The rise of social media, the very difficult standards that teachers are put under, bullying, conflict and harassment; a few reasons why there has been a steep rise of teachers struggling with mental health concerns with an, extremely worrying, 57 per cent rise of the number of teachers who are at risk of suicide.
Between April 2018 and March 2019, Education Support Partnership, an emotional support helpline for educators, dealt with a staggering 9,615 cases which was comprised of both teachers and classroom support; this showed an increase of 28 per cent from just two years ago. More than half of the callers to the support landline were within their first five years of teaching.
Teachers and support staff are struggling to maintain a good and healthy wellbeing balance, the worst thing seems to be that teachers are not finding help within the first of second instance of difficulty. Most callers only got in touch when they felt they were in crisis.
If you are an education professional suffering with symptoms of mental health or you are struggling, please call the charity’s confidential helpline on 0800 056 2561.