An increasing number of students seeking mental health services across university campuses have prompted faculty, administrators and student service providers to call attention to what some describe as a crisis. In exploring what a... more
An increasing number of students seeking mental health services across university campuses have prompted faculty, administrators and student service providers to call attention to what some describe as a crisis. In exploring what a critical commitment to addressing emotional and mental distress in the academic context of the global north might look like we discuss different understandings of what is meant by mental health and the manifestation of distress in the academy as the 'new normal'. After examining data from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom for different constituent groups within university communities we turn to understand this crisis beyond instances of individual distress by situating it within the context of the conditions of knowledge production in neoliberalizing universities. We conclude by imagining a different kind of academy, exploring how the practices that produce it can be differently enacted, outlining the opportunities for and obstacles to a collective and professional response. University campuses are enriched when they recognize and make space for the diversity of mental states that constitute the human condition, but devalued when they create stressful work environments that exacerbate or initiate mental distress. Critical Reflections on Mental and Emotional Distress in the Academy 254
