My roommate and I were talking about what the shutdown hadn't done last night:
1. It hasn't completely destroyed our country.
2. It hasn't led to a run on banks.
3. It hasn't done anything to destroy our national security.
4. People aren't likely dying in the street.
So, why should we care?
Well, I actually kind of hate that nothing all that visibly bad has happened. I mean, I certainly don't wish for chaos or people suffering. That's the worst. However, limiting the amount of people which are hurt is one way that the Republicans in Congress can take a stand without causing chaos that will lead to a call for action. If people were running to banks, protesting en masse, and not getting life-saving services in a widespread way, it would be easy for people to hold legislators accountable. You see, voters are myopic. They only care about their little world views not because they are apathetic necessarily but because they simply don't have the time to devote to looking outside of the immediate problems burdening them. This is why we don't see protests en masse.
Another reason is that those most affected are generally too silent and disorganized to put up a fight. They aren't consistent voters. They are the young, the poor, and the less-able-to-protest. If you think for a second that this is accidental, it's not. The Republicans know who they can piss off. They are smart and shrewd politicians. The Democrats know who they can afford to lose and who they can't, too. That's just good politics. The problem is that what is "good politics" is not necessarily "good for America".
Who specifically could suffer in this shutdown if it continues on for much longer? Well, all of us if we default. We would put the global economy into a tailspin. And, after a large amount of "good days" on Wall Street, that seems a terrible solution to the problem. Kids on SNAP, WIC, TANF, and other federal programs stand to lose a great deal, too. They can't fight this. They are children in need of food and a roof over their heads. Regardless of your opinions about welfare policy, you probably don't agree with the idea of starving children. Federal and state employees and people who work for non-profit contractors are also most at-risk of not getting paychecks. Some are working sans-pay right now with no idea as to how they will pay for Christmas let alone life after the next few weeks.
More specifically, though, grad students should be concerned for two main reasons. One, the GI Bill and other military tuition assistance programs are very at risk and either are not or will not be able to sustain themselves as programs much longer. My cousin, who studies international relations and security as an undergrad on a GI Bill, is a veteran who is at-risk currently. He has saved, so he will be okay without his assistance but many of his fellow veteran students will not. He risked life and limb and is now being told he may be on the hook for the rest of that tuition this year. I have a friend in my program currently who has taken the semester off of teaching to use his GI Bill and work on studying for the foreign service exam. He needs a good job and the GI Bill has been a lifesaver. Should he suffer? He tirelessly worked as a medic. Should he suffer?
Even if you are anti-war and don't see what the hubub is about with the military, you have to see the logic in my argument here. To begin with, a large number of my students are ROTC and use tuition assistance programs. We have many Military Studies students in the political science department and have had many masters students in the past (one which was in my cohort). Many of my fellow students and current students I teach would be SOL barring this support. This means withdrawals. Withdrawals mean smaller class numbers next semester and fewer teaching assistantships for graduate students across numerous departments. Moreover, people who are in ROTC or have been in the military often join out of a need for a way to pay for their education. These are high-risk students. Unlike some kids who can lose a scholarship and get their parents to pay or take out a PLUS loan, most of these students do not have recourse. That's upsetting to me. It's inegalitarian and it will be felt by the most at-risk disproportionately.
The second reason should probably hit close to home for a lot of us. Without a budget and without raising the debt ceiling, two things will happen. One, the we will default on loans and creditors will have issues. Second, there will be no loans and there won't be federal education assistance. This means that you and I will not only lose our ability to take out loans to pay fees but our students will as well. This is a double-whammy. Even if we can pay all of our bills sans-loans (I mostly could with some work), we may lose our jobs. If there are massive withdrawals from the university, we may lose our jobs. We may be able to stay on this next semester but come fall 2014, will we have jobs?
It's frightening. Write your Congressional Reps and Senators. Don't let your voice go unheard. Young people and low income people are the least likely to have their voices heard but it's a numbers game. If we start showing up in large numbers, they have to listen to us.
