homework mental health statistics

Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in.

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas about workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework. 

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says, he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy workloads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold , says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace , says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression. 

And for all the distress homework  can cause, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says, homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night. 

"Most students, especially at these high achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends, from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no-homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely but to be more mindful of the type of work students take home, suggests Kang, who was a high school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework; I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial 

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the past two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic , making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized. ... Sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking up assignments can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

More: Some teachers let their students sleep in class. Here's what mental health experts say.

More: Some parents are slipping young kids in for the COVID-19 vaccine, but doctors discourage the move as 'risky'

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Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework

A Stanford researcher found that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance and even alienation from society. More than two hours of homework a night may be counterproductive, according to the study.

Education scholar Denise Pope has found that too much homework has negative effects on student well-being and behavioral engagement. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

A Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.

“Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good,” wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .

The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students’ views on homework.

Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.

Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.

“The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students’ advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being,” Pope wrote.

Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.

Their study found that too much homework is associated with:

• Greater stress: 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.

• Reductions in health: In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.

• Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits: Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were “not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,” according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

A balancing act

The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.

Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as “pointless” or “mindless” in order to keep their grades up.

“This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points,” Pope said.

She said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.

“Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development,” wrote Pope.

High-performing paradox

In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. “Young people are spending more time alone,” they wrote, “which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities.”

Student perspectives

The researchers say that while their open-ended or “self-reporting” methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for “typical adolescent complaining” – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.

The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

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More than two hours of homework may be counterproductive, research suggests.

A Stanford education researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.   "Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good," wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .   The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students' views on homework.   Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.   Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.   "The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students' advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being," Pope wrote.   Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.   Their study found that too much homework is associated with:   • Greater stress : 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.   • Reductions in health : In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.   • Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits : Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were "not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills," according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.   A balancing act   The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.   Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as "pointless" or "mindless" in order to keep their grades up.   "This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points," said Pope, who is also a co-founder of Challenge Success , a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GSE that conducts research and works with schools and parents to improve students' educational experiences..   Pope said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.   "Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope.   High-performing paradox   In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. "Young people are spending more time alone," they wrote, "which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities."   Student perspectives   The researchers say that while their open-ended or "self-reporting" methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for "typical adolescent complaining" – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.   The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Clifton B. Parker is a writer at the Stanford News Service .

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Data: What We Know About Student Mental Health and the Pandemic

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It’s been a rough year.

Since the pandemic began, children and adolescents have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and stress, and even more specific issues such as addictive internet behaviors.

“I’ve never had so many referrals than in the last six months. … Normally it’s two or three a month and now it’s maybe two a week,” said Celeste Birkhofer, a licensed clinical psychologist at Stanford Medical School who works with children’s mental health issues. “I’m booked. I try to help send them to other colleagues and they’re booked, too. It’s challenging, especially challenging for a family that’s feeling like they’re in a bit of a crisis.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that from April through October of last year, the proportion of children between the ages of 5 and 11 visiting an emergency department because of a mental health crisis climbed 24 percent compared to that same time period in 2019. Among 12- to 17-year-olds, the number increased by 31 percent.

And that increase took place in a virus-laden year during which many people were hesitant to seek medical attention.

The effects of the pandemic on students are likely to be felt for years to come, experts say.

“The issue is that there can be a very long delay. It can be someone reacts to an event that happened a year or two or 10 years ago with a kind of trauma-related response or depression or suicide,” said Sara Gorman, the research and knowledge director for the JED Foundation, a national nonprofit that works with high schools and colleges on student mental health issues. “We obviously won’t know what the full impact of this is for many years, which is one of the reasons why it’s important for schools to be prepared to deal with this in a very comprehensive and long-term way.”

In a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 parents and nearly 900 teenagers this fall, the JED Foundation found that fundamental fears about the pandemic—how long it will last, whether the student or their family will get ill—cause more anxiety for teenagers than keeping up on their academics or getting ready for college. That suggests helping students learn to cope with the pandemic will be critical to keeping them focused on school.

EdWeek survey highlights disparities

In a separate new nationally representative survey, the EdWeek Research Center asked both educators and students in grades 9 through 12 to talk about the mental health challenges they’ve faced and supports they’ve received during the pandemic.

The survey also highlights disparities in how the pandemic has affected high school students. A wide majority of all students reported they are experiencing more problems now than they did in January 2020, before the pandemic began, but 77 percent of Black and Latinx students reported more struggles, at least 9 percentage points higher than the percentage of white or Asian students who said the same. Low-income and LGBTQ students were also significantly more likely to report experiencing more problems in the wake of the pandemic.

While nearly 1 in 4 white students are back to full-time in-person classes, it’s closer to 1 in 10 Black, Latinx, and Asian American students who are attending in person full time. By contrast, 64 percent or more of students of color are still learning entirely in remote classes, compared to only 41 percent of white students.

That can make a big difference in how easily students feel they can get support when they are struggling mentally and emotionally. Only 64 percent of high school students who were in full-time remote classes reported there was “at least one adult at school to talk to” if they are “feeling upset, stressed, or having problems”—9 percentage points lower than students attending hybrid schooling, and 20 percentage points lower than students back in regular in-person classes. Students, particularly low-income students, were also significantly less likely to report that their school offered mental health programs like counseling than their principals did, and they were more likely to think mental health services were no longer available after the pandemic.

The question of resources remains huge and uncertain, however.

The federal COVID-19 relief package signed into law March 11 includes grants to support youth suicide prevention and child trauma interventions, but it does not provide direct funding for schools for student mental health. There has been some effort by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives to authorize grants to school districts through the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, but no similar bill yet in the Senate, and it’s uncertain how successful the effort will be now that the stimulus package has been completed.

Coverage of whole-child approaches to learning is supported in part by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, at www.chanzuckerberg.com . Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage. A version of this article appeared in the March 31, 2021 edition of Education Week as What We Know About Student Mental Health and the Pandemic

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Mental health and the pandemic: what u.s. surveys have found.

The coronavirus pandemic has been associated with worsening mental health among people in the United States and around the world . In the U.S, the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 caused widespread lockdowns and disruptions in daily life while triggering a short but severe economic recession that resulted in widespread unemployment. Three years later, Americans have largely returned to normal activities, but challenges with mental health remain.

Here’s a look at what surveys by Pew Research Center and other organizations have found about Americans’ mental health during the pandemic. These findings reflect a snapshot in time, and it’s possible that attitudes and experiences may have changed since these surveys were fielded. It’s also important to note that concerns about mental health were common in the U.S. long before the arrival of COVID-19 .

Three years into the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States , Pew Research Center published this collection of survey findings about Americans’ challenges with mental health during the pandemic. All findings are previously published. Methodological information about each survey cited here, including the sample sizes and field dates, can be found by following the links in the text.

The research behind the first item in this analysis, examining Americans’ experiences with psychological distress, benefited from the advice and counsel of the COVID-19 and mental health measurement group at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

At least four-in-ten U.S. adults (41%) have experienced high levels of psychological distress at some point during the pandemic, according to four Pew Research Center surveys conducted between March 2020 and September 2022.

Young adults are especially likely to have faced high levels of psychological distress since the COVID-19 outbreak began: 58% of Americans ages 18 to 29 fall into this category, based on their answers in at least one of these four surveys.

Women are much more likely than men to have experienced high psychological distress (48% vs. 32%), as are people in lower-income households (53%) when compared with those in middle-income (38%) or upper-income (30%) households.

In addition, roughly two-thirds (66%) of adults who have a disability or health condition that prevents them from participating fully in work, school, housework or other activities have experienced a high level of distress during the pandemic.

The Center measured Americans’ psychological distress by asking them a series of five questions on subjects including loneliness, anxiety and trouble sleeping in the past week. The questions are not a clinical measure, nor a diagnostic tool. Instead, they describe people’s emotional experiences during the week before being surveyed.

While these questions did not ask specifically about the pandemic, a sixth question did, inquiring whether respondents had “had physical reactions, such as sweating, trouble breathing, nausea, or a pounding heart” when thinking about their experience with the coronavirus outbreak. In September 2022, the most recent time this question was asked, 14% of Americans said they’d experienced this at least some or a little of the time in the past seven days.

More than a third of high school students have reported mental health challenges during the pandemic. In a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from January to June 2021, 37% of students at public and private high schools said their mental health was not good most or all of the time during the pandemic. That included roughly half of girls (49%) and about a quarter of boys (24%).

In the same survey, an even larger share of high school students (44%) said that at some point during the previous 12 months, they had felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks in a row – to the point where they had stopped doing some usual activities. Roughly six-in-ten high school girls (57%) said this, as did 31% of boys.

On both questions, high school students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, other or questioning were far more likely than heterosexual students to report negative experiences related to their mental health.

Mental health tops the list of worries that U.S. parents express about their kids’ well-being, according to a fall 2022 Pew Research Center survey of parents with children younger than 18. In that survey, four-in-ten U.S. parents said they’re extremely or very worried about their children struggling with anxiety or depression. That was greater than the share of parents who expressed high levels of concern over seven other dangers asked about.

While the fall 2022 survey was fielded amid the coronavirus outbreak, it did not ask about parental worries in the specific context of the pandemic. It’s also important to note that parental concerns about their kids struggling with anxiety and depression were common long before the pandemic, too . (Due to changes in question wording, the results from the fall 2022 survey of parents are not directly comparable with those from an earlier Center survey of parents, conducted in 2015.)

Among parents of teenagers, roughly three-in-ten (28%) are extremely or very worried that their teen’s use of social media could lead to problems with anxiety or depression, according to a spring 2022 survey of parents with children ages 13 to 17 . Parents of teen girls were more likely than parents of teen boys to be extremely or very worried on this front (32% vs. 24%). And Hispanic parents (37%) were more likely than those who are Black or White (26% each) to express a great deal of concern about this. (There were not enough Asian American parents in the sample to analyze separately. This survey also did not ask about parental concerns specifically in the context of the pandemic.)

Looking back, many K-12 parents say the first year of the coronavirus pandemic had a negative effect on their children’s emotional health. In a fall 2022 survey of parents with K-12 children , 48% said the first year of the pandemic had a very or somewhat negative impact on their children’s emotional well-being, while 39% said it had neither a positive nor negative effect. A small share of parents (7%) said the first year of the pandemic had a very or somewhat positive effect in this regard.

White parents and those from upper-income households were especially likely to say the first year of the pandemic had a negative emotional impact on their K-12 children.

While around half of K-12 parents said the first year of the pandemic had a negative emotional impact on their kids, a larger share (61%) said it had a negative effect on their children’s education.

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Most americans who go to religious services say they would trust their clergy’s advice on covid-19 vaccines, what we know about online learning and the homework gap amid the pandemic, unvaccinated americans are at higher risk from covid-19 but express less concern than vaccinated adults, americans who relied most on trump for covid-19 news among least likely to be vaccinated, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students

The Problem with Homework: It Highlights Inequalities

How much homework is too much homework, when does homework actually help, negative effects of homework for students, how teachers can help.

Schools are getting rid of homework from Essex, Mass., to Los Angeles, Calif. Although the no-homework trend may sound alarming, especially to parents dreaming of their child’s acceptance to Harvard, Stanford or Yale, there is mounting evidence that eliminating homework in grade school may actually have great benefits , especially with regard to educational equity.

In fact, while the push to eliminate homework may come as a surprise to many adults, the debate is not new . Parents and educators have been talking about this subject for the last century, so that the educational pendulum continues to swing back and forth between the need for homework and the need to eliminate homework.

One of the most pressing talking points around homework is how it disproportionately affects students from less affluent families. The American Psychological Association (APA) explained:

“Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”

[RELATED] How to Advance Your Career: A Guide for Educators >> 

While students growing up in more affluent areas are likely playing sports, participating in other recreational activities after school, or receiving additional tutoring, children in disadvantaged areas are more likely headed to work after school, taking care of siblings while their parents work or dealing with an unstable home life. Adding homework into the mix is one more thing to deal with — and if the student is struggling, the task of completing homework can be too much to consider at the end of an already long school day.

While all students may groan at the mention of homework, it may be more than just a nuisance for poor and disadvantaged children, instead becoming another burden to carry and contend with.

Beyond the logistical issues, homework can negatively impact physical health and stress — and once again this may be a more significant problem among economically disadvantaged youth who typically already have a higher stress level than peers from more financially stable families .

Yet, today, it is not just the disadvantaged who suffer from the stressors that homework inflicts. A 2014 CNN article, “Is Homework Making Your Child Sick?” , covered the issue of extreme pressure placed on children of the affluent. The article looked at the results of a study surveying more than 4,300 students from 10 high-performing public and private high schools in upper-middle-class California communities.

