Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training

There are a wide range of mental health conditions and their impact on individual students varies greatly. These may include schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, anxiety, and poorly understood conditions referred to as personality disorders. Sometimes these conditions may be associated with substance abuse or other impairments. Depression and various anxiety disorders are the most common disabilities evident in the university environment.

Mental health conditions may be transitory or of longer standing with symptoms ranging from mild and episodic to severe and ongoing so that students may require academic accommodations at some times but not at others. 

The impact of these ‘invisible’ disabilities might not be immediately noticeable but can include anxiety, panic attacks, limited attention span, fluctuating motivation, disorganisation and unpleasant physical manifestations – rises in temperature, sweaty palms, palpitations.  Students taking prescription medication may experience drowsiness, persistent thirst, vision difficulties, and problems with coordination.  Students may withdraw from interaction with others, be unusually interactive in class erratic in their behaviour. 

The resource Teaching Students who have a  psychological or psychiatric disability contains information on:

• The impact of a mental illness on learning at university
• Communicating with students with a mental illness
• Teaching students with a mental illness
• Assessment strategies