Again, it's about who you can and cannot piss off. If we start becoming more credible threats, they will have to listen.
Showing posts with label soapbox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soapbox. Show all posts
Friday, October 11, 2013
Sunday, January 22, 2012
How to Talk to People with Mental Illness
Okay, another soap box post.
A favorite blog of mine has a set of posts entitled "social minefield". I think this would appropriately be put underneath such a title. Why does it matter? Well, at least half of the grad students I have known suffer from mental illness. I am one of them. I was diagnosed with unipolar depression at age 19 and OCD shortly after. I was diagnosed my first year of grad school with bipolar II, which wasn't a surprise. I have a history of it on my mother's side of the family and while it sucks, I doubt you would really ever notice. I'm pretty stable. Copious amount of therapy and the appropriate regimen of meds has led me to lead a pretty normal life.
The other reason that this matters? Students, just like normal people, have mental illnesses. Plenty of them do. They probably won't tell you that they have them, but you should be sensitive to the needs of your students. In fact, being diagnosed with a mood disorder in your late teens/early 20s is very likely. This is the time of frontal lobe development and the time when you are most likely to see this occur. My diagnosis at age 23 and my symptoms, which appeared up to a year earlier, was textbook. You may see students also exhibiting strange behavior, a lack of concentration, or saying that they are completely stressed. Tell them that it is normal and refer them to a stress relief center on campus. Most colleges have these sorts of groups on campus. Mine has them almost every day of the week - for free. Others, like my undergrad, charge a nominal fee and have regular meeting times. You don't have to say, "I think you have a mental illness" because they may just be overwhelmed and lack study skills, but especially if they have had a recent loss or are dealing with other issues and confide in you about this, know the resources.
The thing I stress most, however, is that you don't offend people. You see, people like myself have mental illnesses. Yes, normal, productive members of society can suffer. You may make jokes about "being OCD" or may make fun of me for freaking out over a door not being locked properly. It's one ritual I may always have. It's painful for me and I don't need an audience. I legitimately believe that things will burn down when I don't lock the door properly. Yes, it sounds crazy - because it really is - but I have no control over these thoughts. My brain just likes to screw with me sometimes. Don't make jokes about self-harm, eating disorders, or how you want to kill yourself. People who have been there or have been personally effected by suicide don't like it. My sister saw two suicides and one attempt within her first year of college. She really gets upset by these jokes, despite not suffering from a mental illness.
Why does this matter? Well, there are several reasons:
1. People who have suffered and are back "on track" and in therapy, taking their meds, exercising, etc to help themselves may find themselves feeling badly about taking their meds and doing the things that help. Stigma can be a powerful barrier to treatment.
2. People who have a mental illness should feel safe. They shouldn't be made to feel ashamed. Part of the problem with mental illness is that it IS stigmatized. You can work to change that by making every space a safe space.
3. You never know who has been effected by mental illness - either by their own struggles or by those of others. I am very effected by not only my own contemplation of suicide but also the multiple attempts of people around me which left me reeling. I never attempted and never ever had a plan, but the thought that there was no hope was all around. Many people have felt that way once. Trivializing it doesn't help. So, be careful always. You don't know who is listening.
How do I improve the situation?
1. Don't trivialize the struggles of mental illness. Being OCD is not like an episode of Monk. Cutting yourself is not just something emo kids do. Eating disorders are no something you wish you had. You aren't clinically depressed because you had a shitty day.
2. If someone has a mental illness, be supportive, but don't assume anything. They will tell you what they are comfortable telling you. Don't assume that they are somehow "crazy" or "fragile" unless they tell you. I am a pretty normal human being. I get A's. I study just as hard as everyone else. I deal with some trials and tribulations, but I don't ask for sympathy. I learned something when I case managed for Medicaid. You need to give empathy, not sympathy. This is true here.