“Their findings were troubling: Research showed that excessive homework is associated with high stress levels, physical health problems and lack of balance in children’s lives; 56% of the students in the study cited homework as a primary stressor in their lives,” according to the CNN story. “That children growing up in poverty are at-risk for a number of ailments is both intuitive and well-supported by research. More difficult to believe is the growing consensus that children on the other end of the spectrum, children raised in affluence, may also be at risk.”

When it comes to health and stress it is clear that excessive homework, for children at both ends of the spectrum, can be damaging. Which begs the question, how much homework is too much?

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association recommend that students spend 10 minutes per grade level per night on homework . That means that first graders should spend 10 minutes on homework, second graders 20 minutes and so on. But a study published by The American Journal of Family Therapy found that students are getting much more than that.

While 10 minutes per day doesn’t sound like much, that quickly adds up to an hour per night by sixth grade. The National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students get an average of 6.8 hours of homework per week, a figure that is much too high according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is also to be noted that this figure does not take into consideration the needs of underprivileged student populations.

In a study conducted by the OECD it was found that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on performance .” That means that by asking our children to put in an hour or more per day of dedicated homework time, we are not only not helping them, but — according to the aforementioned studies — we are hurting them, both physically and emotionally.

What’s more is that homework is, as the name implies, to be completed at home, after a full day of learning that is typically six to seven hours long with breaks and lunch included. However, a study by the APA on how people develop expertise found that elite musicians, scientists and athletes do their most productive work for about only four hours per day. Similarly, companies like Tower Paddle Boards are experimenting with a five-hour workday, under the assumption that people are not able to be truly productive for much longer than that. CEO Stephan Aarstol told CNBC that he believes most Americans only get about two to three hours of work done in an eight-hour day.

In the scope of world history, homework is a fairly new construct in the U.S. Students of all ages have been receiving work to complete at home for centuries, but it was educational reformer Horace Mann who first brought the concept to America from Prussia. 

Since then, homework’s popularity has ebbed and flowed in the court of public opinion. In the 1930s, it was considered child labor (as, ironically, it compromised children’s ability to do chores at home). Then, in the 1950s, implementing mandatory homework was hailed as a way to ensure America’s youth were always one step ahead of Soviet children during the Cold War. Homework was formally mandated as a tool for boosting educational quality in 1986 by the U.S. Department of Education, and has remained in common practice ever since.  

School work assigned and completed outside of school hours is not without its benefits. Numerous studies have shown that regular homework has a hand in improving student performance and connecting students to their learning. When reviewing these studies, take them with a grain of salt; there are strong arguments for both sides, and only you will know which solution is best for your students or school. 

Homework improves student achievement.

• Source: The High School Journal, “ When is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math ,” 2012. 
• Source: IZA.org, “ Does High School Homework Increase Academic Achievement? ,” 2014. **Note: Study sample comprised only high school boys. 

Homework helps reinforce classroom learning.

• Source: “ Debunk This: People Remember 10 Percent of What They Read ,” 2015.

Homework helps students develop good study habits and life skills.

• Sources: The Repository @ St. Cloud State, “ Types of Homework and Their Effect on Student Achievement ,” 2017; Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.
• Source: Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.

Homework allows parents to be involved with their children’s learning.

• Parents can see what their children are learning and working on in school every day. 
• Parents can participate in their children’s learning by guiding them through homework assignments and reinforcing positive study and research habits.
• Homework observation and participation can help parents understand their children’s academic strengths and weaknesses, and even identify possible learning difficulties.
• Source: Phys.org, “ Sociologist Upends Notions about Parental Help with Homework ,” 2018.

While some amount of homework may help students connect to their learning and enhance their in-class performance, too much homework can have damaging effects. 

Students with too much homework have elevated stress levels. 

• Source: USA Today, “ Is It Time to Get Rid of Homework? Mental Health Experts Weigh In ,” 2021.
• Source: Stanford University, “ Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework ,” 2014.

Students with too much homework may be tempted to cheat. 

• Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, “ High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame ,” 2010.
• Source: The American Journal of Family Therapy, “ Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents’ Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background ,” 2015.

Homework highlights digital inequity. 

• Sources: NEAToday.org, “ The Homework Gap: The ‘Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide’ ,” 2016; CNET.com, “ The Digital Divide Has Left Millions of School Kids Behind ,” 2021.
• Source: Investopedia, “ Digital Divide ,” 2022; International Journal of Education and Social Science, “ Getting the Homework Done: Social Class and Parents’ Relationship to Homework ,” 2015.
• Source: World Economic Forum, “ COVID-19 exposed the digital divide. Here’s how we can close it ,” 2021.

Homework does not help younger students.

• Source: Review of Educational Research, “ Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Researcher, 1987-2003 ,” 2006.

To help students find the right balance and succeed, teachers and educators must start the homework conversation, both internally at their school and with parents. But in order to successfully advocate on behalf of students, teachers must be well educated on the subject, fully understanding the research and the outcomes that can be achieved by eliminating or reducing the homework burden. There is a plethora of research and writing on the subject for those interested in self-study.

For teachers looking for a more in-depth approach or for educators with a keen interest in educational equity, formal education may be the best route. If this latter option sounds appealing, there are now many reputable schools offering online master of education degree programs to help educators balance the demands of work and family life while furthering their education in the quest to help others.

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Mental health care matters, the ripple effect of mental illness, common warning signs of mental illness, it’s okay to talk about suicide, 2020: recognizing the impact, 2020: youth & young adults, mental illness and the criminal justice system, mental health & access to care in rural america.

Millions of people in the U.S. are affected by mental illness each year. It’s important to measure how common mental illness is, so we can understand its physical, social and financial impact — and so we can show that no one is alone. These numbers are also powerful tools for raising public awareness, stigma-busting and advocating for better health care.

Fast Facts 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year 1 in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness each year 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24 Suicide is the 2 nd  leading cause of death among people aged 10-14 

Millions of people are affected by mental illness each year. Across the country, many people just like you work, perform, create, compete, laugh, love and inspire every day.

• 22.8% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2021 (57.8 million people). This represents 1 in 5 adults.
• 5.5% of U.S. adults experienced serious mental illness in 2021 (14.1 million people). This represents 1 in 20 adults.
• 16.5% of U.S. youth aged 6-17 experienced a mental health disorder in 2016 (7.7 million people)
• 7.6% of U.S. adults experienced a co-occurring substance use disorder and mental illness in 2021 (19.4 million people)
• Non-Hispanic Asian: 16.4%
• Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 18.1% 
• Non-Hispanic Black or African American: 21.4%
• Hispanic or Latino: 20.7%
• Non-Hispanic White: 23.9%
• Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native: 26.6%
• Non-Hispanic mixed/multiracial: 34.9%
• Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual: 50.2%
• Schizophrenia: <1%
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: 1.2%
• Borderline Personality Disorder: 1.4%  
• Bipolar Disorder: 2.8%  
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: 3.6%  
• Major Depressive Episode: 8.3%  
• Anxiety Disorders: 19.1%  

Mental health treatment—therapy, medication, self-care—have made recovery a reality for most people experiencing mental illness. Although taking the first steps can be confusing or difficult, it's important to start exploring options.

• 47.2% of U.S. adults with mental illness received treatment in 2021 
• 65.4% of U.S. adults with serious mental illness received treatment in 2021  
• 50.6% of U.S. youth aged 6-17 with a mental health disorder received treatment in 2016  
• The average delay between onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment is 11 years
• Non-Hispanic Asian: 25.4%
• Hispanic or Latino: 36.1%
• Non-Hispanic Black or African American: 39.4%
• Non-Hispanic White: 52.4%
• Non-Hispanic mixed/multiracial: 52.2%
• Female: 51.7%
• Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual: 55.6%
• 10.6% of U.S. adults with mental illness had no insurance coverage in 2021
• 11.9% of U.S. adults with serious mental illness had no insurance coverage in 2021
• 164 million  people live in a designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Area

Having a mental illness can make it challenging to live everyday life and maintain recovery. Beyond the individual, these challenges ripple out through our families, our communities, and our world.

• People with depression have a 40% higher risk of developing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases than the general population. People with serious mental illness are nearly twice as likely to develop these conditions.
• 33.5% of U.S. adults with mental illness also experienced a substance use disorder in 2021 (19.4 million individuals)
• The rate of unemployment is higher among U.S. adults who have mental illness ( 7.4% ) compared to those who do not (4.6%)
• High school students with significant symptoms of depression are more than twice as likely to drop out compared to their peers
• Students aged 6-17 with mental, emotional or behavioral concerns are 3x more likely to repeat a grade.
• At least 8.4 million people in the U.S. provide care to an adult with a mental or emotional health issue
• Caregivers of adults with mental or emotional health issues spend an average of 32 hours per week providing unpaid care
• 21.1%  of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. have a serious mental health condition
• Among people in the U.S. under age 18, depressive disorders are the most common cause of hospitalization ( after excluding hospitalization relating to pregnancy and birth)
• Among people in the U.S. aged 18-44, psychosis spectrum and mood disorders account for nearly 600,000 hospitalizations each year
• 19.7% of U.S. Veterans experienced a mental illness in 2020 (3.9 million people)
• 9.6% of Active Component service members in the U.S. military experienced a mental health or substance use condition in 2021
• Across the U.S. economy, serious mental illness causes $193.2 billion in lost earnings each year
• Depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy $1 trillion in lost productivity each year 
• Depression is a  leading cause of disability worldwide

Diagnosing mental illness isn't a straightforward science. We can't test for it the same way we can test blood sugar levels for diabetes. Each condition has its own set of unique symptoms, though symptoms often overlap.

Thoughts of suicide can be frightening. But by reaching out for help or checking in with family and friends, we can avoid devastating outcomes.

• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-14 and the 3rd leading cause of death among those aged 15-24 in the U.S.
• ​Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death overall in the U.S.
• 46% of people who die by suicide had a diagnosed mental health condition
• 90% of people who die by suicide may have experienced symptoms of a mental health condition, according to interviews with family, friends and medical professionals (also known as psychological autopsy)
• Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: 7.4%
• Mixed/Multiracial: 8.2%
• American Indian/Alaska Native: 8.5%
• Young adults aged 18-25: 13%
• High school students:  22%
• LGBTQ youth:  45%
• Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are nearly 4x more likely to attempt suicide than straight youth
• 79% of people who die by suicide are male
• Transgender adults are nearly 9x more likely to attempt suicide at some point in their lifetime compared to the general population

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available.  Call or text 988, or chat 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

2020 was a year of challenges, marked by loss and the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We must recognize the significant impact of the pandemic on our mental health—and the importance of increasing access to timely and effective care for those who need it.

• 1 in 15  U.S adults experienced both a substance use disorder and mental illness
• 12+ million U.S adults had serious thoughts of suicide
• 45% of those with mental illness
• 55% of those with serious mental illness
• Among people aged 12 and older who drink alcohol, 15% report increased drinking
• Among people aged 12 and older who use drugs, 10% report increased use
• 17.7 million experienced delays or cancellations in appointments
• 7.3 million experienced delays in getting prescriptions
• 4.9 million were unable to access needed care
• 34% of those with mental illness
• 50% of those with serious mental illness

Youth and young adults experienced a unique set of challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic—isolation from peers, adapting to virtual learning, and changes to sleep habits and other routines.

We must recognize the significant impact of these experiences on young people's mental health—and the importance of providing the education, care and support they need.

• 1 in 6 experienced a major depressive episode (MDE)
• 3 million had serious thoughts of suicide
• 31% increase in mental health-related emergency department visits
• 1 in 3 experienced a mental illness
• 1 in 10 experienced a serious mental illness
• 3.8 million had serious thoughts of suicide
• 18% of adolescents
• 23% of young adults
• Nearly ½ of young people with mental health concerns report a significant negative impact
• 1 in 10 people under age 18 experience a mental health condition following a COVID-19 diagnosis
• 15% of adolescents
• 18% of young adults
• 19% of young adults

People with mental illness deserve help, not handcuffs. Yet people with mental illness are overrepresented in our nation's jails and prisons. We need to reduce criminal justice system involvement and increase investments in mental health care.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

• About 2 million times each year, people with serious mental illness are booked into jails.
• About 2 in 5 people who are incarcerated have a history of mental illness ( 37% in state and federal prisons and 44% held in local jails).
• 66% of women in prison reported having a history of mental illness, almost twice the percentage of men in prison.
• Nearly one in four people shot and killed by police officers between 2015 and 2020 had a mental health condition.
• Suicide is the leading cause of death for people held in local jails.
• An estimated 4,000 people with serious mental illness are held in solitary confinement inside U.S. prisons.

COMMUNITIES

• 70% of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable mental health condition.
• Youth in detention are 10 times more likely to suffer from psychosis than youth in the community.
• About 50,000 veterans are held in local jails — 55% report experiencing a mental illness.
• Among incarcerated people with a mental health condition, non-white individuals are more likely to go to solitary confinement, be injured, and stay longer in jail.

ACCESS TO CARE

• About 3 in 5 people ( 63% ) with a history of mental illness do not receive mental health treatment while incarcerated in state and federal prisons.
• Less than half of people ( 45% ) with a history of mental illness receive mental health treatment while held in local jails.
• People who have healthcare coverage upon release from incarceration are more likely to engage in services that reduce recidivism.

People from all communities are affected by mental illness, but rural Americans often experience unique barriers to managing their mental health.

• 21% experienced mental illness
• 6% experienced serious mental illness
• 13% experienced a substance use disorder
• 5% had serious thoughts of suicide

Access to Treatment is Severely Limited

• 48% with a mental illness received treatment
• 62% with a serious mental illness received treatment
• Must travel 2x as far to their nearest hospital
• Are 2x as likely to lack broadband internet, limiting access to telehealth
• 25+ Million rural Americans live in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area, where there are too few providers to meet demand

Some Populations Face Additional Challenges

• 66% of farmers and farmworkers
• 71% of younger adults aged 18-34
• 21% in Alabama
• 22% in Mississippi
• 23% in Arkansas
• Rural youth are at an increased risk of suicide, but highly rural areas have fewer youth suicide prevention services 

Last updated: April 2023

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Mental Illness

Mental illnesses are common in the United States. It is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (57.8 million in 2021). Mental illnesses include many different conditions that vary in degree of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe. Two broad categories can be used to describe these conditions: Any Mental Illness (AMI) and Serious Mental Illness (SMI). AMI encompasses all recognized mental illnesses. SMI is a smaller and more severe subset of AMI. Additional information on mental illnesses can be found on the NIMH Health Topics Pages .

Definitions

The data presented here are from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health  (NSDUH) by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration  (SAMHSA). For inclusion in NSDUH prevalence estimates, mental illnesses include those that are diagnosable currently or within the past year; of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV); and, exclude developmental and substance use disorders.

Any Mental Illness

• Any mental illness (AMI) is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder. AMI can vary in impact, ranging from no impairment to mild, moderate, and even severe impairment (e.g., individuals with serious mental illness as defined below).

Serious Mental Illness

• Serious mental illness (SMI) is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. The burden of mental illnesses is particularly concentrated among those who experience disability due to SMI.

Prevalence of Any Mental Illness (AMI)

• In 2021, there were an estimated 57.8 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with AMI. This number represented 22.8% of all U.S. adults.
• The prevalence of AMI was higher among females (27.2%) than males (18.1%).
• Young adults aged 18-25 years had the highest prevalence of AMI (33.7%) compared to adults aged 26-49 years (28.1%) and aged 50 and older (15.0%).
• The prevalence of AMI was highest among the adults reporting two or more races (34.9%), followed by American Indian / Alaskan Native (AI/AN) adults (26.6%). The prevalence of AMI was lowest among Asian adults (16.4%).

*Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race; all other racial/ethnic groups are non-Hispanic. NH/OPI = Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander | AI/AN = American Indian / Alaskan Native

Mental Health Services — AMI

• In 2021, among the 57.8 million adults with AMI, 26.5 million (47.2%) received mental health services in the past year.
• More females with AMI (51.7%) received mental health services than males with AMI (40.0%).
• The percentage of young adults aged 18-25 years with AMI who received mental health services (44.6%) was lower than adults with AMI aged 26-49 years (48.1%) and aged 50 and older (47.4%).

*Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race; all other racial/ethnic groups are non-Hispanic. Note: Estimates for Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander and, American Indian / Alaskan Native groups are not reported in the above figure due to low precision of data collection in 2021.

Prevalence of Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

• In 2021, there were an estimated 14.1 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with SMI. This number represented 5.5% of all U.S. adults.
• The prevalence of SMI was higher among females (7.0%) than males (4.0%).
• Young adults aged 18-25 years had the highest prevalence of SMI (11.4%) compared to adults aged 26-49 years (7.1%) and aged 50 and older (2.5%).
• The prevalence of SMI was highest among AI/AN adults (9.3%), followed by adults reporting two or more races (8.2%). The prevalence of SMI was lowest among Asian adults (2.8%).

* Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race; all other racial/ethnic groups are non-Hispanic. NH/OPI = Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander | AI/AN = American Indian / Alaskan Native.

Mental Health Services — SMI

• In 2021, among the 14.1 million adults with SMI, 9.1 million (65.4%) received mental health treatment in the past year.
• More females with SMI (67.6%) received mental health treatment than males with SMI (61.3%).
• The percentage of young adults aged 18-25 years with SMI who received mental health treatment (57.9%) was lower than adults with SMI aged 26-49 years (67.0%) and aged 50 and older (71.0%).

*Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race; all other racial/ethnic groups are non-Hispanic. Note: Estimates for Asian, Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian / Alaskan Native groups are not reported in the above figure due to low precision.

Prevalence of Any Mental Disorder Among Adolescents

• An estimated 49.5% of adolescents had any mental disorder.
• Of adolescents with any mental disorder, an estimated 22.2% had severe impairment and/or distress. DSM-IV based criteria were used to determine severity level.

Data Sources

• Merikangas KR, He JP, Burstein M, Swanson SA, Avenevoli S, Cui L, Benjet C, Georgiades K, Swendsen J. Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in U.S. adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication--Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010 Oct;49(10):980-9. PMID: 20855043 
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP22-07-01-005, NSDUH Series H-57). Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2021-nsduh-annual-national-report  .

Statistical Methods and Measurement Caveats

National survey on drug use and health (nsduh).

Diagnostic Assessment:

• The NSDUH AMI and SMI estimates were generated from a prediction model created from clinical interview data collected on a subset of adult NSDUH respondents who completed an adapted (past 12 month) version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders (Research Version, Non-patient Edition) (SCID-I/NP; First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 2002), and was differentiated by level of functional impairment based on the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF; Endicott, Spitzer, Fleiss, & Cohen, 1976).
• The assessment included diagnostic modules assessing the following: mood, anxiety, eating, impulse control, substance use, adjustment disorders, and a psychotic symptoms screen.
• The assessment did not contain diagnostic modules assessing the following: adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders (although the assessment included a psychotic symptom screen).
• People who only have disorders that are not included in these diagnostic modules may not be adequately detected. However, there are known patterns of high comorbidities among mental disorders; these patterns increase the likelihood that people who meet AMI and/or SMI criteria were detected by the study, as they may also have one or more of the disorders assessed in the SCID-I/NP.

Population:

• The entirety of NSDUH respondents for the AMI and SMI estimates were the civilian, non-institutionalized population aged 18 years old or older residing within the United States.
• The survey covered residents of households (persons living in houses/townhouses, apartments, condominiums; civilians living in housing on military bases, etc.) and persons in non-institutional group quarters (e.g., shelters, rooming/boarding houses, college dormitories, migratory workers' camps, and halfway houses).
• The survey did not cover persons who, for the entire year, had no fixed address (e.g., homeless and/or transient persons not in shelters); were on active military duty; or who resided in institutional group quarters (e.g., correctional facilities, nursing homes, mental institutions, long-term hospitals).
• Some people in these excluded categories had AMI and/or SMI, but were not accounted for in the NSDUH AMI and/or SMI estimates.
• Data regarding sex of the respondent was assessed using male and female categories only. Gender identity information was not collected in the survey.

Survey Non-response:

• In 2021, 53.0% of the selected NSDUH sample of people 18 or older did not complete the interview. This rate of non-response is higher than in previous years. Please see the Background on the 2021 NSDUH and the COVID-19 Pandemic section below for more information. 
• Reasons for non-response to interviewing include the following: refusal to participate (30.1%); respondent unavailable or never at home (18.8%); and other reasons such as physical/mental incompetence or language barriers (4.2%).
• People with mental illness may disproportionately fall into these non-response categories. While NSDUH weighting includes non-response adjustments to reduce bias, these adjustments may not fully account for differential non-response by mental illness status.

Data Suppression:

• For some groups, data are not reported due to low precision. Data may be suppressed in the above charts if the data do not meet acceptable ranges for prevalence estimates, standard error estimates, and sample size.

Background on the 2021 NSDUH and the COVID-19 Pandemic:

• Data collection methods for the 2021 NSDUH changed in several ways because of the COVID-19 pandemic: the 2021 NSDUH continued the use of multimode data collection procedures (both in-person and virtual data collection) that were first implemented in the fourth quarter of the 2020 NSDUH. Overall, 54.6% of interviews were completed via the web, and 45.4% were completed in person. In 2021, the weighted response rates for household screening and for interviewing were 22.2% and 46.2%, respectively, for an overall response rate of 10.3% for people aged 12 or older.
• Given the use of multimode data collection procedures throughout the entirety of the collection year and the rate of non-response, comparison of estimates from the 2021 NSDUH with those from prior years must be made with caution.

Please see the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Methodological Summary and Definitions report   for further information on how these data were collected and calculated.

National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A)

Diagnostic Assessment and Population:

• The NCS-A was carried out under a cooperative agreement sponsored by NIMH to meet a request from Congress to provide national data on the prevalence and correlates of mental disorders among U.S. youth. The NCS-A was a nationally representative, face-to-face survey of 10,123 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years in the continental United States. The survey was based on a dual-frame design that included 904 adolescent residents of the households that participated in the adult U.S. National Comorbidity Survey Replication and 9,244 adolescent students selected from a nationally representative sample of 320 schools. The survey was fielded between February 2001 and January 2004. DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed using a modified version of the fully structured World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview.
• The overall adolescent non-response rate was 24.4%. This is made up of non-response rates of 14.1% in the household sample, 18.2% in the un-blinded school sample, and 77.7% in the blinded school sample. Non-response was largely due to refusal (21.3%), which in the household and un-blinded school samples came largely from parents rather than adolescents (72.3% and 81.0%, respectively). The refusals in the blinded school sample, in comparison, came almost entirely (98.1%) from parents failing to return the signed consent postcard.

For more information, see  PMID: 19507169   and the NIMH NCS-A study page .

Last Updated: March 2023

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On the Importance of Mental Health in STEM

Christian w. pester.

† Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States

‡ Department of Chemistry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States

∥ Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States

From homework to exams to proposal deadlines, STEM academia bears many stressors for students, faculty, and administrators. The increasing prevalence of burnout as an occupational phenomenon, along with anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses in the STEM community is an alarming sign that help is needed. We describe common mental illnesses, identify risk factors, and outline symptoms. We intend to provide guidance on how some people can cope with stressors while also giving advice for those who wish to help their suffering friends, colleagues, or peers. We hope to spark more conversation about this important topic that may affect us all—while also encouraging those who suffer (or have suffered) to share their stories and serve as role models for those who feel they cannot speak.

Editor’s Note

This Editorial is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or health advice. Always seek the advice of qualified professionals or healthcare providers if affected by the issues discussed herein. Please note that this Editorial has received critical input from some researchers in the polymer community but not been peer-reviewed by experts in the field of mental health.

This contribution discusses self-harm/suicidal ideation and mental illnesses. If you are in crisis, call your local emergency line (USA: 911) immediately. If you are having suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 (USA) or use its webchat at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat to speak with a trained counselor at any time. While we must acknowledge that many resources provided in this Editorial are focused on readership in the United States, helpguide.org ( 1 ) provides a comprehensive list of mental health helplines across the globe and sorted by country.

Please seek professional help from a health care provider or local university resources if you, or someone you know, is suffering from mental illness that is disruptive to your/their quality of life (e.g., causing problems at work, at school, at home, or with friends/family) or if any of the symptoms and signs of mental illness resonate with your lived experiences and/or persist for long periods of time (especially after removal of negative stressors). Professional help can include a combination of therapy and medication, depending on your wants and needs. Our Editorial will not discuss medication and will only discuss a few specific types of therapy; there are many other paths available depending on the individual. We are in no way implying that practices to improve mental hygiene will cure mental illness.

We recognize the collective societal stigma about mental illness and treatment. This stigma has different fangs among those of varied backgrounds (e.g., race/nationality, socioeconomic status, location, age, etc.). Systemic challenges to improving mental health exist for many individuals but also our society as an entirety. Someone who must work multiple minimum wage jobs to make ends meet will struggle to focus on mental hygiene until nationwide societal inequalities have been addressed. As such, we recognize the Sisyphean (absurd) nature of individual action to rectify such systemic problems.

This Editorial serves as an attempt to highlight such issues of equity and inclusion. We aim to introduce vocabulary to describe shared experiences and to foster dialogue. We also wish to highlight the cruel optimism of individual solutions that are offered to address deeply rooted societal problems. By highlighting common stressors, we intend to increase awareness of how we—as faculty members, administrators, or students—sometimes unknowingly contribute to poor mental health. Even for those not affected on a personal level, this Editorial will hopefully improve empathy for those who suffer and—ideally—change the way many of us to do things to prioritize people before papers and respect before proposal deadlines.

This Editorial is motivated by the personal experiences of the authors. As a community, we would benefit from more open discussions of experiences and struggles to share our stories and normalize a conversation about our mental health. We consulted with mental health experts and collected invaluable feedback from many faculty and students from diverse backgrounds and academic fields. We wish to acknowledge their contributions here and list their names in the Acknowledgments.

Introduction

Imagine this: You excel at chemistry. Even before graduating with your bachelor’s, you teach a senior course at your college. You begin publishing as an undergraduate and proceed to earn the most prestigious awards offered by your university during grad school. You defend your dissertation and land a professorship before leaving academia for one of the leading plastics companies on the globe. Your scientific breakthroughs lead to your election to the National Academy of Sciences —as the first industrial organic chemist. Unbeknownst to you, the materials you develop will soon be used by nearly everybody in the world—every—single—day. You are recently married and expecting the arrival of your daughter, Jane.

This is the story of Wallace Hume Carothers ( Figure ​ Figure2 2 ). 3 The inventor of Nylon and the great mind behind the established theory of step-growth polymerization. Wallace Carothers took his life, having suffered from depression for many years.

Wallace Hume Carothers (April 27, 1896–April 29, 1937). Reprinted with permission from ref ( 2 ). Copyright 2017 American Chemical Society.

History is full of prominent scientists who suffered from mental illness, including Isaac Newton, Wolfgang Pauli, David Bohm, and Ludwig Boltzmann. 4 Many more individual stories remain unnoticed. It is vital for our community to promote more open communication and our role models to show vulnerability. Taking the lead and opening up about our struggles is of high importance, especially in a culture that leans toward blaming the individual for societal problems.

Mental health in our society is declining. According to a 2020 report by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 5 nearly 53 million U.S. Americans (21% of all adults) suffer from, or experience, some form of mental illness. The reported prevalence of any mental illness, according to this survey, was highest for adults reporting two or more races/ethnicities; it was also higher for female respondents than for male respondents. 5 The LGBTQ+ community is disproportionately affected: teenagers are six times more likely to experience depression than non-LGBTQ+ identifying teens, and nearly half of all transgender adults report thoughts of suicide. 6 A growing percentage of adolescents in the United States live with major depression. The prevalence of mental illness is highest (31%) for those younger than 25 years (67% of college students). 7 Ages 26–49 show the second-largest fraction affected (25%). 5 Graduate students are “ more than six times as likely to experience depression and anxiety as compared to the general population ” with 41% of students showing signs of anxiety and 39% moderate to severe depression. 8 Alarmingly, suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10–14 and 25–34, and one third of those between 15 and 24. 9 Despite the gravity of these statistics, only 1 in 3 adolescents or young adults with major depressive disorder receive treatment–even in states with the greatest access to mental health services. 10 COVID-19 has exacerbated this crisis by adding additional stressors and increasing social isolation 11 —again more so for female students, historically excluded groups, or those with disabilities. 11 , 12

Other authors have recognized and described this mental health crisis, specifically focusing on the academic world: students, trainees, and faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines (STEM). 8 , 13 Here, our goal moves beyond highlighting statistics. We intend to outline symptoms and suggest practices that may support good mental health.

Mental Illnesses: Risk Factors and Symptoms

We will first discuss specific mental illnesses that are common in STEM academia: 8 , 14 depression and anxiety. We will also discuss burnout, which is technically classified as an occupational phenomenon by the World Health Organization (WHO) and not a mental illness. 15 We highlight prevailing symptoms and signs (see Figure ​ Figure3 3 ), contributing risk factors, and stressors. These are not exhaustive lists and may not apply to everyone equally—albeit, as outlined above, underrepresented groups are generally disproportionately affected.

Warning signs for any mental illness .

Depressive episodes are described as feelings of sadness, irritability, or emptiness. Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism often coincide with a loss of pleasure (anhedonia) or interest in activities, for most of the day, nearly every day, for extended periods of time. 16 , 17

Poor concentration, feelings of excessive guilt or worthlessness, hopelessness about the future, thoughts about dying or killing oneself (the authors would like to highlight passive suicidal ideation: a fixation on “not existing” rather than killing oneself), disrupted sleep, changes in appetite or weight, disinterest in personal hygiene, and feeling especially tired or low in energy are further symptoms. The outcome is often difficulty in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, and/or other important areas of functioning. Causes and risk factors for depression include trauma, stress, and external life events (vide infra), as well as biological (brain chemistry) and genetic nature. 16 , 17

Anxiety is an umbrella term that is characterized by excessive and difficult-to-control worry about a variety of life situations; “excessive” here indicates disproportionately severe relative to the impact of the situation. Included are social anxiety disorder, phobias, certain obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), panic, and generalized anxiety disorders. Many of these have specific triggers or are focused on grouped worries. For example, social anxiety can surface intrusive thoughts of social awkwardness or reliving self-perceived faults in social interactions. Anxiety can manifest both physical and emotional symptoms. Restlessness, shortness of breath, increased heartbeat, sweating, digestive/bowel dysfunction, and headaches or migraines are common examples of the former. Emotional symptoms can include unexplained feelings of distress or dread, fatigue, inability to concentrate, sleep disturbance, and irritability. 18 − 22

Anxiety generally also includes overthinking future events and developing solutions to all possible worst-case outcomes. Difficulty handling uncertainty and indecisiveness are also hallmarks; whether because of a fear of making the wrong decision or fear of making decisions at all. Causes and risk factors include brain chemistry or genetics. Differences in foundational experiences, especially distress or nervousness about new situations during childhood, can also result in persistent heightened responses to perceived threats.

Burnout is exhaustion characterized by excessive prolonged emotional, physical, and/or mental stress. Unlike depression and anxiety disorders, burnout is not a mental illness and not a medically diagnosable condition. Rather, burnout has been officially classified as an “occupational phenomenon” in 2019, 15 and is characterized by feelings of exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy. 24 It is a manifestation of prolonged stress because of one’s job or, if one is a student, due to school.

Despite not being considered a mental illness, we include burnout here as it is increasingly recognized, affects many in STEM academia, and manifests symptoms like depression and anxiety. Symptoms include lack of energy, hopelessness, cynicism, a negative outlook on life, resent, and feeling overwhelmed. Physical symptoms can include suppression of the immune system and disproportionately elevated heart rate. 25 − 27 “ The imbalance of effort and reward can lead to increased cynicism in students, or a negative attitude toward schoolwork. It can lead to increased emotional exhaustion, such as feeling drained from academics. Finally, it can lead to decreased efficacy as a student, or feeling less competent in one’s ability to complete schoolwork .” 28 Effective treatments for burnout are an active area of research. The current theory involves developing a healthy workplace framework by examining the misaligned or misfit relationship between an individual and their occupational environment. 29

Stressors and Risk Factors for Worsening Mental Health

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), stress is the body’s emotional, physical, or behavioral response to environmental change. 30 Some amount of stress can actually be beneficial for performance, 31 yet the accumulation of too much stress (e.g., homework deadlines, upcoming exams, and oral presentations) can be harmful, even if associated with a positive event (e.g., graduation, invited talk, and a sports competition). Chronic or acute stressful experiences can also have significant impacts. Dr. Nadine Harris—former Surgeon General of California—outlined the effect of lingering or suppressed trauma on the mind and body in her pediatric research, 32 and highlighted the importance of healing long-term effects of adversity: “ Imagine you’re walking in the forest, and you see a bear. Immediately your brain sends a bunch of signals (...) ‘Release stress hormones! Adrenaline! Cortisol!’ So your heart starts to pound, your pupils dilate, your airways open up, and you are ready to either fight the bear or run from the bear .” According to Dr. Harris’ research, consistent exposure to stress over prolonged times results in a dysregulated stress response. “ When you put a kid who had experienced adversity in an MRI machine, you could see measurable changes to the brain structures.” 32 This “living with the bear” has been connected to significantly increased risk of mental health disorders, but also heart disease and cancer, notably often not noticeable until advanced ages. Fortunately for those who have suffered such trauma, many effects can be reversed through “synaptic plasticity,” i.e., sleep, exercise, nutrition, meditation, and healthy relationships. Nevertheless, it is important to note that long-term repression of dormant past trauma (e.g., by diving deep into work, school, or hobbies) is often a mere distraction that provides limited (if any) long-term relief. The high stress environment of STEM and its publish or perish culture can trigger and worsen trauma or distract us from realizing that past trauma more significantly impacts our behavior than we notice.

Postevent Blues

Even positive and joyfully anticipated events can bring negativity. The post-event-blues , or letdown effect , describe the mental crash that often occurs following major accomplishments or positive life events. 33 − 35 Often unexpectedly, physical and emotional fatigue sets in, triggering a questioning of purpose, and possibly even a spiraling into clinical depression. Events that fall into this category are often those generally accepted as positive: a wedding, finishing a marathon, submitting your first scientific manuscript, winning a postdoctoral fellowship, accepting a new faculty position, or retirement. We venture outside of the academic world to highlight two examples: post-Olympics depression. Michael Phelps 36 and Simone Biles 37 —two “greatest of all time” athletes—have begun openly discussing their mental health. 38 For students, an important exam, an on-site job interview, or submitting their dissertation can have similar effects as prolonged training and competition as an athlete.

Loneliness and Lack of Community

Moving to attend college is becoming the norm. In 2020, 4 in 10 U.S. Americans moved away from home to obtain higher education. Nearly a third of all newly admitted students relocated to a different state, 39 if not even a different country. While this can be exciting for some, it can be daunting for others. For postdocs, new faculty members, or young professionals, the academic path can often limit chances to put down roots by promoting a lifestyle that requires frequent relocation. Moving is inherently challenging and social isolation and disconnection from natural environments in cities 40 are both risk factors for mental health—especially for introverts. 41 Maybe surprisingly, a sense of isolation and acute loneliness was actually correlated to cause similar stress levels as physical attacks. 42 U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy describes loneliness as a silent pandemic and highlights the systemic causes of loneliness and its increasingly negative implications. 43

Additional Stressors

The APA has surveyed graduate students and found that 60% of students report academic pressures, financial debt, or overall anxiety as significant stressors. 44 Poor work/school–life balance (59%), family issues (45%), and burnout (38%) also make attending college challenging outside of the classroom or lab. As a result of these and many other stressors, students may isolate themselves, give up easily when frustrated, react with strong emotions (e.g., anger, hostility), or adopt new and negative coping mechanisms. 45

STEM-Specific Culture

Particularly in STEM fields, there can be a culture of this is supposed to be hard . It can often be challenging for students and early career academics to recognize inappropriate levels of stress. This can lead to self-doubt about something being “supposed” to be hard and whether the levels of stress and sacrifice are normal, appropriate, and, in fact, necessary. The line between being “challenged” and “suffering” becomes blurred and can prevent those affected from seeking out necessary guidance and help. The “ suffering Olympics ” is another phrase that evokes the unhealthy culture of bragging about lack of sleep and working hours/busy-ness. Not having the time to grab coffee has become a status symbol, 46 , 47 despite increasing evidence that lack of work/life balance negatively affects our mental health. The “ Why is this class required? ” question can become daunting and lead to a perceived loss of agency and purpose, 48 as can the “ why? ”—especially for fundamental researchers. A perceived imbalance between effort and reward also affects our health. 49 For example, putting hour after hour into scientific articles to receive negative feedback. Destructive peer evaluations appear to always come from “Reviewer 2”—an almost comical trend that has become the subject of many memes throughout the scientific community. 50 Many feel a need to drop their hobbies to make room for the constant onslaught of homework, exam, or project deadlines, leaving little free for many to enjoy a calming breath of fresh air or walk in nature—despite its proven positive effects on mental health (vide infra). The offered solutions to these systemic issues are often based on cruel optimism: it is relayed to the individual to work harder and study more. Even as graduation approaches, insecurities about the professional future and a daunting and important decision about what comes next is scary, not even mentioning the previously outlined post-event-blues that are looming on the horizon.

Mental Hygiene: How Can You Take Care of Yourself?

The systemic deprioritization of mental health is difficult to address by individual action. Such a concept of “bootstrapping” oneself into better mental health places undue agency and blame on those who are suffering, without addressing the underlying social and cultural structures and causes. Nevertheless, there is research to suggest that certain individual actions can support you in managing your mental health. As Austrian psychiatrist and philosopher Dr. Viktor Frankel writes in his best-selling book Man’s Search for Meaning :

If you are suffering, try to be kind to yourself during this time. Try to imagine what you would say to your best friend if they were in your shoes: offer yourself the same grace and compassion. Be kind to yourself and recognize that sometimes activation barriers may feel insurmountable. The activities outlined below (see Figure ​ Figure4 4 ) may improve your mood and your mental hygiene. Do what you can as you can. Other things that may help:

Some recommended practices to improve mental hygiene.

Talk It Out: Consider Therapy

Different types of therapy in the United States are facilitated by mental health professionals (counselors, social workers, psychologists):

• Psychotherapy ( 51 )—a broad term for treatment techniques to help someone identify and alter troubling thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy ( 51 , 52 )—an evidence-based therapy focused on helping someone identify and reprogram inaccurate and harmful automatic thoughts (e.g., low evaluation of one’s abilities). It can also include exposure therapy.
• Interpersonal therapy ( 52 )—an evidence-based therapy that examines the connection between mood and interpersonal functioning and relationships.
• Dialectical behavioral therapy ( 53 )—a form of cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals who experience emotions very intensely.
• Group therapy ( 54 )—groups of patients with one (or more) mental health professionals designed to target specific problems by both talking and listening. Groups can also sometimes act as sounding boards and support networks.

There are many challenges to obtaining professional help and/or therapy, including long wait times, expense, and difficulty finding a therapist you “click” with. 48 , 49 Such challenges can feel insurmountable when you are already struggling. Consider asking a friend to help you get organized and make phone calls. Many university campuses have counseling services with free sessions for students. Your general practitioner, health insurance provider directories, or the National Alliance on Mental Illness ( www.nami.org ) may be able to provide resources and/or help with initial discussions and referrals. For readers outside the United States, https://www.helpguide.org/find-help.htm provides a comprehensive by-country overview of mental health resources.

Be Present and Aware: Meditation and Mindfulness

There is increasing scientific evidence that mindfulness and certain meditation practices can improve mental and physical health. 55 , 56 Mindfulness and meditation practices focus on being present in the moment and your current experiences, rather than allowing errant thoughts to distract your attention. The goal is to experience your thoughts and feelings without passing judgment on them. Apps like Calm, Headspace , or Healthy Minds (free) can provide guided meditations of varying lengths. There are also many free guided meditations on YouTube. Several books are great references to start your practice. 57 Mindfulness practice does not necessarily require sitting still and breathing deeply. It can be as simple as observing the textures, temperatures, and substances as you wash dishes. When your attention wanders, gently guide it back to experiencing the task at hand. There are many activities that have similar “meditative” benefits: anything that is all-encompassing and requires your entire attention: running, hiking, and various artistic outlets are good examples.

Let Words Move You: Read and Reflect

Reading has many positive effects—reducing stress, building vocabulary and knowledge, and expanding our horizons. 58 Often overlooked are the benefits on our mental and emotional well-being. Many great philosophical minds have discussed the purpose and meaning of life. Reading how your feelings and problems have troubled others for centuries can provide support and comfort. You are not alone. Reading and educating yourself about the underlying causes for how you feel can also have healing powers. 59 Reading captures your attention to a different degree than watching a show or movie and allows you to place yourself in someone else’s shoes. Reading fiction has indeed been found to increase empathy, 60 social skills, and interpersonal understandings. 61 , 62 “ Bibliotherapy ” or “ reading therapy ” are structured reading programs run by clinics, libraries, or schools that benefit recovery or support people with mental health challenges. 63 Bibliotherapy resources in the United States can be found on the website of the American Library Association ( ala.org ). Generally, consider paperbacks and hardcovers over screen reading 30 to improve comprehension and avoid blue light (disturbs sleep cycles) or possible distractions from electronic devices.

Explore: Experience the Outdoors

You do not have to climb Mt. Everest. Only a few minutes of walking per day can boost your mood. 64 Find nature if you can. Immersing yourself in a green space, an arboretum, or a forest has numerous benefits. 40 , 65 It reduces depression, anger, and aggressiveness. It lowers your blood pressure, heart rate, and level of stress hormones faster than urban landscapes can. “ Forest bathing ” or hiking can help you regain the sense of agency and accomplishment that is often missing for those suffering from mental illness. As you escape the bustling city, try to disconnect from your external stressors. Leave your phone at home or turn it to airplane mode, turn off your music, and let your mind wander without distraction. Allow your subconscious to process your challenges and experiences and exhibit healing powers while also improving your creativity.

Take Care of Your Physical Health

Your physical and mental health are inherently connected. 66 Make it your goal to reinforce habits that are healthy for your body. This includes physical activity and rest, but also your diet and consumption behavior of legal stimulants. Focus on maximizing the intake of whole foods, reduce fat and refined sugar intake, avoid drinking alcohol, consuming nicotine, or taking drugs (including medications not prescribed for you). 67 − 70

Move: Healthy Body–Healthy Mind

There is a measurable connection between physical activity and emotional health. 71 Physical exercise, in particular engaging team sports that build a sense of community 72 and resistance training provide considerable benefits. “ Lifting gave me a sense of agency. It gave me a sense of control ” 73 —control that often goes awry during challenging mental health episodes. 73 Sustained cardiovascular exercise is also correlated to decreased anxiety and reduced Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. 74 It is important to note however that excessive physical activity ( overtraining syndrome ) can itself lead to sleep disturbances, irritability, emotional imbalance—and even depression and anxiety. 75 Research estimates an optimal threshold of 2.5–7.5 h of weekly physical activity to maximize mental health benefits without risk of overtraining. 71 Just as physical health and well-being are key components for mental health, so are recovery and sleep. 75

Sleep: Give Yourself the Rest You Need

The seemingly endless workload for students (and faculty) can be correlated with rising anxiety levels, depression, and increasing sleep disturbances. 76 , 77 A vicious cycle ensues. Anxiety is also worsened by lack of sleep, which, in turn, disturbs subsequent nights’ sleep. Both quantity—an average of 7 h nightly has proven benefits—and quality of sleep are critical for our well-being. 67 , 68 , 78 , 79 Some science-backed ideas to improve the quality of your sleep:

• Try to establish a regular bedtime routine. Wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. 80
• Consider a warm bath, meditation, 81 yoga routines, 82 or stretching to help you fall asleep.
• Keep your bedroom cool at temperatures between 60 and 67 °F (15 and 19 °C). 83
• Teach your brain that your bed is only for sleep (and sexual activity). Do not allow your mind to associate your bed with anxiously ruminating over tomorrow’s tasks or scrolling social media. 84
• Limit screen/device time in the hour before bed. Blue screen light suppresses melatonin production 85 and interferes with your circadian rhythms. 86 Even if you use blue-light filters, an upsetting e-mail, deadline reminder, or social media post can heighten your awareness and keep you awake.
• Limit alcohol consumption near bedtime. The proverbial nightcap may make you feel like it is easier to fall asleep, but alcohol causes sleep to be light and of poor quality. 87

Feel the Rhythm: Play or Listen to Music

Both listening to and making music have been established to influence mental health. 88 As humans, we are capable of both interpreting music to detect emotions, but we are also wired to be emotionally affected by it. 89 , 90 As such, upbeat and happy music can elicit happiness, while sad music may trigger melancholy. 91 , 92 It is important to note that this is highly individual and can have contrasting effects. Some studies indeed show a worsening of mood for listeners of sad music, 93 − 95 but melancholic genres can also help reflect and offer comfort for others. 96 , 97 Making music is generally considered to enhance both personal well-being and social connectedness. 88 Playing an instrument or beginning music lessons can provide valuable and welcome distractions from problems. 98 , 99 If you suffer from performance anxiety, refraining from audiences and keeping music-making, singing, or song-writing as an individual or small-group hobby is a viable option. 100 − 102

Connect with Friends and Colleagues

Social interactions and norms have changed rapidly. Through advances in, and accessibility of, technology, social interactions are no longer restricted by time and place. Rather than communicating primarily with those in local geographical spaces, social media and social networking sites now provide modern town squares with sometimes unclear norms of social behavior. 103 Digital platforms can allow us to stay connected to existing friends and colleagues or to meet new ones. However, smartphones and internet access have also been correlated to increases in loneliness, 104 , 105 in part, because of the lower quality of digital communication compared to in-person interactions. In addition, smart phones and digital media may heighten fear of missing out (or being excluded), can distract during in-person interactions, or can be used to ignore people by looking at one’s phone (phubbing). 106 , 107 While there are undoubtedly advantages of social media for our mental well-being 108 (e.g., through support networks), there are many correlated negative impacts: 109 declining well-being, 110 worsening sleep and lower self-esteem, 111 increasing depression, 112 − 115 anxiety, 111 , 113 , 116 and suicide rates. 117 The research on both negative and positive effects of smart phone use on psychological well-being and mental health is ongoing. 118 − 120

Mental hygiene involves being aware of these trends and critically considering social media use. If you spend 20 min a day only using social media, starting at the age of 16 and until you turn 65, you will have spent more than an entire year of your life looking at your phone . This is a shocking underestimate, as recent consumer data 115 exceeds this example (63 and 49 min for women and men, respectively) 121 Much of this time you will have spent on scrolling through emotionally triggering and addictive videos, 122 #livingmybestlife hashtags, or your someone who broke your heart living their new life.

For social media posts, but also more generally, it is also important to realize the differences between internal and external motivation. 123 If you are internally motivated, you do things because they give you joy. You explore your surroundings, bring your camera, and pursue art for your own creative fulfilment. The externally motivated photographer, in contrast, may focus on positive feedback from the number of likes on a posted photograph, eventually leading to the possibility of a disappointing disconnect between what you think is a good photo and what your followers like.

Improve your mental health by focusing on high quality personal interactions to mitigate social isolation and loneliness: 124 online ties can supplement face-to-face connection, and online communication can reinforce offline friendships. Rather than mindlessly scrolling through content, consider ways to connect with people in real life. Join a club, try group exercise, pick up a pottery class!

How Can I Help Someone Who Is Suffering?

We outlined several warning signs of those who may be struggling: lack of concern regarding personal hygiene, changes in weight or appetite, irritability, energy levels, sleeping patterns, or alcohol consumption. 125 Mood changes, anxiety, and aggressive behavior are also noticeable—as are comments made in passing or in jest about death or dying. In social circles, detachment from people and activities can also be a warning sign. What can you do to help your friend, colleague, or student in distress (see Figure ​ Figure5 5 )? 17 , 30 , 126 Offer help and gently ask if there is anything of concern: “ I notice you seem stressed (or worried or distracted) lately. Is there something I can help you work through? ” 30

Suggestions on how to help a friend/colleague/student suffering from mental health disorders.

Before You Try to Help, Take a Minute

One crucial consideration is the difference between intention and impact: you may say something that you intend to be supportive but that may have negative (and potentially serious) impacts. Such unsupportive (in terms of impact) social interactions have been linked to depression and overall psychological distress in response to a stressor. 127 Upsetting responses include: 127 distancing (changing the subject), bumbling (seeming uncomfortable or afraid to say the wrong thing), minimizing (“ it could be worse ,” “ look on the bright side ,” “ get over it ”), and blaming (“ I told you so ”).

Believe the words and experiences that someone conveys to you. Now is not the time to play devil’s advocate, a theoretical mental exercise for you, but a painful dismissal of lived experiences. Do not say things like “ Snap out of it ” or “ You just need to be better at dealing with it .” Avoid making judgements or expressing displeasure, and do not gossip about their behavior. Speak in private and treat your conversations as confidential. Be understanding and share vulnerability. Harness your empathy: “ That sounds really tough. ” Focus on listening and not on telling them how they should feel.

Helping a friend or a colleague means listening and engaging supportively. Rather than giving medical advice or acting like a counselor, 128 validate your friend’s feelings and encourage them to share and talk. 129 In other words, be an active-empathic listener! 130

Engage and Support

“ I’m here .” Offer support, understanding, patience, and encouragement. Rather than offering blanket support (“ How can I help you? ”), offer specific actionable suggestions (“ Let’s wash your dishes together ”). Combat the hopelessness that depression radiates and show empathy: “ This isn’t an ending. You can get through this .” Help them seek out professional help if they are open to it. Try to reignite their spark for their favorite activities—but understand (and respect) that even the easiest activities may feel impossible.

Ask and Listen

Check in regularly. Rather than: “ let me know what I can do to help ,” reach out. Listen with empathy and without judgment if they feel ready to share. Otherwise, be present with them—even in silence. Show that you are there to support them and they are not alone: “ There’s nothing you can say to me that will send me away from you .” Throughout everything you do, be mindful of the power of your own words.

Take Care of Yourself

It is great to reach out and help, but even if someone is willing to acknowledge they are struggling, they may be unwilling to seek treatment or make changes to their behavior. Be patient and do not forget your own mental health and emotional energy. 131

A Comment on Self-Harm and Those in Acute Crisis

Understanding how to behave with an individual in acute crisis is challenging to navigate. We refer you to a pamphlet from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. ( 123 ) However, we also encourage you to ask for help from your colleagues or from local resources that are available to you. Many U.S. universities now have a Red Folder (based on the Red Folder Initiative from the University of California) to provide guidance on how to recognize and effectively respond to others in distress. 132 Comparable resources exist at institutions across the globe, and we encourage you to learn about and leverage resources available at your workplace.

Research has demonstrated that there is no correlation between increased suicide rates and at-risk individuals being asked about thoughts of killing themselves. ( 133 ) As psychologist Karen Young outlines: “ There’s a misconception that discussing suicide might plant the idea, but it just doesn’t work like this. If someone is contemplating suicide, the idea will already be there. If they aren’t, talking about it won’t put the idea into their mind. Suicide isn’t caused by asking the question. Never has been.” 125 Many faculty and staff at universities are mandatory reporters. If someone shares their intention to kill themselves, you must report this to emergency services. We recommend being direct about this during your conversations if the student seems poised to reveal something.

The concept of “cruel optimism” refers to simple upbeat individual solutions that are offered to us address problems deeply rooted in our society. It is considered your responsibility to exercise and offset decreasing food quality and huge portion sizes that are being offered 134 —only to strive for an unrealistic body image that is portrayed to you by social media influencers. 135 , 136 It is your responsibility to turn off your phone—despite the entire monetary concept of major media outlets being to capture your attention. It is called cruel optimism because the problem should not be there—yet it is commonly considered your individual responsibility to address it—and it is considered as easy as it is being suggested.

Academia is full of cruel optimism. The “publish or perish” culture and the common assumption that getting a higher degree “should be hard” are two of many factors that can lead to students (and faculty) experiencing mental health disorders or refer to taking medication to enhance performance and manage stress.

As a community, we need to find ways to remove mental health stigma from the individual, have open discussions about systematic errors that promote health issues, and begin taking responsibility as a collective. There is a reason that mental health issues and attention deficit disorders are most prominent in capitalistic cultures that promote excessive working hours, idealize unrealistic body images, and distract us from meaningful activities through benign activities. It is not your job to fix yourself—it is our job, as a collective, to improve the system. Those of us who are mentors and authority figures can help by modeling good mental hygiene practices.

We—as a society—need to regain our own agency and values. We need to not sit next to each other mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, but actually connect with our peers and friends through meaningful conversation. We need to make sure students, postdocs, and young faculty are heard and supported by their mentors. We need to appeal Reviewer 2’s comments if they make no sense—and as editors ensure we actively engage with authors and rebuttals. We need to question if our curriculum and our means of delivery make sense—not just push our students because “We had to do it too.”

And we need to embrace, understand, and support those who experience mental health issues. We cannot stress this strongly enough: seeking help is not a sign of weakness. You have value and worth beyond your productivity.

Resources to Find Help

Many of the resources outlined are available in the United States. An exhaustive by-country list for these resources is beyond the scope of this Editorial, but similar programs exist in many countries. We would like to refer the international community to https://www.helpguide.org/find-help.htm as a first, important step to find guidance.

• If you are in immediate crisis or think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.
• If you are having suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 h a day, 7 days a week in the United States.
• Because text can feel more secure, there is also a webchat ( 988lifeline.org/chat/ ) and a crisis text line (Text HOME to 741741) to speak with a skilled, trained counselor at any time.
• The website of the American Psychological Association (APA) offers valuable resources if you are in distress under apa.org/topics/crisis-hotlines as well as abilities to connect to professional help from a psychologist or counselor (sorted by state).
• Health insurance provider directories provide lists of mental health professionals. Your general practitioner or family doctor may also be able to help with initial discussions and providing referrals. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has links to other resources at www.nami.org .
• Many university campuses have counseling services with a specified number of free sessions for students that we encourage you to learn about. In recent years, the Red Folder Initiative has gained momentum as a concrete, highly visible, and helpful resource for universities to provide guidance to students and faculty members in identifying and dealing with distress.
• Finally, for further reading and information, we would like to refer you to resources from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 137 the World Health Organization (WHO), 138 and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). 17

Acknowledgments

We express our sincere gratitude for invaluable feedback about this topic and article from many STEM scientists from various backgrounds and at various stages in their career. In alphabetical order: Stephanie Butler Velegol, Nicholas Cross, Sarah Freeburne, Jan Genzer, Enrique Gomez, Zachary Hudson, Whitney Loo, Patricia Pereira, Themis Matsoukas, Scott Milner, Chinedum Osuji, Cole Thomas, Bryan Vogt, and Wanying Xie.

Author Contributions

§ Christian W. Pester and Gina Noh contributed equally to this paper. Credit: Andi Fu validation (supporting).

Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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• Open access
• Published: 27 June 2023

The relationship between homeworking during COVID-19 and both, mental health, and productivity: a systematic review

• Charlotte E. Hall 1 , 2 , 3 ,
• Louise Davidson 2 , 4 ,
• Samantha K. Brooks 1 , 3 ,
• Neil Greenberg 1 , 3 &
• Dale Weston 2  

BMC Psychology volume  11 , Article number:  188 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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As of March 2020, the UK public were instructed to work from home where possible and as a result, nearly half of those in employment did so during the following month. Pre-pandemic, around 5% of workers chose to work from home; it was often seen as advantageous, for example due to eliminating commuting time and increasing flexibility. However, homeworking also had negative connotations, for example, blurred boundaries between work and home life due to a sense of constant connectivity to the workplace. Understanding the psychological impact of working from home in an enforced and prolonged manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic is important. Therefore, this review sought to establish the relationship between working from home, mental health, and productivity.

In January 2022, literature searches were conducted across four electronic databases: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo and Web of Science. In February 2022 grey literature searches were conducted using Google Advanced Search, NHS Evidence; Gov.uk Publications and the British Library directory of online doctoral theses. Published and unpublished literature which collected data after March 2020, included participants who experienced working from home for at least some of their working hours, and detailed the association in terms of mental health or productivity were included.

In total 6,906 citations were screened and 25 papers from electronic databases were included. Grey literature searching resulted in two additional papers. Therefore, 27 studies were included in this review. Findings suggest the association between homeworking and both, mental health and productivity varies considerably, suggesting a complex relationship, with many factors (e.g., demographics, occupation) having an influence on the relationship.

We found that there was no clear consensus as to the association between working from home and mental health or productivity. However, there are indications that those who start homeworking for the first time during a pandemic are at risk of poor productivity, as are those who experience poor mental health. Suggestions for future research are suggested.

Peer Review reports

Within the UK, the COVID-19 pandemic led to several behavioural interventions being implemented by the government with the aim to reduce transmission of the virus. As of March 2020, the public were instructed to work from home and as a result, nearly half of those in employment did so during April 2020 [ 1 ]. As of January 2022, 36% of workers still reported homeworking at least once in the last seven days [ 2 ]. Pre-pandemic, only around 5% of workers chose to work from home [ 3 ] and findings on the impact of doing so is inconsistent. For some, homeworking was seen as a positive way of overcoming issues (e.g., decreasing commuting time [ 4 ]). However, homeworking also had negative connotations, for example, blurred boundaries between work and home life due to a sense of constant connectivity to the workplace [ 5 ]. Considering the potential disadvantages of homeworking pre-pandemic, understanding the psychological effect of enforced and prolonged working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic is important.

Unsurprisingly, since the onset of the pandemic, the association between working from home and various aspects of health have been the subject of much research. Literature reviews, including papers from pre-pandemic, have reported mixed findings. For example, a rapid review conducted by Oakman (2020), contained 23 studies published between 2008 and 2020, explored the link between working from home and mental and physical health. For mental health specifically, the relationship was reported to be complex with many conflicting findings (e.g., increased stress and increased well-being; [ 6 ]). Varied findings have also been reported by a systematic review conducted by Lunde (2022) which sought to establish the relationship between working from home and employee health (examined outcomes included: general health, pain, well-being, stress, exhaustion and burnout, satisfaction, life and leisure) using studies published between 2010 to 2020 [ 7 ].

A scoping review focused on more current pandemic related research was conducted by Elbaz (2022) and aimed to establish the association between telework (i.e., a working arrangement that allows individuals to engage in work activities through information and communication technologies from outside the main work location [ 8 ]) and work-life balance using studies published between January 2020 and December 2021. 42 papers were included, and the review concluded that teleworking resulted in a mixed relationship. However, the link between teleworking and psychological health was typically more negative than positive [ 8 ].

Thus, the purpose of this review is to establish if there is an association between working from home and both, mental health, and productivity; specifically, for those who experienced working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This systematic review seeks to, first, contribute to the evidence base by being the first review to collate findings from published and grey literature research originating from economically developed countries (as indicated by membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; OECD) into the link between working from home and both, mental health, and productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, to establish risk or resilience (as defined as positive adaptation in response to adversity [ 9 ]) factors that make an individual more likely to adapt well to homeworking during a pandemic. Third, to provide findings and conclusions that can be used to establish implications and future research suggestions for improving the experience of homeworking for those doing so during a future public health emergency.

This systematic review is designed in concordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines [ 10 ]. This results in the method section describing and explaining the process of criteria selection, use of information sources, the search strategy, study selection, data collection, quality assessment and the analytical method used during the review.

Eligibility criteria

The development of inclusion and exclusion criteria for the current review was iterative and developed alongside literature familiarisation, preliminary database searches, and research team meetings. The final inclusion and exclusion criteria for the current systematic review can be found in Table 1 .

Information sources

Electronic database searches.

Search terms were created in relation to population/context, intervention, and outcome of the research question, as recommended by Cochrane’s Handbook for Systematic Reviews [ 11 ]. Terms were developed a priori from current literature and developed iteratively by the research team using preliminary searches to ensure a manageable and focused scope of investigation.

The final search was conducted on the 25 th of January 2022 across the following databases:

Ovid®SP MEDLINE.® 1946 to January 18, 2022

Ovid.®SP Embase 1974 to 2022 January 14

Ovid.®SP APA PsycINFO 1806 to January Week 2 2022

Web of Science™ Core Collection

The final search involved two strings of terms: firstly, those relating to homeworking, and secondly, psychological terms encompassing mental health, resilience, and productivity. Where possible, databased controlled vocabulary was used. Free text terms remained consistent across all four searches, only differing on database specific truncation and use of punctuation. Free text terms were searched within titles and abstracts on Medline, Embase and APA PsychINFO. Free text terms were searched within title, abstract, author keywords and Keywords Plus in Web of Science Core Collection. All searches were limited to 2020 – current, to only capture data related to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full search strategies for all databases, including filters and limits used can be found in Supplemental Table 1 .

Grey literature searches

The following sources were searched on the 1 st of February 2022: Google Advanced Search, NHS Evidence; Gov.uk Publications; and the British Library directory of online doctoral theses (EThOS).

The following search was used for the Google Advanced Search, NHS evidence, and EthOS. For the Google Advanced Search, the results were ordered by most relevant, and the first 20 pages (totalling 200 hits) were screened. The NHS search was limited to primary research only.

(“work from home” OR “telework” OR “homework”)

(“mental health” OR “productivity” OR “resilience”)

The remaining searches were kept relatively simple due to small numbers of papers available shown during preliminary searches. Gov.uk Publication searches were limited to: ‘research’ or ‘statistics’ or ‘policy papers and consultations’, including the terms “homework”, “telework”, or “work from home”. Office for National Statistics searches were “homework”, “telework” or “work from home”. Full search strategies for all registers and websites, including filters and limits used can be found in Supplemental Table 2 .

