Key takeaways
- Teachers experience burnout and depression at roughly twice the rate of comparable working adults, according to RAND research.
- Teacher burnout is not just exhaustion. It can be a sign of clinical depression that deserves real treatment, not just rest.
- Treatments like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and Spravato require a consistent daily or weekly schedule, which summer break makes much more manageable.
- TMS is a non-invasive, FDA-approved treatment that does not require medication and has no downtime. Sessions fit easily into a summer schedule.
- Summer is a rare window when teachers have time to start treatment, establish a routine, and begin feeling better before the school year resumes.
Teacher mental health has reached a crisis point, and summer break may be the most important opportunity many educators will have all year to do something about it. For teachers managing depression, burnout, or treatment-resistant symptoms, the long school year rarely leaves enough time or energy to pursue consistent care. Summer changes that.
If you’ve been putting off mental health treatment because the school year never slows down, summer may be the perfect time for treatments like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), ketamine, and Spravato® (esketamine).
Many teachers recognize that something is wrong but don’t have a clear window to act. This article explains why teacher mental health challenges run so deep, and why summer break is a practical, and potentially life-changing, time to start treatment.
Why is teacher mental health getting worse?
Teacher mental health has declined sharply over the past several years, and the data bears it out. According to a 2024 RAND survey of K–12 public school teachers, teachers experience burnout and depression at roughly twice the rate of comparable working adults.
The pressure is structural. Teachers absorb student trauma, navigate increasing administrative demands, and are often asked to fill mental health support roles that go far beyond teaching. Workloads routinely exceed contracted hours, and the emotional labor is relentless.
A 2022 scoping review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that low job satisfaction, high perceived stress, and anxiety disorder were among the strongest predictors of major depressive disorder (MDD) in teachers. It was marked as a pattern consistent across multiple countries and school systems.
This is not burnout in a similar sense of needing a vacation. For many teachers, it is a clinical mental health condition that requires real treatment.
What is the difference between teacher burnout and clinical depression?
Burnout and depression can look similar but are not the same thing. The difference matters when it comes to treatment. Burnout is a state of chronic occupational stress characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced effectiveness at work. Depression is a diagnosable condition involving persistent low mood, loss of interest, changes in sleep and appetite, and difficulty functioning across all areas of life, not just work.
Many teachers experience both. Prolonged burnout can trigger or worsen a depressive episode, especially in people who already have a history of depression or anxiety. When rest and time off don’t bring relief (when summer arrives and the dread doesn’t lift) that’s often a sign that what you’re experiencing goes beyond burnout.
“Teachers often come in saying they’ve tried everything. They’ve taken time off, they’ve talked to friends, they’ve changed their diet and sleep habits. But they still feel like they’re barely functioning,” said Veronica Calkins, LCSW, supervising clinical psychotherapist at Pacific Mind Health. “That’s when it’s worth asking whether something more is going on clinically.”
If symptoms persist through vacation periods, that’s a meaningful clinical signal.
Why does teacher mental health make consistent treatment so hard during the school year?
Consistent treatment is hard during the school year because teachers have very little flexibility in their daily schedules. TMS therapy, for example, requires sessions five days a week over six weeks. Ketamine and Spravato require up to two sessions a week, with rest required after each session.
While all of these treatments are effective, they are a commitment that can be difficult to meet when you’re teaching a full day, grading at night, and managing a classroom through the week. Many teachers simply don’t pursue treatment during the school year because the logistics feel insurmountable.
Summer removes most of those obstacles. Without a fixed daily schedule, teachers can attend morning TMS sessions before running errands, or schedule Spravato appointments twice a week without rearranging a classroom calendar. The structural flexibility of summer break is exactly what many treatment protocols require.
What treatments work well for teacher burnout and depression?
The most effective treatments for clinical depression caused by teacher burnout are the same ones used for treatment-resistant depression more broadly. Two in particular fit well within a summer treatment schedule.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive, FDA-approved therapy that uses targeted magnetic pulses to stimulate areas of the brain involved in mood regulation. It requires no anesthesia, no downtime, and no medication.
