Two thirds of teachers have suffered with mental health

Online tutoring agency Tutor House has surveyed 2,276 tutors from its site who used to be teachers, and found that two thirds (62%) have suffered from mental health issues because of teaching.
 
Tutor House conducted the survey to find out why they left the profession and discovered that three quarters (75%) became a tutor because it’s less stressful, and that nearly all (95%) said they would never return to teaching.
 
Two thirds (62%) of the tutors surveyed have suffered mental health problems whilst teaching, with a quarter (27%) suffered from depression, half (52%) suffered with anxiety and a fifth (21%) suffered with chronic stress whilst teaching here in the UK.
 
According to the survey results, two thirds (68%) said they left the profession because of unmanageable workloads, a fifth (21%) said they weren’t paid enough and more than a tenth (11%) answered for health reasons.
 
Alex Dyer, founder of Tutor House said: “These survey results are worrying and shocking, the teaching industry as a whole needs to take better care of its staff. Nobody should be suffering with poor mental health because of their work.
 
“I think that teachers should be given mental health support throughout their time as a teacher. If a teacher is stressed and suffering from stress related health problems, children will pick up on this quickly and this is no good for anyone.
 
“Teachers workloads need to be reduced; this system we have created of constant teacher assessment and appraisal isn’t productive and needs to be stopped. Teachers should be supported at work and in their personal life, after all healthy teachers means a better education for children and students.”