Growing up, I admit, I was blind to the struggles of my fellow students who may have been struggling from mental illness that prevented them from succeeding in class. I was pretty oblivious to their inner turmoil and even shallowly believed that if they just sucked it and studied more, they’d be just fine. But I know now, after personally experiencing the effects of mental illness on my own academic performance, that the view I shared as a kid was messed up in every way.

In May, Associate Professor Catherine Savini of Westfield State University wrote an amazing article for The Chronicle of Higher Education titled “Are You Being Rigorous or Just Intolerant? – How to promote mental health in the college classroom.” It put into words what I had been feeling since I first started college – that most professors don’t take into account that some of their students really are having problems can’t be disciplined out of them.

Savini gave the examples of a student wearing earbuds in her composition class and another student who had walked out in the middle of a writing exercise. Both of these had perturbed her because they did not fall into the mold of “the good student” that many ascribe to. She described how professors worked hard to have a strict syllabus that would stop students from goofing off while also keep them interested in the subject matter. I may not be a teacher, but I’m sure we can all agree that sometimes our classmates are hard to keep the attention of.

So Savini, like any professor, was annoyed by the students who seemed to undermine her authority and not care about learning. Why go to college if you’re just going to blow it off? However, after pushing away her frustrations and trying to eschew the “ladder of interference” (the steps people mentally complete when first making a judgment or establishing a belief about something), she confronted the students on their behavior and realized that the situation wasn’t what she assumed.

When she asked the boy about his ear buds, he described how he is on pain medication after multiple car accidents and that the music helps him concentrate – something people with ADHD confirm as a way to “crystallize their attention.” This amazed me. I know so many students, myself included, who would do so much better with music playing. I just always assumed that we were the outliers and weirdos. But it’s more common than we think. And there's nothing wrong with it.

The girl who walked out of class had left because of a panic attack. Anyone who’s had one knows that crippling fear and hopelessness that overtakes your body. Sometimes we can’t even bring ourselves to leave the house which, as in the case of this student, can result in excessive absences. When Savini told her the “easy solution” – explain the situation to her other professors – the girl described how they waved off her problems, saying, “Yes, we all have anxiety.”

But it’s more than just a problem to be shunted to the backburner. The 2013 National College Health Assessment collected data from 123,078 people from 53 schools around the US and found that they were suffering from overwhelming anxiety and a third had trouble functioning because of depression. This coincides with the fact that the average age of onset of depression and anxiety is 18 to 24. And what does this cause? “Learning challenges, such as impaired memory and decreased ability to focus and make connections, inhibited curiosity, diminished creativity, and limited flexibility.” These, not lack of effort or care, are what prevent them from being "the good student."

What can be done to help these students reach their full potential in a safe and supportive way? Savini wisely states, “But now I recognize that asking students to leave their mental-health issues at the door is not only unreasonable, it’s unjust. It’s akin to asking students to leave their race or gender at the door.” She proposes to stop outsourcing these students to the counseling center, and instead make the promotion of mental health “part of the fabric of our institutions.” As a student who was pushed by her professor to try the counseling center (which was a great help), I admit that had my professor not stepped in and actually took the initiative to address my difficulties, I might not have done anything about it and let it fester.

Savini proposes several ways to promote mental health awareness:

• Mention campus events that promote mental health
• Distribute pamphlets about the counseling center in class
• Include something about mental health on your syllabus
• Check in with students who show symptoms of anxiety and depression, or who have missed multiple classes
• Survey students when the semester starts so that you can get an idea of their learning challenges
• Scaffold assignments so that they don’t get overwhelmed
• Integrate group work to create community
• Create a way for students to express what they find difficult about the material or class

These are the types of policy that can encourage students to be more about mental health. In 2011 The National Alliance on Mental Illness described stigma as the No. 1 barrier that stops students from seeking help. It is the job of every person on campus to reduce this stigma.

You can tell that Savini has really learned from this experience and is working to put that knowledge into actions. “Reconsidering my notion of "the good student" has improved my pedagogy and my well-being. I spend more time getting to know my students and less time being frustrated. My courses are rigorous, and I have created a space for young adults with complicated lives. In this space, a diversity of perspectives and experiences allows us to learn together and from one another.”

We need more professors like this on campuses – professors willing to see us as the people we are, people with problems and difficulties that we are constantly trying to overcome – rather than professors who just see us as every mistake we make.

Check out Savini’s article here: http://chronicle.com/article/Are-You-Being-Rigorou...

Check out the documentary “Mental Health in New York” created by my sister and I which addresses the stigma of mental illness: