Warning over state of teachers’ mental health
TEACHERS are turning to antidepressants and alcohol to cope with work pressures, a survey suggests.
More than four in five (84%) teachers experienced more workrelated stress in the last year, according to a poll by the NASUWT teaching union.
The survey, of 11,754 NASUWT members in the UK between October and December last year, suggests 86% of teachers believe that their job has adversely affected their mental health in the last 12 months.
The findings have been released during the union’s annual conference in Harrogate in Yorkshire over the Easter weekend.
Delegates at the NASUWT conference will debate a motion today which calls for suicide prevention training for all school leaders, and fully-funded mandatory mental health training in all schools and colleges.
The motion warns of a “rise in suicide, suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts within the teaching profession” and it says the union is concerned the number will rise.
It adds the pressures of the job are leading to “a mental health emergency” within the profession and teachers’ health is reaching “a crisis point”.
Nearly a quarter (23%) of teachers increased their alcohol intake in the past year because of work, while 12% reported using or increasing their reliance on antidepressants, according to the NASUWT poll.
Among the members questioned, 3% said they had self-harmed in the last 12 months because of work.
It comes after Ofsted has come under greater scrutiny in the past year after the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry.
Mrs Perry took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.
More than two in three (68%) teachers believe that their job has adversely affected their physical health in the last 12 months, according to an NASUWT poll.
A teacher who responded to the survey said they had vomited “with stress before work” and had cried at work due to “badly behaved students” which left them unable to teach a class.