3. If a student or colleague comes to you, be aware of the resources available. Don't say, "I think you need to see someone." Say instead, "I know stress can be overwhelming. Have you tried these stress relief workshops? I hear they really work." If you are talking to a friend and really care about them, you can offer to go with them to the stress relief thing or agree to hold their hand while they wait for a therapist. Be aware of what is there, share it in a supportive and non-judgmental manner, and then let the person do what they will with it. Empathize. Don't judge.
4. Be aware that mental illness can be crippling and it is time consuming to take care of - just like any other illness. I work on it all the effing time. That said, it's not any different than having a physical illness. I have several other chronic conditions that are pretty bad to deal with and they are very similar to mental illness as far as coping goes. Most people have dealt with this sort of condition at least once in their life. Think of how you felt and how you wanted to be treated and do unto others as you wanted to have done to you.
As an academic - hell, as someone who comes into contact with people - you should be aware of mental illness. People have the ability to change stigma. Just as was done with diseases like breast cancer and AIDS in the past, we can help bring this to the forefront. It's just especially important because of the age of students you deal with and the fact that academics have a higher incidence of mental illness than the general population.
Just some food for thought.
A favorite blog of mine has a set of posts entitled "social minefield". I think this would appropriately be put underneath such a title. Why does it matter? Well, at least half of the grad students I have known suffer from mental illness. I am one of them. I was diagnosed with unipolar depression at age 19 and OCD shortly after. I was diagnosed my first year of grad school with bipolar II, which wasn't a surprise. I have a history of it on my mother's side of the family and while it sucks, I doubt you would really ever notice. I'm pretty stable. Copious amount of therapy and the appropriate regimen of meds has led me to lead a pretty normal life.
The other reason that this matters? Students, just like normal people, have mental illnesses. Plenty of them do. They probably won't tell you that they have them, but you should be sensitive to the needs of your students. In fact, being diagnosed with a mood disorder in your late teens/early 20s is very likely. This is the time of frontal lobe development and the time when you are most likely to see this occur. My diagnosis at age 23 and my symptoms, which appeared up to a year earlier, was textbook. You may see students also exhibiting strange behavior, a lack of concentration, or saying that they are completely stressed. Tell them that it is normal and refer them to a stress relief center on campus. Most colleges have these sorts of groups on campus. Mine has them almost every day of the week - for free. Others, like my undergrad, charge a nominal fee and have regular meeting times. You don't have to say, "I think you have a mental illness" because they may just be overwhelmed and lack study skills, but especially if they have had a recent loss or are dealing with other issues and confide in you about this, know the resources.
The thing I stress most, however, is that you don't offend people. You see, people like myself have mental illnesses. Yes, normal, productive members of society can suffer. You may make jokes about "being OCD" or may make fun of me for freaking out over a door not being locked properly. It's one ritual I may always have. It's painful for me and I don't need an audience. I legitimately believe that things will burn down when I don't lock the door properly. Yes, it sounds crazy - because it really is - but I have no control over these thoughts. My brain just likes to screw with me sometimes. Don't make jokes about self-harm, eating disorders, or how you want to kill yourself. People who have been there or have been personally effected by suicide don't like it. My sister saw two suicides and one attempt within her first year of college. She really gets upset by these jokes, despite not suffering from a mental illness.
Why does this matter? Well, there are several reasons:
1. People who have suffered and are back "on track" and in therapy, taking their meds, exercising, etc to help themselves may find themselves feeling badly about taking their meds and doing the things that help. Stigma can be a powerful barrier to treatment.
2. People who have a mental illness should feel safe. They shouldn't be made to feel ashamed. Part of the problem with mental illness is that it IS stigmatized. You can work to change that by making every space a safe space.
3. You never know who has been effected by mental illness - either by their own struggles or by those of others. I am very effected by not only my own contemplation of suicide but also the multiple attempts of people around me which left me reeling. I never attempted and never ever had a plan, but the thought that there was no hope was all around. Many people have felt that way once. Trivializing it doesn't help. So, be careful always. You don't know who is listening.
How do I improve the situation?