Study selection

Results of the literature searches were downloaded to EndNote X9 reference management software (Thomson Reuters, New York, United States (US)). Initial screening was carried out for all titles and abstracts against the inclusion and exclusion criteria by one author (CEH). Each study was categorised into one of the following groups: “include”, “exclude” or “unsure”. A 10% check of excluded papers (~ 400 records) was carried out by a second reviewer (LD), any papers marked as potentially relevant by LD were then rescreened by CEH. Both of the “include” and “unsure” categories then were subject to full text screening. To provide robustness to the review process, 10% of the papers were also full text screened by a second reviewer (LD). When there were disagreements between reviewers (i.e., on 3/12 papers), a third reviewer (SKB) was used, and the majority decision taken. Articles were then categorised into “include” or “exclude”. A PRIMSA flowchart of the screening process is presented in Fig.  1 .

PRISMA flow diagram

Data extraction and synthesis

Data was extracted using a data extraction spreadsheet by one author (CEH). Article data and information extracted included: authors; title; type of document (e.g., publication, governmental report); publication year; publication origin; aims and hypotheses; size of sample; sample demographics and characteristics; variables of interest examined, outcome measures; key findings, limitations, and recommendations. Extraction of this data allowed for study characteristics (e.g., date of publication, country of origin, sample characteristics, outcome measures) to be reported alongside key findings, whilst considering reported study limitations and recommendations/implications suggested by the authors. A 20% check of extracted data relating to key findings was carried out by LD, no discrepancies found between reviewers. Narrative synthesis was used to collate findings from the retained papers [ 12 ]. Research findings were firstly grouped by variables examined (e.g., productivity or mental health focused), and a narrative was synthesised.

Quality assessment

The Mixed Methods Appraisal tool [ 13 ] was used to appraise the quality of included studies based on the information provided in the papers. This tool was chosen due to its ability to appraise both qualitative and quantitative studies whilst also accounting for the differences between types of study. Many reviews have used this tool for quality assessment, for example [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Papers were checked for suitability using the following screening questions: “Are there clear research questions?”; “Do the collected data allow to address the research questions?”. Each study was then assessed using five questions relevant to the methodological approach used within the paper [ 13 ]. One author carried out the quality appraisal (CEH).

In total 6,906 search results were extracted from electronic databases. Post duplication screening, 4,233 papers remained for title and abstract screening. 119 papers were sought for retrieval, one paper [ 17 ] was deemed potentially relevant to the review, but after exhausting all means of accessing the full text the paper had to be excluded from the review. Following title and abstract screening, 118 full texts were screened, and 25 studies were retained as they aligned with the inclusion criteria. Two additional studies were included as a result of grey literature searches. Therefore, 27 studies were included in this review (refer to Fig.  1 for flow diagram).

Study characteristics

Date of publication.

No papers included in this review were published prior to 2020, as per the exclusion criteria. Only one paper was published in 2020 [ 18 ], 25 papers were published in 2021 [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ], and one paper was published in 2022 [ 44 ].

Country of origin

Data extracted relating to the location of the first authors institution at the time of publication was extracted to display geographical spread of the papers retained within this review. As per the inclusion criterion, all paper origins are from OECD countries. The location of papers is relatively varied, with four papers originating from each of the USA [ 21 , 28 , 30 , 43 ], the UK [ 19 , 39 , 40 , 42 ] and Japan [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 38 ]. Three papers originated from Turkey [ 26 , 27 , 37 ], and Italy [ 18 , 22 , 24 ]. Two papers originated from Columbia [ 23 , 35 ]. The remaining papers originated from Canada [ 31 ], Germany [ 44 ], Luxembourg [ 36 ], the Netherlands [ 41 ], Portugal [ 20 ], Spain [ 25 ] and Sweden [ 29 ].

Study design

The majority of the retained papers used similar methodological approaches to collect data; 24 out of 27 of the papers used online surveys [ 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ]. It is necessary to note that, three of these papers used additional qualitative elements in their surveys [ 39 , 40 , 42 ], and four surveys collected data at multiple time points [ 36 , 38 , 41 , 44 ]. Of the remaining three papers, two used secondary data analysis [ 26 , 44 ], and one paper [ 19 ] used semi-structed interviews to collect data.

Variables examined and measures

Of the 27 papers, 13 focused specifically on mental health outcomes [ 22 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 33 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 41 , 42 , 43 ], six on productivity outcomes [ 20 , 21 , 23 , 27 , 31 , 32 ], and eight included both mental health and productivity outcomes [ 18 , 19 , 30 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 44 ]. All measures used varied across studies with many being unvalidated. Table 2 shows more in-depth details about variable measures.

Study sample

There was substantial variation in the sample characteristics across the included papers. Sample size varied highly between papers, ranging from n  = 32 [ 19 ] to n  = 20,395 [ 34 ]. In relation to job role, many papers included participants from difference sectors and occupations within their study [ 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 43 , 44 ], two included a representative participant group [ 26 , 36 ], some targeted specific occupations or groups (e.g., Alumni from the Portuguese AESE Business School [ 20 ]; Italian professionals [ 24 ]; university staff [ 29 , 42 ]; behaviour analysists [ 30 ]; administrative workers [ 18 ]) and, some did not provide information on job role but focused on home working populations [ 34 , 35 , 40 ]. Table 3 displays extracted data in relation to sample size and characteristics including location and job role details.

Quality appraisal

Overall quality of papers varied across the 27 that were retained, with an average score of 62%. The MMAT quality scores as a percentage can be found in Table 2 . The included papers within this systematic review varied in quality. Many were cross-sectional, quantitative in methodology, and recruited participants using snowball or opportunistic sampling. This resulted in some unclear sample characteristics (e.g., not knowing where a percentage of participants were from), and uncertainty as to how often the sample were working from home. Only three of the retained papers within this review used qualitative research elements, and there was no common method for measuring mental health, or productivity across homeworking research.

To allow comparisons across and between research, findings relating to mental health and productivity will be separated and reported on separately in the following section.

• Mental health

This following section details outcomes relating to mental health and synthesises the following outcomes from 21 papers: ‘depression’ [ 20 , 22 , 33 , 37 , 42 ]; ‘anxiety’ [ 20 , 22 , 33 , 37 , 42 ]; ‘stress’ (including work stress) [ 18 , 22 , 28 , 29 , 35 , 37 , 38 ]; ‘psychological distress’ [ 24 , 34 , 41 ]; wellbeing [ 36 ] (including ‘subjective wellbeing’ [ 24 ], ‘psychological wellbeing’ [ 25 ]; ‘mental wellbeing’ [ 26 , 42 , 43 ]); ‘health’ [ 29 ]; ‘burnout’ [ 28 , 30 , 44 ]; and general ‘mental health’ [ 39 , 40 ]. Table 2 provides additional information on how these outcomes are measured, and it is necessary to note that there are overlap in how outcomes are described (i.e., ‘mental wellbeing’, ‘psychological wellbeing’, ‘health’, and ‘psychological distress’ were all measured using the same questionnaire).

The findings in relation to mental health varied across the retained papers. Many of the papers reported a negative relationship between homeworking and mental health and wellbeing [ 19 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 30 , 33 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 44 ]. For example, one paper established that the transition to homeworking during the pandemic increased psychological strain due to increased work intensification, poor adaptation to new ways of working, and online presenteeism [ 19 ]. Another paper reported that out of those who continued to work during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., not furloughed, or unemployed), teleworkers experienced less self-perceived wellbeing than those who continued working at their pre-COVID-19 workplace [ 25 ].

Some of the retained papers concluded a mixed findings in relation to home working and mental health. For example, despite a main finding that working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic results in lower levels of well-being, Schifano et al., also concluded that when the sample only includes those who switched to homeworking from office working, there is a small fall in anxiety levels when moving to working from home [ 36 ]. Additionally, Taylor et al., reports that around 40 per cent believe that their mental health had worsened either a lot or a little since working from home, compared to around 30 per cent that believed their mental health had improved [ 39 ]. Similarly, Moretti et al., reports that around 40 per cent of participants declared a reduced stress level since they have worked remotely, around 30 per cent reported an unchanged level, and one-third of participants experienced increased stress [ 18 ].

Homeworking was found to have no association with burnout by one retained paper [ 30 ]. Shimura et al., provides evidence that remote work does decrease psychological and physical stress responses when controlling for confounding factors such as job stressors, social support, and sleep status [ 38 ]. Working from home was also considered to be better for wellbeing in comparison to being furloughed or unemployed [ 25 , 36 ].

Factors affecting mental health when homeworking

Demographics.

When considering age, findings were mixed. One paper reported being older [ 36 ] resulted in poorer mental health outcomes. Additionally, another paper focused on stress and burnout specifically reported that being a young male [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], an older male (55 +) or a middle aged or older woman (45 +) resulted in increased stress, and being a middle-aged man [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ] increased burnout [ 28 ].

Being female was reported to result in increases of depression, anxiety, and stress [ 37 ]. Females were also reported to experience two or more new physical or mental health issues were provided in comparison to male workers [ 43 ]. In this study, nine types of physical issues were assessed, these included, but are not limited to, musculoskeletal discomfort or injury, headaches or migraines, cardiovascular issues. Eight types of mental health issues were assessed, these included, but are not limited to, anxiety or nervousness, mental stress, rumination or worry, depression, sadness, or feeling blue [ 43 ].

Those considered better-educated were reported to have worsened mental health outcomes [ 36 ]. Those working in the field of “education and research” judged their telework experience to be much worse than participants working in other fields (e.g., ‘IT and telecommunication’, ‘Public administration and law enforcement agencies’, ‘Health and social services’ and ‘Legal and administrative services’) and were less willing to replicate the telework experience, there were also higher levels of stress and anxiety apparent [ 22 ].

Living arrangements

Living and working in a home which is considered crowded or confined resulted in poorer mental health [ 33 , 36 ]. Having a larger house and living with a partner, or with one or two housemates, was also found to be protective of mental health [ 22 ].

Results are mixed in relation to working in a household that includes children. On one hand, having young children in the home was considered to have a negative link to wellbeing, supposedly related to increased demands [ 36 ]. Whereas other research reported having infants (less than two years old) or toddlers (two to five years of age) at home as protective of wellbeing but were also associated with more mental health issues [ 43 ]. These conflicting findings were reasoned to be due to working parents being able to spend more time at home with their children, resulting in better mental wellbeing. However, due to work-life strain caused by increased demands and lack of support (i.e., from babysitters) during working hours there is an increase in new physical and mental issues apparent [ 43 ].

Isolation or loneliness

Spending more time remote working was considered to increase perceptions of isolation, and isolation and psychological distress were reported to mutually affect each other over time [ 41 ]. Additionally, having frequent contacts with work colleagues was considered protective factors of mental health [ 22 ].

Homeworking preference

Workers who preferred to work from home experienced less psychological distress with increasing telecommuting frequency, while those who preferred not to telecommute experienced more psychological distress with increasing telecommuting frequency [ 34 ].

Length of time homeworking

The association between working from home and mental health and wellbeing was found to differ depending on frequency and length of time home working [ 26 , 29 , 33 , 44 ].

One paper found working from home for a short duration was considered no different on mental well-being in comparison to those always working at the employer’s premises [ 26 ]. Niu et al., found that there was initially no difference in the mental health between workers who continued working in the office and those who switched to telework, but participants who teleworked for a longer period showed more severe anxiety and depression in comparison to those who teleworked for a short period. [ 33 ]. Similarly, those working from home for a high percentage of their weekly hours reported more negative psychological symptoms than employees who work from home for less hours [ 44 ], and higher ratings of stress were also reported in those working from home several times per week in comparison to those who worked from home less than once per month [ 29 ].

• Productivity

This following section details outcomes relating to productivity and synthesises the following outcomes from 14 papers: ‘productivity’[ 18 , 21 , 27 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 40 ], ‘performance’ [ 23 , 39 ], ‘percieved productivity’ [ 20 ], ‘level of work ability’ [ 44 ], ‘presenteeism’ [ 38 ]. Table 2 provides additional information on how these outcomes are measured.

