Mind Your Own Revisions

Go to mindyourownrevisions.com to learn more about how I help fellow academics to prevent and overcome burnout as well as maintain mental and emotional wellbeing, and sign up for my newsletter to receive more resources.

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This episode is all about living with the "black dog" called depression.

I share my my personal experiences with you regarding living with depression - which hopefully can be applied to any other chronic physical or mental health challenge. 

Some of the topics that come up in this episode are acceptance, expectations, thoughts from the "depressed brain", and getting help.

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Go to mindyourownrevisions.com to learn more about how I help fellow academics to maintain mental and emotional wellbeing, and sign up for my newsletter to receive more resources.

This episode is all about the (occupational) burnout syndrome.

We hear the term burnout everywhere - so much so that it has become a sort of a buzzword... Though many of us don’t even know what “burnout” means.

In this episode, I give the scientific definition of burnout along with its signs and symptoms.

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Do you recognise yourself in this episode? Did this episode resonate with you? Do you think you might be burned-out?

If so, please consider joining me an dozens of (ex-/alt-) academics from around the world in my brand new online course "Bounce Back from Burnout".

APPLY HERE: https://forms.gle/3MtWY8TZkECJADUX7

This four-week course is completely FREE in August 2021 because it’s the beta test round of my course idea, and the participants are expected to give constructive feedback during the course and a testimonial at the end. 

BBfB is designed to kick start a paradigm shift for academics.

If you join, by the end of August, you will learn:

• WHERE you stand on the burnout spectrum
• WHY you are burned-out
• WHAT kind of support you need
• HOW you can bounce back

APPLY HERE: https://forms.gle/3MtWY8TZkECJADUX7

Deadline for applications is Sunday, August 1st midnight CET.

Cited in this episode:

• Schaufeli, W.B., De Witte, H. & Desart, S. (2019). Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) – Test Manual. KU Leuven, Belgium. More info at https://burnoutassessmenttool.be/project_eng/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Go to mindyourownrevisions.com to learn more about how I help fellow academics to maintain mental and emotional wellbeing, and sign up for my fortnightly newsletter to receive more resources.

This episode tackles the question "to PhD or not to PhD".

On the one hand, I share my own experience as a former PhD student in Belgium.

On the other hand, I review the book "The Realities of Completing a PhD" by Dr. Nicolas Rowe.

Cited in this episode:

• Cornell, Bethan. (2020). PhD life: the UK student experience. HEPI Report 131. Higher Education Policy Council. Retrieved on 12 May 2021 from https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/PhD-Life_The-UK-Student-Experience_HEPI-Report-131.pdf 
• Rowe, Nicholas. (2021). The Realities of Completing a PhD: How to Plan for Success (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003132714

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Do you have a "just-in-case" plan for a possible future mental health-related rough patch? If not, listen on!

This episode is about the importance of "asking for help" and offers practical ways to do so.

We also dive deeper into what vulnerabiltiy means, and how to be vulnerable.

Cited in this episode:

* Brené Brown. 2019. “Rumbling with Vulnerability: The Myths of Vulnerability”. Dare to Lead Daring Classrooms Training. Retrieved on 11 May 2021 from https://brenebrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Integration-Ideas_Courage-and-Vulnerability-Part-1-Definitions-and-Myths.pdf

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This episode is about how we can support someone who is going through a hard time mental health-wise - something we all need to learn, considering the increase in the number of people struggling with mental health issues both in general and in academia, and especially during this pandemic period; because:

• We all have mental health.
• All of us are capable.
• It is our business to offer help/support to someone who is struggling.

So how to help? I suggest the ALRIGHT method that stands for

• Approach
• Listen (non-judgementally)
• Reassure
• Immediate action
• Guide towards professional support
• Help them to help themselves
• Time a follow-up meeting

Get out of your head and show up for people around you!

It’s really not that difficult to help someone get through a difficult period. 

Cited in this episode:

* Ian Martin and Emma Giles. 2020. “Encourage better workplace conversations about mental health with ALRIGHT”: https://delphis.org.uk/mental-health/conversations-about-mental-health/

* Kelsey Crowe and Emily McDowell. 2017. “There Is No Good Card for This: What To Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love”. HarperCollins.

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In this episode, I talk about "rejection" - a concept that we are all too familiar with.

I share two personal rejection stories and my key takeaway from being rejected -- that rejection would result in one (or both) of two things.