Standard TMS sessions run about 20 minutes, five days a week over six weeks, a schedule that aligns naturally with a summer break. For those with tighter timelines, Express TMS shortens treatment time to 3 minutes, while accelerated TMS compresses treatment into a single week.
In a clinical study, 58% of patients receiving TMS experienced significant improvement in depression symptoms, and 37% reached full remission.
Ketamine and Spravato® (esketamine) are self-administered as a nasal spray under clinical supervision and require a two-hour monitoring period after each session. The initial schedule involves twice-weekly sessions for four weeks, tapering as symptoms improve.
Spravato is FDA-approved for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder. Ketamine is used off-label to treat a variety of conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and more.
Spravato can reduce symptoms within hours.
“What I see most often with teachers who start treatment in the summer is that they come back to school in September feeling like themselves again for the first time in years,” said Joshua Flatow, MD, medical director and chief psychiatrist at Pacific Mind Health. “They have the time to do the work, and the results can be genuinely transformative for how they show up in their classroom and in their lives.”
How Do Teachers Know If They Qualify for TMS or Spravato?
Most teachers who qualify for TMS or Spravato have depression that hasn’t fully responded to at least one antidepressant medication. This is called treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and it’s more common than most people realize.
Each additional medication trial reduces the likelihood of remission. Research from the STAR*D study found that the chance of remission drops to just 7% after a fourth round of antidepressant treatment.
If you’ve tried one or more antidepressants without getting fully better, or if side effects have made staying on medication difficult, you may be a good candidate for interventional treatment.
Most major insurance plans cover TMS and Spravato, while some plans may require pre-authorization.
For those who don’t qualify for Spravato or want an alternative, compounded intranasal ketamine is also available and works through the same mechanism. Like Spravato, it targets the brain’s glutamate system rather than serotonin, and can bring relief faster than traditional antidepressants.
The best way to find out which treatment fits your situation is to consult with a psychiatrist who can review your history and recommend next steps.
Looking for mental health care services near you?
Pacific Mind Health offers medication management, therapy, and interventional treatments like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and ketamine and Spravato (esketamine).
Located in Southern California and serving patients across the state, Pacific Mind Health was founded by Joshua Flatow, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and published research author.
Ready to take the next step? Schedule a free consultation and start your mental health journey today.
Frequently asked questions
Can teachers realistically complete TMS during summer break?
Yes. Summer break is one of the most practical times for teachers to complete a full TMS course. Standard TMS requires five sessions per week over six weeks, which aligns well with a typical summer schedule. Accelerated TMS can compress the same treatment into a single week for those with a shorter window.
Is teacher burnout the same as depression?
Not always, but the two frequently overlap. Burnout is a state of chronic work-related exhaustion and disengagement, while depression is a clinical condition that affects mood, sleep, concentration, and daily functioning beyond the workplace. Many teachers experience both simultaneously. When rest doesn’t bring relief and symptoms persist through summer break, a clinical evaluation is worth pursuing.
Does insurance cover TMS and Spravato for teachers?
Most major insurance plans cover both TMS and Spravato® (esketamine) for qualifying patients. Coverage typically applies when depression has not responded adequately to at least one antidepressant. Some plans may require pre-authorization. Pacific Mind Health can verify your benefits before your consultation.
What if I don’t have the whole summer? Can I still start treatment?
Yes. Accelerated TMS condenses the standard six-week protocol into as little as five days. Spravato’s induction phase takes four weeks with twice-weekly sessions. Both options are designed to fit into a compressed timeline, making them accessible even for teachers with only a few weeks between the school year and summer commitments.
How do I know if I qualify for TMS or Spravato?
The most common qualifying factor is depression that hasn’t fully responded to at least one antidepressant medication, a condition called treatment-resistant depression (TRD). A free consultation with a psychiatrist at Pacific Mind Health can help determine whether your symptoms and history make you a candidate for either treatment.
