Should you tell your professor about your mental health?
About the author
Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.
Mental health and college
You find yourself struggling internally and wonder if you should let your professor know about your mental health problems.
Maybe you think your professor will judge you or treat you differently, but you just have to get it off your chest.
But you don’t know where to start.
As a professor, I am going to tell you when, how and what to tell your professor.
Should you tell your professor about your mental health?
If you feel comfortable discussing your personal problems with your professor, and you feel like your mental health status will impact your performance in their class, you should talk to them about your mental health.
Are mental health struggles common among college students?
Researchers have found that mental health problems are common within the college student population.
Young college students are experiencing a lot of change at once.
You may have just moved out of your parent’s home and are on your own for the first time or you are still living at home and watching all your friends flee your city and enjoying living away at a college.
Sometimes the circumstances young adults face can make mental health problems more common.
There are lots of stressors on young adults, like which major should you choose, which career is best, studying and getting good grades.
You are trying to work, go to class, and maintain a social life and that can add a lot of stress to your life.
Also, lots of college students take out student loans to survive during college and pay their tuition, and this can become daunting.
Educationdata.org concluded that “92.8 million living Americans have had student loan debt at some point.”
All these things can play a part in your mental health. It’s not a surprise that research says that mental health problems are common among this group.
Even older college students can experience mental health struggles.
For example, a non-traditional college student finds themselves immersed back into school, after a long break, and navigating an unknown world.
They may struggle fitting in, learning new concepts, and adapting to new technology.
College can be overwhelming for anyone.
How mental health could impact your college career
If you let your mental health problems continue without seeking treatment, it could impact your college career.
You might find yourself missing class and forgetting to submit assignments on time because of your mental health struggles.
This could leave you with failing grades.
And sometimes when people are having academic difficulty, they may engage in academic dishonesty, which causes even more problems for the student when they get caught.
If you are running behind on your coursework, skipping class or not studying, you might find yourself more tempted to cheat or plagiarize out of desperation.
Also, college students having mental health problems may try to self-medicate to cope in hopes of feeling better.
Maybe they go out and drink more often, which leads to much bigger issues, like binge drinking.
Or drug abuse may be explored to numb their feelings.
These negative coping strategies usually result in more issues and create more problems than they already had.
You can see how a college student’s mental health struggles can flow over into other aspects of their life, and snowball to create more and more problems as a result.
You might have to drop out of college, which could result in some financial struggles.
Or you could fail courses and the college places you on academic probation.
If you find yourself struggling with your mental health, or substance abuse, get professional help.
When should you tell your professor about your mental health?
If you think that your mental health problems will impact your coursework or performance, it would be important to discuss your mental health struggles with your professor.
You should ask yourself this question.
Will it help me in any way if I tell my professor about my mental health problems?
Your professor may have had years of experience teaching students and been made aware of many other students’ mental health struggles and have some great advice or solutions for you.
They are also very familiar with their college’s services and can easily point you in the right direction.
Aim to inform your professors about your mental health at the beginning of the semester.
And if you didn’t tell them in the beginning of the term, but had some difficulties throughout the semester, immediately convey that to them if it’s impacting your coursework.
It’s never too late to let them know why you haven’t been performing as well as you could have.
When shouldn’t you tell your professor about your mental health?
This is entirely based upon my opinion, but if you aren’t struggling in your courses, or don’t anticipate any difficulty in your academic career, it may be best to not discuss the matter with them.
If you do begin to struggle later during the term, discuss it with them then.
There’s no reason to share everything personal about your circumstances unless you think it could help you or someone else.
Otherwise, I would keep it to yourself.
But realize that you should still seek out professional assistance to overcome and cope with your mental health problems individually.
If you do want to share your mental health problems with your professor because you need a confidant, definitely do that because they may be able to point you in the right direction for some assistance, especially if it’s urgent.
You know your professor’s demeanor, so you should be able to gauge them to know if they can be someone you could share that information with to seek some assistance.
If you haven’t developed a professional rapport with them, and your mental health problems aren’t flowing over into your schoolwork, I wouldn’t say anything.
How to tell your professor about your mental health
I know you may be thinking, But I am intimidated to talk to my professor.
You may be wondering what they’ll think of you, or if they’ll treat you differently.
As a professor, I have met and talked with over a hundred professors throughout the years, and I can honestly say that I’ve never met one who wasn’t genuinely concerned about their students.
Maybe that’s just the type of professors I surround myself with or the type of professor my college hired, but they’ve all been wonderful people.
