Abstract
The ongoing mental health crisis for college students has been a notable topic in recent years and while a necessary conversation, this often overlooks an underlying mental health crisis for higher education staff and the connection between both crises. As a former mentally ill graduate student and now (still) mentally ill student affairs practitioner, the connection is clear and a conversation now is critical. Using my personal narrative as a current practitioner, self authorship, and disability theory intersections, I am using this piece as a counternarrative and interruption to traditional student and staff development. Lastly, I seek to encourage a view of personal development as nonlinear, and even sometimes circular, and to challenge ableist notions of ‘professionalism’ for fellow staff with mental illnesses.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, J. (2023). Going to a Psychiatric Hospital Saved My Life and My Student Affairs Career. The Vermont Connection, 44(1). https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol44/iss1/21
Included in
Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Disability Studies Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Higher Education Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons