Since I began teaching 15 years ago, I’ve noticed more and more students self-disclose aspects of their mental health in the classroom each year. Initially, I thought this was a consequence of the COVID-19 mental health crisis affecting the recent cohort of college students. I’ve also considered that self-disclosure may simply be more common among students in my discipline of social work and other fields that study mental illness. Even so, colleagues across disciplines tell me they regularly hear students self-disclosing their mental health to them personally or in their classrooms. Faculty express some frustration and confusion at these revelations; after all, they were trained to be scholars and teachers, not counselors. Unfortunately, the academic literature offers little guidance about why students might self-disclose in higher education environments, and consequently, faculty may feel unprepared or unclear about how to respond.
