This month, the Charlatan looked into Carleton’s mental health accommodations policy, and whether or not the policy needs to be changed to include students who aren’t diagnosed with a mental illness. At the moment, students need to provide doctor’s notes for the Paul Mention Centre (PMC) to provide academic accommodations for diagnosed mental health issues.
Although some professors are willing to provide accommodation for students without a doctor’s note, this is not always the case. The current state of the policy leaves out students who deal with the stigma which can follow a diagnosis of mental illness, or the cost associated with notes acting as a barrier to getting one.
Self-diagnosis does not necessarily mean someone doesn’t have a diagnosis because they can’t get one, but because they face barriers to getting one, or have just taken the first steps to addressing their mental health issues.
Similarly, students can also have symptoms of mental health issues that are severe enough to interfere with their ability to keep up with their academics without having a diagnosis. Carleton should implement an equitable approach which could evaluate the need for mental health accommodations without leaving out students who are self-diagnosed.
File photo.
