How can mental illness affect students as learners?

The experience of various mental illnesses varies considerably from individual to individual. Common features include: difficulty in processing information, oversensitivity to noise and other sensory stimuli and oversensitivity or confusion in interpersonal relations. These features can interact to produce a large number of learning problems.

The following is a list* of some of the challenges that adolescents with mental illness may experience.

Screening out environmental stimuli – being unable to block out sounds, sights, or odors which interfere with focusing on tasks

Sustaining concentration - restlessness, shortened attention span, easily distracted, difficulty understanding or remembering verbal directions

Maintaining stamina - having energy to spend a whole day of classes in school, combating drowsiness due to medications

Handling time pressures and multiple tasks - managing assignments & meeting deadlines, prioritizing tasks

Interacting with others - getting along, fitting in, chatting with fellow students, reading social cues

Responding to negative feedback - understanding and interpreting criticism or poor grades, difficulty knowing what to do to improve, or how to initiate changes because of low self esteem

Responding to change - coping with unexpected changes in coursework, such as changes in the assignments or exam due dates, or changes in instructors.

Being unable to attend school regularly – getting left behind both academically and socially.

*Adapted from Mancuso, L.L. (1990) Reasonable accommodations for workers with psychiatric disabilities. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 14(2), 3-19.