve it and pay for a license. She couldn’t afford to purchase the software herself, so she went through the bureaucratic channels. It took a year and a half to get approval. To Thao, the entire experience was unnecessarily burdensome on her, and she wanted to tell her story in the hopes that others wouldn’t have to go through what she did to get the tools she needed to succeed. Thao suggested that we treat mental illness in the same way as a physical illness, and reduce the barrier of paperwork that a student has to go through in order to get what they need to thrive. Dr. Arfuso closed out the panel by remarking that we need to be preemptive in supporting our students, because “when we make classrooms accessible for disabled students, we make it more accessible for everyone.”
________________________________________________________________________
As someone who has been going through a mental health journey of my own in graduate school, I appreciated this panel discussion. The reminder that mental illness is just like physical illness and that it negatively affects day to day life yet often goes unseen, made me feel, well, seen. And I’m sure for other faculty and students in the department, this message also hits home. Perhaps my favorite takeaway though, is that having a mental illness has nothing to do with whether someone is strong, smart, or capable. When given enough support, all of us can thrive.
Maybe we in the Biochemistry Department can take Thao’s and Dr. Brinen’s advice to heart by (1) creating a space where we support each other and model vulnerability, (2) asking specific questions about how we can support each other and our different workplace needs, and (3) leaving room for giving and receiving feedback, so that each and every one of us can have what we need to do great science.
How can you take one step in improving DEI today?
Leave a Response