Summary of Wellness and Mental Health Town Hall

Thanks to everybody who attended this discussion. We hope that it was the start of ongoing conversations among department members on how to improve our mental health and well being. Below are the notes we made during the meeting

  • Take short stretching breaks
  • Take a lunch break
    • Don’t always talk at lunch about your work
  • Remind others to take breaks, especially if you notice they are looking stressed
  • Keep a journal of your work emotions - use to remind yourself what you have achieved!
  • remember work is NOT equal to productivity, and productivity is NOT equal to self worth
  • Talk to your Supervisor about your expectations of each other
  • Take a walk
  • Find someone you can “shout” at
  • Sleep!
  • Take 2 seconds to say Hi to group members
  • From an exercise group and use group guilt to ensure you actually  exercise
  • Remember you are more than your job!
  • Try committing a lifestyle change for 1 month
  • Instituional change + communication
  • Faculty mentorship
  • Encourge a departmental policy to discourage continually working extreme hours
  • Instituionalize enforcing vacations
  • Change the narrative:  effort,  “genius”,  impostor syndrome
  • Create a talks/discussion series on these topics for graudate students
  • Seek out Mental health experts if you need them
    • Might be a lifelong need
    • There is no need to be ashamed
  • Be flexible
  • Be honest  - we all fail/struggle sometimes
  • Present a summary of this discusion at a Facutly meeting