The findings in relation to productivity varied across the retained papers. Some of the retained papers concluded a negative relationship between home working and productivity [ 19 , 30 , 32 , 40 ]. For example, Adisa (2021) found that the transition to home working from office-based work caused increased work intensification, online presenteeism and employment insecurity – which resulted in psychological strain and poor levels of work engagement [ 19 ]. Similarly, increased work intensity (e.g., receiving more information from teams and engaging in more planning activities) due to working from home also resulted in decreased worker productivity [ 30 ]. Morikawa et al., concludes that productivity whilst working from home was about 60–70% of the productivity at business premises, and was especially low for employees and firms that started homeworking after the onset of the COVID pandemic [ 32 ]. A UK-wide survey of office workers (including telecom, local government, financial services and civil service staff) who were working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that since the onset of homeworking, 30% reported of workers that it is now more difficult to meet targets, and they had concerns of underperforming [ 39 ].

Some studies concluded that working from home was in fact no different in comparison to office working in terms of productivity [ 23 ]. This was reported for those who worked at home pre-COVID-19 and tended to practice working from home frequently [ 32 ]. Additionally, other research concluded that 90% of new teleworkers reported being at least as productive (i.e., accomplishing at least as much work per hour at home) as they were previously in their usual place of work [ 31 ].

Moretti et al., reported that working at home resulted in productivity decreasing in 39.2% and an increasing in 29.4% of participants [ 18 ]. However, Guler et al., established that participants who worked from home were more relaxed, more efficient, and they produced better quality work [ 27 ]. Despite reported increased or no change to levels of productivity, some research studies did find that those working from home were reporting longer working hours [ 21 , 27 ].

Factors affecting productivity when homeworking

Two papers reported that males were less productive than females when working from home [ 20 , 21 ]. Those who are older and have higher levels of income are also more likely to be productive when homeworking [ 21 ], as were those who are unmarried with no children [ 31 ]. Those who are highly educated, high wage employees, long distance commuters, tended to exhibit a relatively small reduction in productivity [ 32 ]. Having an appropiate workspace was also associated with higher levels of productivity [ 21 ].

In terms of occupation, “scientists” were most likely to have the highest level of productivity, in comparison to “engineering and architecture,” “computer sciences and mathematics” and “healthcare and social services.” [ 21 ]. Other research also supported that those who work in in information and communications industry only displayed a relatively small reduction in productivity [ 32 ]. Higher levels of productivity in were also apparent in public administration (41%) as well as in health care and social assistance (45%). In contrast, the corresponding percentage was lower in goods-producing industries (31%) and educational services (25%) [ 31 ].

Mental health and productivity

A few of the retained studies looked at the interaction between mental health and productivity whilst homeworking [ 21 , 27 , 35 ]. In a sample of staff that had been working from home for more than 6 months, it was reported that they were less stressed, more efficient, and had better quality of work during working from home period according to self-report data [ 27 ]. Other research reported that having an appropiate workspace, and better mental health was also associated with higher levels of productivity [ 21 ]. Stress was also found to lessen the positive association between working remotely on productivity and engagement [ 35 ].

This systematic literature review sought to 1) explore the association between working from home and both, mental health, and productivity, and 2) establish potential risk factors. Literature searches encompassed both peer previewed published literature and grey literature, 27 papers were retained post screening and included within this review. The results established that relationship between homeworking and both, mental health and productivity varies considerably, suggesting a complex association with many mediating and moderating factors.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of enforced and prolonged homeworking, working from home was often considered advantageous. Research often concluded that homeworking had multiple advantages [ 4 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. There were also potential concerns reported with homeworking [ 45 , 48 ], for example in relation constant connectivity to the workplace [ 5 ], but these were not considered to outweigh the benefits [ 48 ]. This review revealed conflicting findings, with the majority of the research suggesting a negative or mixed link to mental health, which is supported by current literature [ 6 ].

This suggests that homeworking as a choice is considered largely beneficial (i.e., as shown by research prior to the pandemic), but when homeworking is instead mandatory there is potential that it may have a more negative association for certain individuals and occupations over others.

The relationship between working from home and productivity was also mixed, in that some papers found that home workers could be more productive, whereas others found the opposite. However, most studies reviewed show that homeworking for both new starters (e.g., has only worked from home) and those transitioning to homeworking for the first time, were particularly likely to report low levels of productivity along with concerns about meeting targets. There was also consistency amongst reviewed papers that homeworkers who reported better mental health (e.g., were less stressed) were more productive which is consistent with previous research showing an inverse relationship between stress levels and productivity [ 49 , 50 ]. Taken together, findings from the current review suggest that prolonged homeworking can negatively affect mental health, and in turn, lower levels of mental health can negatively affect productivity. Therefore, there should be a focus on maintaining and mitigating workers mental health when they are asked to work from home for a prolonged period.

Feelings of isolation or loneliness in homeworkers were also considered to have a consistent link to poorer mental health. This finding is well supported as the negative association isolation and loneliness have on mental health is widely reported across research (e.g., [ 51 , 52 ], and as demonstrated in an overview of systematic reviews [ 53 ]). The ability to create a shared sense of social identity with colleagues, which is protective of workplace stress [ 54 ] and burnout [ 55 ], may be hindered by homeworking [ 56 ] which can result in feelings of isolation or loneliness. This finding suggests that opportunities for social integration should be promoted by managers and team leaders. For example, through team meetings, in person events, or where possible, office working days.

As the findings relating to both mental health and productivity were varied, examination of factors which have potential to affect this relationship were explored. Personal and practical factors such as, being female, older in age, living and working in a crowded or confined home, or having young children at home were consistently associated with worsened mental health. Literature also concludes, being female, older in age, a highly educated high wage earner, being unmarried with no children, or someone with an active advantage towards homeworking (e.g., long distance commuters), and an appropiate workspace were associated with higher levels of productivity. These findings highlight the importance of considering practical factors that could be targeted by potential interventions (e.g., exploring how to manage work and having children at home, having an appropriately sized workspace, and managing overcrowded housing situations) as well as tailoring interventions to suit the target demographic (e.g., by considering gender, age, and occupation).

Limitations

Limitations for the current review these can be split into retained paper limitations and review process limitations. In terms of retained paper limitations, quality screening established that the retained papers varied in quality. Many were cross-sectional (only four studies within the current review collected data from multiple time points), quantitative in methodology, and recruited participants using snowball or opportunistic sampling. This resulted in some unclear sample characteristics (e.g., not knowing where a percentage of participants were from), and uncertainty as to how often the sample were working from home. These elements limit the generalisability of the findings, and this should be considered when conclusions are drawn from this data.

For this review specifically there are a number of limitations to consider. Firstly, limiting the search to English only may have resulted in the exclusion of potentially relevant papers. Secondly, this review did not seek to collate findings from studies which only directly compared those who had to work from home during the pandemic vs. those who could not, or did not, work from home, which could have potentially provided clearer results. However, where papers provided comparisons (e.g., [ 25 , 36 ]) they were extracted and presented in the results. Thirdly, current literature has established that working throughout the pandemic can be negatively related to mental health [ 57 , 58 , 59 ], which makes it difficult to disentangle the impact of working from home specifically. However, in the current review, three papers indicated that homeworking has potential to be negatively linked to mental health when carried out, or continued, for a long period of time (in comparison to hybrid working or working from home for a short period). This could possibly be due to the previously reported benefits of homeworking (e.g., flexibility, eradicating commuting time, and work life balance) no longer feeling advantageous when constantly working from home. This is an area that requires more research and is discussed in more detail in the following section.

Implications and future research

The current review found that working from home is neither positively or negative related to mental health or productivity, suggesting that a one size fits all approach to tackling the mitigation and management of workers mental health and productivity whilst they work from home is not suitable nor fit for purpose. However, there are indications that those who start homeworking for the first time during a pandemic are at risk of poor productivity, as are those who experience poor mental health. This suggests that employers should aim to help those who are new to home working, for example through training or mentoring programs. Additionally, those at risk of having poor mental health should be more closely monitored and provided with early support to ensure productivity.

The varied nature of the findings also calls for more in-depth research into why homeworking has such wide-ranging effect on individuals, and what factors have potential to mitigate and moderate this relationship. Due to the wide-ranging findings, it may be sensible to focus on specific occupational contexts and qualitatively explore barriers and facilitators to working from home to provide in depth rich data. Such work is currently underway as a PhD project focused on response organisations that worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic conducted by the first author of the current review.

Considering the impact of working from home for different durations is also important, as the current review establishes that three papers indicated that homeworking has potential to be negatively associated with mental health when carried out, or continued, for a long period of time. Further empirical research is needed to provide more detail into, this finding along with examination into the factors that could impact this relationship (e.g., isolation, pre-existing mental health concerns). Resilience factors and characteristics associated with growth and flourishing whilst working from home should also be the subject of future research.

Methodologically, future research should seek to employ qualitative or mixed method designs to collect more in-depth and complete data in relation to the psychological effect of homeworking. Additionally, there should be a focus on using similar research measures when adding to the homeworking evidence base, as this would allow for research finding to be accurately compared. Similar suggestions were reported in a recent rapid review [ 60 ].

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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This study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Emergency Preparedness and Response, a partnership between the UK Health Security Agency, King’s College London and the University of East Anglia. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, UKHSA or the Department of Health and Social Care. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.

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Hall, C.E., Davidson, L., Brooks, S.K. et al. The relationship between homeworking during COVID-19 and both, mental health, and productivity: a systematic review. BMC Psychol 11 , 188 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01221-3

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Poland limits young kids’ homework

New rules seek to modernize school, enhance creativity.

WARSAW, Poland — Ola Kozak is celebrating. The 11-year-old, who loves music and drawing, expects to have more free time for her hobbies after Poland’s government ordered strict limits on the amount of homework in the lower grades.

“I am happy,” said the fifth grader, who lives in a Warsaw suburb with her parents and younger siblings. The lilac-colored walls in her bedroom are covered in her art, and on her desk she keeps a framed picture she drew of Kurt Cobain.

“Most people in my class in the morning would copy the work off someone who had done the homework or would copy it from the internet. So it didn’t make sense,” she said.

The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk enacted the ban against required homework this month amid a broad discussion about the need to modernize Poland’s education system, which critics say puts too much emphasis on rote learning and homework, and not enough on critical thinking and creativity.

Under the decree, teachers are no longer to give required homework to kids in the first to third grades. In grades four to eight, homework is now optional and doesn’t count towards a grade.

Not everyone likes the change – and even Ola’s parents are divided.

“If there is something that will make students enjoy school more, then it will probably be good both for the students and for the school,” said her father, Pawel Kozak.

His wife, Magda Kozak, was skeptical. “I am not pleased, because (homework) is a way to consolidate what was learned,” she said. “It helps stay on top of what the child has really learned and what’s going on at school.”

(Ola’s brother Julian, a third-grader, says he sees both sides.)

Debates over the proper amount of homework are common around the globe. While some studies have shown little benefit to homework for young learners, other experts say it can help them learn how to develop study habits and academic concepts.

Poland’s educational system has undergone a number of controversial overhauls. Almost every new government has tried to make changes — something many teachers and parents say has left them confused and discouraged. For example, after communism was thrown off, middle schools were introduced. Then under the last government, the previous system was brought back. More controversy came in recent years when ultra-conservative views were pushed in new textbooks.

For years, teachers have been fleeing the system due to low wages and political pressure. The currentgovernment is trying to increase teacher salaries and has promised other changes that teachers approve of.

But Slawomir Broniarz, the head of the Polish Teachers’ Union, said that while he recognized the need to ease burdens on students, the new homework rules are another case of change imposed from above without adequate consultation with educators.

“In general, the teachers think that this happened too quickly, too hastily,” he said.

He argued that removing homework could widen the educational gaps between kids who have strong support at home and those from poorer families with less support and lower expectations. Instead, he urged wider changes to the entire curriculum.

The homework rules gained impetus in the runup to parliamentary elections last year, when a 14-year-old boy, Maciek Matuszewski, stood up at a campaign rally and told Tusk before a national audience that children “had no time to rest.” The boy said their rights were being violated with so much homework on weekends and so many tests on Mondays.

Tusk has since featured Matuszewski in social media videos and made him the face of the sudden change.

Education Minister Barbara Nowacka said she was prompted by research on children’s mental health. Of the various stresses children face, she said, “the one that could be removed fastest was the burden of homework.”

Pasi Sahlberg, a prominent Finnish educator and author, said the value of homework depends on what it is and how it is linked to overall learning. The need for homework can be “very individual and contextual.”

“We need to trust our teachers to decide what is good for each child,” Sahlberg said.

In South Korea, homework limits were set for elementary schools in 2017 amid concerns that kids were under too much pressure. However, teenagers in the education-obsessed country often cram long into the night and get tutoring to meet the requirements of demanding school and university admission tests

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