With tenure but not without troubles
As chair of the Undergraduate Association Student Support Committee and as part of continuing efforts to have open discussions about mental health on campus, I approached Professor Belcher about sharing his story in a public forum. He graciously obliged with this moving account. For me, Professor Belcher’s piece is a reminder that mental health challenges do not discriminate — they can strike any person at any stage of life, but they need not be debilitating.
Multiple moods
For a couple of years, I could never be sure how I would feel during any given day. Some days were really good: I felt elated for no particular reason and enjoyed everything I did. Some days, though, were fairly bad: I struggled to care enough to even do anything like get out of bed. Though most days were somewhere in between, and though the bad days outnumbered the good, I thought that this was just everyday life, that a lot of people were experiencing the same thing.
With tenure but not without troubles
The April 10, 2012 issue of The Tech carried an article by Grace Taylor ’12 that I greatly admired: http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N17/depression.html.
With tenure but not without troubles
Editor’s note: This article originally ran in Issue 13 of Volume 133 of The Tech on March 19, 2013. A student contacted us about reprinting it in light of the recent tragedies on campus, since it personally helped her, her family, and other students on campus. Professor Belcher graciously agreed.