Psychiatric Disabilities
Students with psychiatric disabilities have experienced significant emotional difficulty that generally has required treatment in a hospital setting. With appropriate treatment, often combining medications, psychotherapy, and support, the majority of psychiatric disorders are cured or controlled. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that one in five people in the United States have some form of psychiatric disability, but only one in five persons with a diagnosable psychiatric disorder ever seeks treatment due to the strong stigmatization involved. Below are brief descriptions of some common psychiatric disabilities.
Depression is a major disorder that can begin at any age. Major depression may be characterized by a depressed mood most of each day, a lack of pleasure in most activities, thoughts of suicide, insomnia, and feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
Bipolar disorder (manic depressive disorder) causes a person to experience periods of mania and depression. In the manic phase, a person might experience inflated self-esteem and a decreased need to sleep.
Anxiety disorders can disrupt a person's ability to concentrate and cause hyper-ventilation, a racing heart, chest pains, dizziness, panic, and extreme fear.
Schizophrenia can cause a person to experience, at some point in the illness, delusions and hallucinations.
Some considerations:
- Trauma is not the sole cause of psychiatric disabilities; genetics may play a role.
- Psychiatric disabilities affect people of any age, gender, income group, and intellectual level.
- Disruptive behavior is not an attribute of most people with psychiatric disabilities.
- Eighty to ninety percent of people with depression experience relief from symptoms through medication, therapy, or a combination of the two. Depression is a variable condition that may fluctuate during a person's lifetime.
- There are not more people with psychiatric disabilities, just more people seeking treatment outside the walls of state mental health institutions.
Common accommodations for students with psychiatric disabilities are:
- exam modifications
- alternative ways of completing assignments
- time extensions
- taped lectures
- early syllabus
- study skills and strategies training
Instructional Strategies
The following strategies are suggested to enhance the accessibility of course instruction, materials, and activities. They are general strategies designed to support individualized reasonable accommodations.
- Include a Disability Access Statement on the syllabus.
- Spend extra time with the student, when necessary, and assist the student with planning and time management.
- Be flexible with deadlines.
- Allow the student to tape-record lectures.
- Assist the student with finding an effective notetaker or lab assistant from the class.
- Clearly define course requirements, the dates of exams, and when assignments are due; provide advance notice of any changes.
- When in doubt about how to assist the student, ask him or her.
- Allow the student the same anonymity as other students (i.e., avoid pointing out the student or the alternative arrangements to the rest of the class).
- Trauma is not the sole cause of psychiatric disabilities; genetics may play a role.
- Psychiatric disabilities affect people of any age, gender, income group, and intellectual level.
- Disruptive behavior is not an attribute of most people with psychiatric disabilities.
- Eighty to ninety percent of people with depression experience relief from symptoms through medication, therapy, or a combination of the two. Depression is a variable condition that may fluctuate during a person's lifetime.
- There are not more people with psychiatric disabilities, just more people seeking treatment outside the walls of state mental health institutions.
Common accommodations for students with psychiatric disabilities are:
- exam modifications
- alternative ways of completing assignments
- time extensions
- taped lectures
- early syllabus
- study skills and strategies training
Instructional Strategies
The following strategies are suggested to enhance the accessibility of course instruction, materials, and activities. They are general strategies designed to support individualized reasonable accommodations.
- Include a Disability Access Statement on the syllabus.
- Spend extra time with the student, when necessary, and assist the student with planning and time management.
- Be flexible with deadlines.
- Allow the student to tape-record lectures.
- Assist the student with finding an effective notetaker or lab assistant from the class.
- Clearly define course requirements, the dates of exams, and when assignments are due; provide advance notice of any changes.
- When in doubt about how to assist the student, ask him or her.
- Allow the student the same anonymity as other students (i.e., avoid pointing out the student or the alternative arrangements to the rest of the class).