Listen to find out more :)

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In this episode, I share some insights from the members of the Facebook group "Academic Wellbeing beyond Coping": https://www.facebook.com/groups/211371107161673

Feel free to answer the membership questions and join us inside!

Reminder:

Whatever the circumstances are, you always have a choice: You have the choice to stand up for yourself, put boundaries, and practice self-care. Note that the guilt and the low confidence are merely feelings that you generate in your mind. The demands are and will be high everywhere in our lives - what is important is the way we respond to those increasing demands.

As educated and empowered intellectuals, we all have the capability to make our own decisions and draw the line when the work becomes too taxing for our mental and emotional health.

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Perfectionism means striving for flawlessness and perfection - accompanied by self-criticism and concern about criticism from others.

Many people say that perfectionism is toxic. Yet, many academics are perfectionists - and this was also proven by science. The academic environment may be the perfect breeding ground for perfectionism.

However, there are two types of perfectionism: adaptive and maladaptive. So maybe it's not so bad...?

The good news is; it is possible to unlearn the perfectionism itself or the parts of it that you don't like.

How do you cope with your perfectionism?

References

Araújo, Liliana S., José Fernando A. Cruz & Leandro S. Almeida (2017). Achieving scientific excellence: An exploratory study of the role of emotional and motivational factors. High Ability Studies, 28:2, 249-264, https://doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2016.1264293 

Blackmore, Susan. Why are some people perfectionists? Science Focus. Retrieved from

https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-are-some-people-perfectionists/ 

Scheel, Judy (2015). Perfectionism: Inherited or A Psychological Solution? Many people with eating disorders have perfectionistic tendencies - But why? Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-food-is-family/201504/perfectionism-inherited-or-psychological-solution 

Thmson, Helen (2019). The misunderstood personality trait that is causing anxiety and stress. New Scientist. Retrieved from https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24332430-600-the-misunderstood-personality-trait-that-is-causing-anxiety-and-stress/ 

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Today’s topic is the impostor syndrome: a self-perceived intellectual fraud - coined by Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, back in 1978.

Despite being such a common phenomenon for high-achievers, there are even therapists who had not heard of this "syndrome". 

There are three core elements of the impostor phenomenon:

1. A belief that he/she has fooled others.
2. A fear of being exposed as an impostor.
3. An inability to attribute own achievement to internal qualities such as ability, intelligence, or skills.

So many successful people have impostor syndrome: Albert Einstein, Michelle Obama, Agatha Christie, Meryl Streep, Maya Angelou, Neil Armstrong, Tom Hanks, Robbie Williams, David Tennant… so many quote-unquote “successful, high-achieving” people.

Two questions regarding today's topic:

Firstly, do you think you are harder on yourself than you are on others when it comes to expectations and mistakes? How do you feel when you look at your achievements more objectively? 

Secondly, if you are one of the people who experience the impostor phenomenon, how does knowing its name and how wide-spread it is make you feel?

References:

Clance, P. R. (1985). The impostor phenomenon: Overcoming the fear that haunts your success. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.

Harvey, J. C., & Katz, C. (1985). If I’m so successful, why do I feel like a fake?: The impostor phenomenon. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

Sakulku, J., & Alexander, J. (2011). The imposter phenomenon. International Journal of Behavioral Science, 6(1), 73–92. Retrieved from https://www.sciencetheearth.com/uploads/2/4/6/5/24658156/2011_sakulku_the_impostor_phenomenon.pdf

“Overcoming the Imposter Syndrome” at FutureLearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/overcoming-imposter-syndrome 

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The last episode was about our individual thoughts, feelings and beliefs that prevent us from talking openly about our mental health problems and keep us silent being mostly fear-based. I believe that the feedback we receive from others is more related to the empathy and/or knowledge of that person.

Many of us get some subtle reactions when we disclose our struggles with mental health. The person we talk to may end up:

• belittling or ignoring our issue
• giving unsollicited advice
• revealing their colour in relation to the use of medication

Last but not the least, it is time for universities to take action in terms of supporting their employees in the event of a possible mental health crisis; because we don’t develop immunity against mental health problems just because we age.

Today's thought exercise:

Firstly, regardless of whether you have mental health problems or not, do you think you have information about the different types of struggles people may have? Do you realize that you have prejudices?

Secondly, how do you think the university could support your mental health as an institution?

Next episode: Impostor Syndrome

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