Wellness and Self-Care Practices: Navigating Mental Health in Graduate School

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

The graduate student experience can be challenging with long lab hours, teaching, coursework, and research requirements. The continuous demands of graduate students can lead to burnout. Approximately 80% of students feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities while 50% of students report struggling in school due to anxiety (NAMI, 2018). These numbers are striking, but for students of color, who are less likely to seek mental health services, systemic intervention is needed more than ever. This panel will discuss the current state of mental health in university settings and tangible examples of how students can create spaces for their own self-care and wellness. They will talk about their own approaches and practices to wellness and self-care as well as answer audience questions.

Sub Unit

• Graduate Student Council

Chair

• Dèsa Karye Daniel, The University of New Mexico

Panelists

• Kaleen Carimbocas, Palo Alto University

• Jendayi Bizzelle Dillard, The University of Texas at Austin

• Derrick Bines, University of California - Berkeley