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A synthesis of literature from various studies has shown that there is a current mental health crisis in academia with one of the highest incidences of mental illness when compared to other occupations (Lau & Pretorius, 2019).  Authors state that the factors that have contributed to this mental health crisis entail the increasing pressure to compete for research funding and publish in high-impact journals, lack of work-life balance, isolation, increasing work demands with less resources, career and financial insecurity, interpersonal conflicts, and lack of support systems.

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Data from a survey with 621 respondents of counseling center directors from U.S. universities paint a dire picture how stress has translated into mental health issues. Anxiety continues to be the most frequent concern among college students (48.2%), followed by stress (39.1%), depression (34.5%), suicidal ideation (25.2%), specific relationship concerns (22.9%), family concerns (21.2%), interpersonal functioning problems (18.8%), sleep problems (15.8%), and loneliness/social isolation (15.5%). A total of 25.5% of students seeking services were taking psychotropic medications (LeViness et al. 2017).

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One in two Ph.D. students have experienced psychological distress and one in three are at risk of a common psychiatric disorder (Levecque et al. 2017).

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Mindfulness has been identified to counter these trends, reduce perceived stress among faculty and students, and help address the mental health crisis.