1. Don't trivialize the struggles of mental illness. Being OCD is not like an episode of Monk. Cutting yourself is not just something emo kids do. Eating disorders are no something you wish you had. You aren't clinically depressed because you had a shitty day.
2. If someone has a mental illness, be supportive, but don't assume anything. They will tell you what they are comfortable telling you. Don't assume that they are somehow "crazy" or "fragile" unless they tell you. I am a pretty normal human being. I get A's. I study just as hard as everyone else. I deal with some trials and tribulations, but I don't ask for sympathy. I learned something when I case managed for Medicaid. You need to give empathy, not sympathy. This is true here.
3. If a student or colleague comes to you, be aware of the resources available. Don't say, "I think you need to see someone." Say instead, "I know stress can be overwhelming. Have you tried these stress relief workshops? I hear they really work." If you are talking to a friend and really care about them, you can offer to go with them to the stress relief thing or agree to hold their hand while they wait for a therapist. Be aware of what is there, share it in a supportive and non-judgmental manner, and then let the person do what they will with it. Empathize. Don't judge.
4. Be aware that mental illness can be crippling and it is time consuming to take care of - just like any other illness. I work on it all the effing time. That said, it's not any different than having a physical illness. I have several other chronic conditions that are pretty bad to deal with and they are very similar to mental illness as far as coping goes. Most people have dealt with this sort of condition at least once in their life. Think of how you felt and how you wanted to be treated and do unto others as you wanted to have done to you.
As an academic - hell, as someone who comes into contact with people - you should be aware of mental illness. People have the ability to change stigma. Just as was done with diseases like breast cancer and AIDS in the past, we can help bring this to the forefront. It's just especially important because of the age of students you deal with and the fact that academics have a higher incidence of mental illness than the general population.
Just some food for thought.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Soapbox: Young People and Sex
Usually, I post about general school things and my life, but this time, I am going to go up on a soapbox.
Time sent this out recently. It's a sad, fascinating look into what young people think about sex. The respondents in this CDC survey are all young women who had unplanned pregnancies. I think it's a very interesting sample and certainly worth discussing.
How is this related to college students and my life as a TA? Well, believe it or not, I was once a college student and I see college students every day. Well, not right now because I am stuck at home with a terrible case of strep throat.
What I have encountered both as a TA and a student is a total lack of sexual health knowledge. It's appalling. I feel as though my friends and students have been failed by a lack of education from their schools and parents. You see, sex ed was a non-issue at my middle/high school. It didn't exist. It was all, "Don't have sex and this won't happen". In middle school, two friends got pregnant. They both had unprotected sex and didn't think it could happen to them. In high school, two close friends got pregnant and my school had a serious problem with all of this. We were actually the 2nd highest rated county for pregnancies. This was ahead of Lake County, which has numerous large cities such as Gary and Hammond where low socioeconomic status by all rights statistically should lead to more pregnancies than the more affluent cities in LaPorte county. Marion county, that which houses the state capital (Indy) was the only county with a higher rate of teen pregnancy per capita. That's really sad.
At home, though, I was very lucky. My parents were open and honest. By age 10, I had safe sex education at home. It was embarrassing no doubt, but now I am thankful. My sister and I grew up unashamed of my sexuality. We were educated and in control of our safety. We both waited a long time to have sex. We both felt secure in that choice. That said, most of my friends didn't have that experience.
In college, I was the go-to person for sex ed my freshman and sophomore years despite my lack of actual sexual experience. Girls in my dorm had no clue they were putting themselves at risk and were afraid to talk because they felt ashamed. This has been the experience many of my students have had as well. Overhearing conversations and having a student have a conversation with me about being sexually assaulted and breaking down in my office drove the point home. She didn't know she could be pregnant and was ashamed to do anything. Her exam grade was incredibly low and she came to me to see if she could re-take. As an A student prior to this, I did go to the professor and explain that while I was not at liberty to discuss her circumstances, she had been through a great deal of trauma. Without question, he allowed her to retake another version of the exam and she ended up with an A-.
