Recent evidence on the state of mental health among academics paints an alarming picture. Faculty members and PhD students around the world run a high risk of developing mental health issues, such as psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and burnout, at some point in their career. Many of them seek professional help either through their institution or on their own as the availability of institutional support structures varies greatly across universities. 

Overall, studies consistently point to a much higher prevalence of mental health issues among academics compared to most other working populations. COVID-19 has intensified work-related stress for many scholars, but the problem clearly predates the pandemic. The structural conditions of academic work, such as high publication pressure, fierce competition, and a culture of constant evaluation, are known to contribute to unhealthy levels of occupational stress. 

Despite such growing awareness of mental health issues in the academic world generally, we know relatively little about the situation in the field of media and communication studies more specifically. To address this deficiency, ECREA – together with several other international associations of scholars – participates in a joint endeavor to map the state of mental health in scholars of media and communication.

The first step in this effort is an online survey administered to media and communication scholars in late September and early October 2022. The aim of the survey is to gauge the scale of mental health issues in our field, identify structural conditions that produce greater vulnerability, and point to potential ways of improving the situation. The study was initiated and is coordinated by Thomas Hanitzsch and Antonia Markiewitz (both from LMU Munich) and Henrik Bødker (Aarhus University).

Start the survey (active until October 18th, 2022): https://survey.ifkw.lmu.de/AMHiMCS/