The podcast episode explores the often-overlooked mental health challenges faced by faculty in academia. It highlights how the pressure inherent in academic careers affects established researchers and emphasizes the importance of fostering healthier practices. Professor Michelle Kimple shares her experiences with bipolar disorder and ADHD, explaining how it has transformed her mentoring approach and led her to advocate for work-life balance. This openness has inspired her trainees to seek support, demonstrating the potential positive impact of faculty sharing their mental health challenges.
Absolutely, it's changed the entire way that I mentor people. When I was starting out in this career, I thought you had to kill yourself in the lab.
I definitely state that I'm a strong proponent of work-life balance. Because I'm out with my diagnoses.
Seeing a senior professor who's willing to go out on a limb and sort of go public with the challenges that they've experienced has helped them to seek reasonable accommodations.
It's actually sort of a silver lining, in a sense, because I've had several trainees come to me to just say that they were inspired and hopeful from reading my story.
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