I am sure she was still reeling from what she had encountered, but I was glad that she had come to me and felt comfortable explaining it. I, myself, was sexually assaulted in middle school - AT school, by a classmate. I didn't tell anyone the whole story for years, but my parents were there for me. They didn't make me feel ashamed. They didn't blame me. They didn't push me on the issue because they were educated enough of the subject to just love me and come about a resolution in my own time.
My friend is in charge of the vagina monologues at school. She is in charge of arranging sex education talks for the often very young college students participating. The stories she tells me are appalling. These girls are sex-ashamed and sex-ignorant. I am glad she does what she does for them because she is dedicated to educating these women.
I don't talk about men here, not because I don't care. I feel instead that women are more vulnerable and made to feel ashamed by a society that either sees them as sexually promiscuous or incapable of desiring sex. It isn't like this everywhere, but in the U.S., it is a huge problem. When I lived in England, I was amazed by how proud women were of their sexuality and how sex ed was pushed by the public school system. Things were even more open in Germany. I think we can learn a lot from this. And I don't say that just because I am a comparative politics person, but I think it certainly has informed me to these policy lessons. Men deserve the same education - both about sex and abuse - but I think we need to be especially worried about women.
Abstinence simply doesn't work for everyone and it is a lousy choice for sex ed. Sex ed should certainly explain that abstinence is not a bad thing and it is the only way to be sure you don't get preggers or receive an STD. However, abstinence-only programs are labeled ineffective by agencies such as the CDC and the DHHS. I have a department contact over in the policy school here who is personally involved in local sex ed programs in the schools. She was responsible for putting together a sex ed program based on a "highly effective" program that had been tested elsewhere and evaluated by the CDC to be especially good at protecting young people from STD's and pregnancy. It was awarded a grant for this reason. The Obama administration is trying really hard to push money to these programs. That said, the Bush legacy is hard to correct in one term. I fully support this.
If you are college student reading this, please get involved, gather knowledge, and don't feel alone. Don't feel ashamed. If you have been sexually abused, please don't feel like you are to blame - regardless of what people have told you. If you are a grad student who comes into contact with students, be aware of this. Perhaps you can get involved. Most colleges have resources for you to both educate yourself on sexual assault and provide resources. I encourage you to make yourself aware of them. I never expected a student to come to me, but I was able to refer her to services that could help and be there for her. I advocated for her because I knew it was important. Most profs will understand, even if you don't outline what happened. I told her I would not tell my prof that she had experienced an assault. I promised. I told him instead that she had experienced a very painful life event that I think was worthy of this retake. Most professors ARE human and will understand. If a student comes to you with questions and you are uncomfortable with talking about it, please refer them to services and know what is available.
No one should be made to feel guilty about sex. No one should be assaulted, but people who are should know about services and know that there are places to go. Kids should know about safe sex. They should know about sexual abuse and "no means no". We are failing our kids if we don't both talk about this at home and in school.
Time sent this out recently. It's a sad, fascinating look into what young people think about sex. The respondents in this CDC survey are all young women who had unplanned pregnancies. I think it's a very interesting sample and certainly worth discussing.
How is this related to college students and my life as a TA? Well, believe it or not, I was once a college student and I see college students every day. Well, not right now because I am stuck at home with a terrible case of strep throat.
What I have encountered both as a TA and a student is a total lack of sexual health knowledge. It's appalling. I feel as though my friends and students have been failed by a lack of education from their schools and parents. You see, sex ed was a non-issue at my middle/high school. It didn't exist. It was all, "Don't have sex and this won't happen". In middle school, two friends got pregnant. They both had unprotected sex and didn't think it could happen to them. In high school, two close friends got pregnant and my school had a serious problem with all of this. We were actually the 2nd highest rated county for pregnancies. This was ahead of Lake County, which has numerous large cities such as Gary and Hammond where low socioeconomic status by all rights statistically should lead to more pregnancies than the more affluent cities in LaPorte county. Marion county, that which houses the state capital (Indy) was the only county with a higher rate of teen pregnancy per capita. That's really sad.
