When Teaching Takes a Toll: Understanding the Mental Health Impacts and Embracing Self-Care
As a former teacher in city schools, I know how much goes into teaching. I would spend hours on the weekend planning for the week ahead, collaborating with fellow teachers to create effective lessons, implementing strategies to help students with IEPs and 504 plans, documenting student progress through assessments and benchmarks, implementing district wide changes that felt unrealistic and impossible to meet, while trying to keep my personal life afloat. Teaching during the pandemic added an extra layer of stress, not only were you concerned for your students and their families, but your own family.
As teachers you make a promise to show up everyday for your students, regardless of the storm brewing underneath the surface. Admin tells you to take time for yourself, yet continues to pile on new tasks and responsibilities that take away from “your time.” Is it the administration's fault? Not always, most of the time they receive their orders from the district office, many of whom have never been in the classroom. Those making district decisions are out of tune with the reality of teaching. Every year more gets added to your plate without relieving some of the pressure or responsibilities to make room for the new policies and procedures. But what happens when the weight becomes too much? What happens when the plate falls and shatters into a million pieces?
Burnout in teachers and educators
Burnout, anxiety, and depression go hand in hand. Teachers who experience anxiety and depression are more likely to develop burnout, and it’s no wonder. Our class sizes continue to grow without additional support staff. Teachers, schools counselors and para educators are pulled from their classrooms to sub during their planning. Disruptive classroom behaviors force teachers to stop teaching in order to handle the problem on their own while they are expected to continue on with the lesson. Districts expect unrealistic expectations for academic achievement and often blame the teachers for not meeting said expectations. It can feel like a lose-lose situation. The guilt and shame teachers experience every day is real. You may feel guilty for not meeting expectations, you may feel powerless and ineffective as a teacher when students fail to hit the target. Teachers take the growth of their students personally; rather than placing the responsibility on the student, teachers often internalize the student’s failure as their own. They begin to think they are ineffective and might begin questioning their abilities to teach. Teaching is a giving profession, you care deeply about your students, their families and the community without stopping to give yourself a little grace and encouragement for the work you are doing.
Life outside of the classroom is messy, add on the pressure and stress of teaching and you get burnout. Burnout can make you feel inadequate and helpless; you may begin taking responsibility for your student’s failures when in reality, it wasn’t you who failed. Burnout is often the number one reason why teachers leave the profession, but it doesn’t have to be. We want to be the best teacher for our students, we want to show up for them everyday, but we can only do that if we take care of ourselves first.
Practicing self-care as a teacher or educator
Self-care is a phrase that is constantly thrown around at faculty meetings without providing resources or time to take care of your mental health. However, the good news is, there are little things you can do everyday to help care for yourself:
Gratitude journaling
Taking a walk outside to smell the fresh air
Taking a bubble bath or soaking in a tub
Reading a book
Grabbing a cup of your favorite coffee
Making plans with friends
Driving with your windows down, listening to your favorite song
Drawing, painting, crafting or coloring a picture
Grabbing drinks with co-workers to decompress and process the week
Writing down words of affirmation and encouragement to stick around random places at work or at home
Walking barefoot in the grass, taking in the beauty of the world
Baking or cooking your favorite meal
This is not an exhaustive list, but rather some practical activities you can do for yourself to help you refuel so you can pour into your students and the important people in your life. Regardless of the self care activity you choose to do, the first step is allowing yourself the freedom to take time for yourself. So, are you ready?
Is work-related stress taking a toll on your mental health?
At LifeSpring Counseling Services, we work with a lot of teachers, so we understand the challenges of the job and the systemic factors impacting you and your work. Considering therapy as a step to prioritize yourself and your own well-being? Let us help! We make getting started easy, and we probably accept your insurance! Schedule with us today!
Workplace Wellness Programs
LifeSpring Counseling Services offers Workplace Wellness Services that include educational workshops, experiential workshops, and retreats. If you believe that your workplace could benefit from these services, you can 1. share this information with your supervisor or company CEO, or 2. if you are the person in charge, just fill out this form.
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Interested in Online & In-person Counseling Services for Work-Related Anxiety, Worry, Boundary Setting, or Burnout and Fatigue?
If you’re a Marylander who knows that counseling is the direction you need to take, the therapists at LifeSpring Counseling Services are here to help. We offer online counseling services for mindfulness, depression, anxiety, trauma, and grief and loss. We also offer Brainspotting as a specialized service, and Brainspotting can be done online, too!
Here’s how you can get started! Counseling for work-related anxiety, worry, boundary setting, burnout, and fatigue aren’t the only services offered at our Maryland office.
The counselors and social workers at our Maryland office also offer counseling services for trauma, grief and loss, boundary setting, communication skills, and difficult life transitions. We also offer specialized counseling services including Brainspotting and spiritually-integrated counseling. Because we are located next to several local universities, we also work with college students and international students.
Written by: Ali Miller, Counseling Intern and former Baltimore City school teacher
