One San Diego State University professor created built-in mental health days for his students to focus on themselves. After each break, students submit a short written reflection on how they spent their time.
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Offering mental health days as a means of helping students de-stress and manage their health continues to grow in popularity among higher education practitioners.
When asked what solutions they would take to alleviate stress on campus, several student respondents to a 2023 Student Voice survey. Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse said they will allocate days in the academic calendar for students to study or prioritize their mental health.
“It just seems impossible to take a mental health day at the moment because of the amount or [sic] coverage that I would miss if I missed a day of class,” wrote one Macalester College student.
One San Diego State University professor incorporates three mental health days into her curriculum, giving students 90 minutes back to prioritize themselves and their own concerns as a group. The initiative asks students to share how they spent their time, encouraging conversations about self-care and mindful rest.
Background: In recent years, 12 states have passed laws allowing K-12 students to take mental health days or created policy language around excused absences due to mental health issues. The practice is less common in higher education and is often at the discretion of the professor.
Student government leaders at Illinois State University have petitioned for legislation to allow students to take five mental health days in parallel with existing laws for K-12 students. Lawmakers hope to pass the bill this year.
A national need
In addition to students, workers across the country are advocating for more opportunities to prioritize their health and well-being.
Bentley-Gallup’s November 2023 Business in Society Report found that 74 percent of U.S. workers believe that providing mental health days would positively impact their well-being.
Most students do not receive designated mental health days, but faculty members may excuse absences from class for health reasons. Jay Sheehan, a professor in San Diego State University’s School of Theater, Television and Film, was inspired to offer student mental health days because of his own mental health issues while a student.
“It wasn’t really talked about, and back then professors didn’t really take the time to connect with their students,” Sheehan says. “I don’t think the teachers really knew what to look for or even recognized that students like me were struggling.”
Sheehan was inspired to propose mental health days after hearing a TED talk by Haley Hardcastle, a high school student who lobbied Oregon state representatives to pass the state’s bill allowing absences due to mental health issues.
Built-in rest: Early in her career at SDSU, Sheehan would share mental health resources with her students, but made mental health days an official offering during stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In the end, they were as much about me as they were about the students,” explains Sheehan.
Sheehan now includes three mental health days throughout the term. On these days, class does not meet, but instead students are encouraged to use the 90-minute period to focus on their health and well-being.
Excused mental health days are spaced every five weeks in a 15-week semester, which Sheehan will adjust depending on the academic calendar. Mental health days are included in each of Sheehan’s four courses.
After each mental health day, students submit a short, written reflection (one to two paragraphs) about how they spent their time. There are no assigned activities, but there are two non-negotiables: no sleeping and no studying for other classes.
“I encourage them to do something creative, or bake cookies, or read a book, or call their parents — whatever it is that will bring them some sense of joy for 90 minutes,” Sheehan says. Other suggestions include riding a bike, cooking a meal, playing an instrument, or watching Netflix.
The impact: The results have been “overwhelmingly positive,” says Sheehan. Since he started offering mental health days, 100 percent of the students who participate turn in their assignments on time and use the time well.
Sheehan also participates and is held accountable by reporting to his students how he spent his 90-minute mental health day. Students set the rules for his time: no emails, no texts, no phone calls, and no meetings.
“With all of us participating, it makes for a better energy in the classroom when we come back and share our experiences,” Sheehan says.
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