At home, though, I was very lucky. My parents were open and honest. By age 10, I had safe sex education at home. It was embarrassing no doubt, but now I am thankful. My sister and I grew up unashamed of my sexuality. We were educated and in control of our safety. We both waited a long time to have sex. We both felt secure in that choice. That said, most of my friends didn't have that experience.
In college, I was the go-to person for sex ed my freshman and sophomore years despite my lack of actual sexual experience. Girls in my dorm had no clue they were putting themselves at risk and were afraid to talk because they felt ashamed. This has been the experience many of my students have had as well. Overhearing conversations and having a student have a conversation with me about being sexually assaulted and breaking down in my office drove the point home. She didn't know she could be pregnant and was ashamed to do anything. Her exam grade was incredibly low and she came to me to see if she could re-take. As an A student prior to this, I did go to the professor and explain that while I was not at liberty to discuss her circumstances, she had been through a great deal of trauma. Without question, he allowed her to retake another version of the exam and she ended up with an A-.
I am sure she was still reeling from what she had encountered, but I was glad that she had come to me and felt comfortable explaining it. I, myself, was sexually assaulted in middle school - AT school, by a classmate. I didn't tell anyone the whole story for years, but my parents were there for me. They didn't make me feel ashamed. They didn't blame me. They didn't push me on the issue because they were educated enough of the subject to just love me and come about a resolution in my own time.
My friend is in charge of the vagina monologues at school. She is in charge of arranging sex education talks for the often very young college students participating. The stories she tells me are appalling. These girls are sex-ashamed and sex-ignorant. I am glad she does what she does for them because she is dedicated to educating these women.
I don't talk about men here, not because I don't care. I feel instead that women are more vulnerable and made to feel ashamed by a society that either sees them as sexually promiscuous or incapable of desiring sex. It isn't like this everywhere, but in the U.S., it is a huge problem. When I lived in England, I was amazed by how proud women were of their sexuality and how sex ed was pushed by the public school system. Things were even more open in Germany. I think we can learn a lot from this. And I don't say that just because I am a comparative politics person, but I think it certainly has informed me to these policy lessons. Men deserve the same education - both about sex and abuse - but I think we need to be especially worried about women.
Abstinence simply doesn't work for everyone and it is a lousy choice for sex ed. Sex ed should certainly explain that abstinence is not a bad thing and it is the only way to be sure you don't get preggers or receive an STD. However, abstinence-only programs are labeled ineffective by agencies such as the CDC and the DHHS. I have a department contact over in the policy school here who is personally involved in local sex ed programs in the schools. She was responsible for putting together a sex ed program based on a "highly effective" program that had been tested elsewhere and evaluated by the CDC to be especially good at protecting young people from STD's and pregnancy. It was awarded a grant for this reason. The Obama administration is trying really hard to push money to these programs. That said, the Bush legacy is hard to correct in one term. I fully support this.
If you are college student reading this, please get involved, gather knowledge, and don't feel alone. Don't feel ashamed. If you have been sexually abused, please don't feel like you are to blame - regardless of what people have told you. If you are a grad student who comes into contact with students, be aware of this. Perhaps you can get involved. Most colleges have resources for you to both educate yourself on sexual assault and provide resources. I encourage you to make yourself aware of them. I never expected a student to come to me, but I was able to refer her to services that could help and be there for her. I advocated for her because I knew it was important. Most profs will understand, even if you don't outline what happened. I told her I would not tell my prof that she had experienced an assault. I promised. I told him instead that she had experienced a very painful life event that I think was worthy of this retake. Most professors ARE human and will understand. If a student comes to you with questions and you are uncomfortable with talking about it, please refer them to services and know what is available.
No one should be made to feel guilty about sex. No one should be assaulted, but people who are should know about services and know that there are places to go. Kids should know about safe sex. They should know about sexual abuse and "no means no". We are failing our kids if we don't both talk about this at home and in school.