Mental Health Services In Schools

Mental health is essential to overall health as well as efficiency. It is the foundation for thriving contributions to family, district, and culture. All through the lifespan, mental health is the source of thoughts and communication skills, knowledge, pliability, and self-esteem. It is all too easy to dismiss the worth of mental health until troubles emerges (Brager, G. & Holloway, S., 1978). Mental health troubles and illnesses are factual and disabling conditions that are experienced by one in five Americans. Those who do not get treatment, mental illnesses can consequence in disability and desolation for families, schools, societies, and the workplace.

“Nearly 5 million children in the U.S. have some type of mental illness” (Goldberg). It is agreeable that there are many young children that deal with mental illness every day. Schools should be concerned for every student’s well being. Moreover, mental health is a part of a person’s overall “well being.” Therefore, schools need to make the mental health of students a stronger focus and implement plans to keep students mentally well and educated. To help create a positive, mental health aware environment where students feel open to seek help, high school students should be educated on how to be mentally healthy, be given a safe place to seek help, and be encouraged to monitor and maintain their mental health. Mental illness and mental health care need to be a more eminent priority in our society, starting with high schools.

Teachers and staff will be trained to tell the if a student is experiencing symptoms of any type of mental health disorder. For example, if a student is having irregular mood swings or a fluctuation in weight, which are common symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the article, “Why Schools Should Screen Their Students' Mental Health”, it says,“If we made mental health part of the usual health system of a school, then it becomes more normal…”. If a student sees a positive outlook on mental health they would be opened to getting help. On some media platforms, mental health is portrayed as something to be ashamed of or a evil quality to posses. Mental health isn’t evil, it’s how the person deals with it that's important. Yes, if not treated it can cause negative effects but with the help from the community these children can live relatively normal lives. Children and adults struggle to comprehend the severity of mental illness, which causes them to avoid any form of treatment. In the future, mental health should become a thing not to be ashamed of. A person who broke a bone would go to the hospital right away, not wait for it to heal on its own. If you wouldn’t wait for a physical injury, why would you wait for

Imagine living with a mental illness that affects your everyday life but has no physical aspects to it. Waging a war within your own head and not being able to control your own thoughts or feelings. Millions of adolescence throughout the United States are currently sick, living with a mental illness with no idea how to treat it, or even the idea they are sick. Mental Health services on campus may be the answer to treating the diseases many children are suffering from.

It is estimated that one in every five youth experience mental illnesses that interfere with their everyday routines (“NAMI”). Mental health in the United States is a growing epidemic that needs to be solved. Youth with mental illnesses may never know that they have one; screenings for mental health are not something a lot of people take advantage of. Schools are a place where youth develop the most. In order for this to happen, society needs to make schools feel welcoming and provide support for those who need help. While some people do not believe mental illnesses exist, schools should require mental health screenings in order to prevent future violent situations, educate their staff, and do more to make students feel comfortable.

For the purpose of this paper the primary dimension of health that I have chosen to explore is emotional health. I believe that as a teacher, remaining emotionally healthy will be extremely important. From the time I was very young, stress and anxiety have always been significant issues for me. Weather it was the stress of trying out for a hockey team, or having finals coming up I was fortunate to have had support and was taught effective strategies to help manage my stress and anxiety. These strategies helped me tremendously and will continue to be a part of my coping repertoire throughout life.

With the prevention of mental and physical health difficulties and the advancement of well-being and health, there is emphasis on reducing the breach between mental health needs that are not met among youngsters and teenagers and operational evidence-based services to meet them (Rones and Hoagwood 2000; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1999; U.S. Public Health Service 2000 as cited in Flaspohler, Meehan, Maras, & Keller, 2012). Despite evidence that school viciousness and other main problems among youth may have declined or leveled off, a significant need for effective prevention programming is still necessary. Current data suggests that of “11.3 % of young people in this country, about 7.4 million youth altogether, have at least one diagnosable emotional, behavioral, or developmental condition; 40 % of these youth are diagnosed with two or more of these conditions” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2010).

Mental health issues are on the rise, especially among the youth, 6 out of 10 young people do not receive mental health treatment for major depression. Currently, there are over 40 million Americans are dealing with a mental health issue and 56 percent of them are not receiving proper treatment. (mentalhealthAmerica). In addition, 33 percent of all homeless individuals have a mental illness and do not receive treatment. With the rise of mental health issues, the funding for mental illness should also increase to meet the need. If additional funds were put into mental health care, no or low-cost mental health care treatment and early detection screenings could be offered to those who

Frequently, mental illness affects many areas of a sufferer’s life including academic performance. Mark Weist et al. explain that it is important for schools to recognize when students are suffering emotionally because of the impediment mental illness can have on education (par. 16). Mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression can have an especially negative impact on academic performance as the disorders can lead to students isolating themselves and a decrease in overall mental functioning.

Transition: First, let us discuss the danger of not including mental health in students’ education.

The World Health Organisation (2014) defines Mental Health “as a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community” (para. 1). Mental health refers to an individual’s psychological, emotional and social wellbeing; it has the ability affect people’s perceptions, thought, feelings, actions and capacity to respond to change, stresses and challenges within their lives (Headspace, 2013, para. 1). It influences how individuals perceive themselves, their resilience, life decisions and the people around them. Maintaining a stable, healthy and positive mental state is crucial for all individuals throughout their lives in order to avoid developing mental health problems and illnesses. The following essay will address Mental Health and why it is considered one of the challenges facing PDHPE teachers in the 21st Century, it has a major aim of exploring how the subject of PDHPE can address the challenges of the wider community and how classroom teachers can address mental health within the schooling environment.

About 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 experiences a severe mental disorder at least once in their lifetime. Over one-third of students with a mental health condition, age 14­–21 drops out—the highest dropout rate of any disability group. With these statistics, it shows how many people are not gaining support and are just giving up because they cannot find convenient help. If this issue is shown in the classroom, then the awareness rates will rise, making more establishments for support and treatment.

Children that are emotionally and mentally healthy do better in school and have a higher chance of participating in school and community activities.

Pre-adolescence is a crucial stage in a child’s life because it is during this stage that kids can learn the coping mechanism that can prevent complications later on in life (Britton et al., 2014). Some children and adolescents may not have the opportunity to seek proper mental health care during their childhood. This may be due to parents overworking or simply not being able to afford quality mental health care services (Bucci et al., 2016). However, schools can serve children and adolescents as a

I chose this topic because I wanted to focus on a matter that is relevant to the audience in order for them to be interested. Also, I wanted the audience to learn something new that they could apply to their lives currently.