The term "psychological disabilities" covers a wide range of conditions and may include (but not be limited to) chronic conditions such as bi-polar disorder, personality disorders, psychoneuroses and psychoses.

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health recently learned that one in five Americans has some form of mental illness in any given six months. With appropriate treatment, the vast majority of psychological disorders are effectively cured or controlled. Treatment, which often combines medications and psychotherapy, can effectively stop acute symptoms in 80% of those living with schizophrenia, end the terror of phobic disorders, and halt the downward spiral in approximately 90% of those living with depressive disorders.

The greatest problems related to providing educational support services to students with a history of mental illness are founded in the misconceptions and stigma about the illness. Media attention to crimes involving persons with a psychiatric history and television dramas depicting persons with mental illness as psychotic killers play on deep, unconscious fears. Isolated and infrequent incidents on campus or in the community help to feed and justify these fears. As a result, college faculty and staff may often be reluctant to approach students realistically because of fears that the students are very fragile or could be violent. In reality, people with mental illness do not commit more violent crimes than the rest of the population. Although comparatively few students with psychological disabilities may react to stress by becoming agitated or even threatening, faculty who are familiar with this group of students report that incidents of disruptive behavior by individual students can often be predicted, and, therefore, prevented or circumvented.

Dealing with Disruptive Behaviors

Although most students with psychological disabilities never draw attention to themselves by behaving disruptively, a few, because their symptoms are more persistent and/or cyclical, may experience periods in which "holding it together" becomes more difficult. Disciplinary issues should not be confused with mental health issues.

All students, including students with psychological disabilities, have the responsibility to meet the code of conduct by adapting behavior to the educational environment. If disruptive behavior persistently occurs or the student code of conduct is violated, the issue should not be defined as a health issue. It should be defined as a disciplinary issue, and a timely referral to the Dean of Students should be made.

Accommodations

• Assistance with course selections, registration and campus orientation.
• Notetakers, use of tape recorders for class lecture.
• Extended time for tests in a distraction free setting.
• Seating preferences.
• Regularly scheduled contact with Disability Services or P-CAP counselor on campus.
• Flexibility with attendance requirements for cases of documented hospitalization, crisis, or medication changes.
• Incompletes or medical withdrawals in the event of documented illness-related absences.

Educators are especially helpful to students with psychological disabilities when they help the student identify and explain his or her own functional classroom limitations, such as difficulty with oral presentations, or the need to accommodate side effects of medications (e.g. thirst, itching, agitation, frequent trips to the bathroom, etc.).