Honestly, most are in this profession to educate students, and if a student is struggling mentally, it makes that task harder.
We would much rather know so that we could try and help you.
While the professor cannot typically personally help you with your mental health struggles, they can point you in the right direction.
To begin this conversation, I recommend talking to your professor in person.
Everyone is busy, so if you cannot make it to discuss in-person, you could send an email.
For confidentiality reasons, I would recommend you talk in-person.
Schedule an appointment with your professor to talk about your mental health struggles.
Go in with a plan.
Write down what you want to say.
Stick to the details.
Be honest.
I would recommend that you focus on how your mental health problems will impact your college career.
Let them know you are concerned about absences, leaving class early, or forgetting to submit assignments.
They may have some solutions.
You shouldn’t ask for exceptions unless you have disability accommodations.
Remember, you are having this discussion to help them understand how your mental health problems may impact your coursework or performance in their class.
Then expect to brainstorm with your professor to find some solutions.
The point of this conversation is to give your professor an idea about your mental health status so that they can better understand your circumstances. They might be able to offer some valuable feedback, solutions, or referrals.
Lastly, it just helps your professor know when something might be going on internally. They could check in with you to see how things are going.
That’s what I would recommend trying to achieve with this visit.
PRO TIP : But before you end your communication, try and assure your professor that you take your academic career seriously, and you want to be the best possible student, and will try to find solutions in the midst of your struggles to overcome them.
What can your professor do to help you with your mental health?
If you don’t already have disability accommodations, your professor can refer you or you can seek these services yourself through your college’s disability services.
There is federal legislation that protects most students with disabilities, and you might qualify. Make sure you seek out this service if you meet those requirements.
As a professor, when a student talks to me about their mental health, I never treat them differently. But it makes me more aware of some of their behaviors.
I can then rationalize those incidences and check-in with the student.
It doesn’t mean that students get to have exceptions to policies, but it can help me know when a student is struggling, and I can reach out to see what support services they need.
Your professor could also offer you some exceptions, within reason. Perhaps they know that you need frequent breaks or struggle with anxiety, they may accommodate you.
It’s important to understand that your professor will know of many available resources at the college, and can help you so don’t be afraid to ask them for help.
I am not suggesting that your professor will be a mental health expert or your counselor, but I think we can agree that professors do care about their students and want to support them.
Finally, it is important to remember that some colleges may have their very own dedicated counselors to provide students with FREE services.
Definitely check to see if your college offers something like that, and your professor is sure to know all about them.
Final thoughts
Mental health problems within the college student population are very common. Don’t feel like you are alone.
Work with your professors and your college’s disability services (if applicable) to get additional assistance.
Be honest and open with your communication but realize you may not have to share your mental health problems if you don’t think they are going to effect your college career or performance.
However, even if they won’t impact your academic career, it may be important to tell your professor, or anyone, that you are struggling so that you can talk to someone and get help.
Lastly, don’t feel embarrassed about talking to your professor about your mental health as it’s been discovered that professors have also struggled with their own mental health.
Here are some other frequently asked questions I get from my readers that might help you on your journey too.
Can I talk to my professor about my personal problems?
You can always talk to your professors about your personal problems, but understand that your professor might not have the professional capacity to assist you. Sure, it might help you with your current course, but there might be little they can do for you otherwise.
If you share this information with your professor, I need you to understand that your professor might be legally obligated to report the information depending on the circumstances.
How do I email my professor about my mental health issues?
I would recommend that you talk to your professor in person rather than communicate via email. Your email is forever and may not be confidential.
There are plenty of times where hackers have accessed databases of corporations, schools, and government entities and it’s not something I would risk.
But if you want to email your professor to ask for help because of your mental health struggles, I have an article explaining best practices when asking for assistance from your professor.
Should you tell your professor that you have anxiety?
You are not required to tell your professor about your anxiety but it’s a personal decision to share that information. If you don’t think that your anxiety is going to impact your coursework, I don’t see the need to share that information with your professor.
And if you have anxiety and need some accommodations, you could check with your college about their disability services. And if you qualified, you could get reasonable accommodations (in some countries). Your professor would be notified of those accommodations and could further assist you.
Can I ask my professor for an email extension because of my mental health?
If you have a mental health problem, you could ask for an extension, but your professor might not have to oblige. You are most likely to get an extension if you have a disability and have accommodations through your college OR if your professor has a flexible policy.
If you need to know how to politely ask for an extension and increase your odds of getting one, check out my article.
You got this!
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