“Will they still take me seriously?” “Will I ever get promoted?” “Will I still fit in?” These are common concerns for people with mental health conditions. Every time they consider being open about their mental health with a supervisor, tutor, colleague or fellow student, they have to weigh the pros and cons of the decision. Sharing may help you gain access to support and accommodations, but it can also make you feel vulnerable and expose you to potential negative reactions.
Health science researchers Yil Severijns and Thomas Gültzow understood how difficult this decision can be. With funding from the Diversity & Inclusivity Office, they collaborated with Sanne Brouwers, Véronique Vancauwenbergh, Daniëlle Zijlstra and Femke den Uil to develop a decision-making tool that helps people weigh the pros and cons.
What matters
“We started by interviewing students and staff members who had been in this situation”, explains Severijns, who, like Gültzow, now works at the Open Universiteit. “We then used a program to describe the pros and cons of disclosing a mental health condition and create a list of statements focused on what matters to the user. For example, ‘I want to talk about my mental health issues at UM to help make it easier for others to share theirs.’”
“The tool is designed to help users clarify what they want. It doesn’t steer you towards a particular decision”, says Gültzow. “Whether you disclose your mental health condition or not, either is perfectly fine.” The tool provides users with a personalised summary of their answers rather than concrete advice, helping them come to their own conclusion.
Help
Users also receive an overview of available mental health resources at UM, which the researchers found to be an important part of the tool. “There’s a lot of support available, and plenty of information, but people just don’t seem to know about it”, says Gültzow. “For example, we discovered that UM has a buddy system where students support each other. We had no idea it existed, even though we’d been working on the topic for a while. Our student assistants didn’t know about it either, and almost none of the students we spoke to did.” Severijns adds, “If you’re struggling with your mental health, you simply may not have the energy to comb through the entire UM website. That’s why the overview is so helpful.”
The researchers are currently in talks with various university departments to make the tool available to UM students and staff.