Faculty teaching in the classroom often have the first opportunity to observe if a student is in some kind of personal distress or crisis. Trust your instincts! If you think that a student is having difficulties, he or she probably is.
As an Instructor, you may become aware of student’s anxiety, depression, loneliness, marital and family adjustment situations, feelings of low self-worth, career dilemma, or other situations that are causing the student to be personally distressed or in a troubled mental state. While this distress results from the student’s personal situation, the effects of a troubled personal life sometimes becomes evident in the classroom and may affect not only the student’s ability to succeed in the class, but may affect you and other students in the class as well.
Students in distress may exhibit one or more of the following warning indicators:
- Any written note or verbal statement that has a “sense of finality” (suicidal)
- Apparent inability to focus on topics or activities
- Apparent lack of cooperation when requests are made
- Appearance of increasing disorganization or confusion
- Continual seeking of special accommodations (late papers, extensions, postponed examinations, etc.)
- Continuous conversations off point/subject of the class discussion
- Disclosure (written or oral) of significant emotional upset and/or relationship problems
- Disclosure of significant situational stressors or traumatic life event(s)
- Essays or creative work that indicate extremes of hopelessness, social isolation, rage, or despair
- Expressions of concern about a student by his/her student peers
- Garbled, slurred speech, disconnected thoughts or thoughts that appear out of touch with reality
- Increasing withdrawal or isolation from other students
- Indication of suicidal thoughts or tendencies
- Significant or changed attention to personal hygiene
- Preoccupation with weapons or explosives; showing or possessing a weapon
- Repeated and inappropriate sexual comments, gestures, or innuendoes
- Self-injurious or self-destructive behaviours
- Significant deterioration in classroom/academic performance (sudden drop in marks; pattern of missed assignments)
- Tendency toward excessive argumentation or verbal aggression
- Verbal or written (including email) threats of harm to self or others
- Visible signs of trauma (i.e. bruises, cuts, black eyes)
NOTE: None of these warning indicators alone is sufficient to predict or assess mental health problems, physical aggression and/or violence. When presented in combination, they may indicate the need for documentation and further analysis to determine an appropriate intervention.