Check In for Teachers: How Are You Doing?

As a teacher, you’ve chosen a career path that invests in others. By providing an education to growing minds, you help to set your students up for a lifetime of success.

You’re also putting yourself out there. Between opinionated parents and curriculum changes from state and federal agencies, it can feel like a lot is on the line right now.

As one recent study put it, “Teaching is challenging and yet one of the most rewarding professions, but several factors correlate with stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression among teachers.”

So, with the year underway, we wanted to check in with all of the teachers in our community in the San Fernando Valley. How are you doing?

Taking a pause to take a pulse

The start of the school year is often a mad dash. All the time you spend readying your classroom and lesson planning pays off, but that doesn’t mean things usually go fully according to plan. As you adjust to new students and all the other new dynamics of this school year, you might feel like you’ve been sprinting since the first day of the year.

That can — and often does — take a toll. Per the aforementioned study, high percentages of teachers deal with serious mental health challenges. That study estimated that as many as:

• 74% of teachers are experiencing burnout
• 87.1% of teachers are stressed
• 41.2% of teachers live with symptoms of an anxiety disorder
• 77% of teachers have symptoms of depression

Those are the top end of the ranges the study found, but it’s still notable just how prevalent mental health challenges are among teachers.

With a good chunk of the school year behind us, now’s a great time to take a pause and see if you feel like you fit into any of those categories. Try to carve out a couple of hours to do some breathing exercises, journal, or even just go for a walk while you self-reflect. This time can help you determine if you’re in a mentally healthy place or if you need some extra support.

During your check-in window, a few screening tools can help you get a better idea of where you stand with certain mental health challenges:

• Burnout Screener (Psychology Today)
• Anxiety Screener (Mental Health America)
• Stress Screener (Psychology Today)
• Depression Screener (Mental Health America)

The results of those screeners might tell you what kind of help would be best for you.

Putting support in place

After you’ve checked in with yourself, you can decide if you need or want to take next steps. If you need help deciding on what those next steps should be, you can ask around. Your fellow teachers might have tips that have helped them. The California Teachers Association also has some resources you can tap into.

If you completed any of the screeners, those can help to point you in the right direction, too. If you’re experiencing burnout, for example, boundary-setting and self-care are usually a big help. If you’re dealing with symptoms of anxiety and depression, seeing a therapist helps you get resources for managing your symptoms and supporting your mental health.

The key thing here is the moment of pause to see how you’re really doing. If you grind through the entire school year, relying on momentum to carry you through, you’ll almost undoubtedly join the ranks of teachers experiencing burnout.

If you want some support but you’re not sure what that could look like, we’re here. Our team of therapists offers dedicated care for burnout, anxiety, and depression. We can help you cultivate stress management techniques and set better boundaries. If you want someone to come alongside you to help you care for your mental health this school year, contact us.