Mental Illness: Educating Teens In Schools

Students in the classroom come from a variety of backgrounds. Their lives are shaped by their families, their communities, but also their peers in school whom they will spend hours a day with throughout their educational career. The ability to form relationships with others, to create lasting friendships that grow and evolve with time, is detrimental to all children and their development. Lacking the ability to do so, whether it is directly because of their conditions or because of how other students perceive them, can dramatically harm them emotionally and mentally.

If mental illness is such a prevalent issue, why do schools not educate students on how to cope with

Schools need to educate parents and children about mental health and illness. According to an article published by the Association for Children’s Mental Health, “1 in 5 children and youth have a diagnosable emotional, behavioral or mental health disorder and 1 in 10 young people have a mental health challenge that is severe enough to impair how they function at home, school or in the community” (Problems at School). Schools could hold educational meetings on mental health to inform and aid parents and children to determine when they need to address mental health. Additionally, incorporating a stronger mental health aspect in the state required health

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

Almost half of the population in the US are affected by mental health conditions every year. A diagnosable mental illness affects about 43 percent of the U.S. population at some point in their lives. 75 percent of youth are left with no or insufficient treatment. If mental illness is recognized early on, it can help citizens avoid large medical bills down the road and could help lessen the amount of homelessness, unemployment, suicides, shootings, bad decision making, etc.

The article I chose to review is Research Opportunities in the Area of Mental Health Promotion, Prevention, and Intervention for Children and Youth. I first found this article through AJOT and I realized I had been given this issue through a family friend, so I referred to it from then on. This AJOT issue was from September/October of 2014. After reading through the article, I realized that there was an additional article with further information. There was a systematic review that occurred before the actual evidence based practice research. There is also a book available through AOTA called Occupational Therapy Practice Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion, Prevention, and Intervention for Children & Youth that can also be referred too.

But diagnosing an anxiety disorder is a tricky science and must be left to those qualified

Mental Health is a topic that should be taken more seriously and should really be talked about more. There are so many people in the world that have a Mental Illness but are too afraid to talk about it because of the backlash or the weird looks. Nobody should feel that they are alone when dealing with any kind of illness. Having a support system is a big part of being able to fight that mental illness and will give you the strength to get through it. If you are to afraid to tell a love one, there are always counselors that are willing to help you through the process. It amazing to read the different ways each country portrays mental illness and to see most countries start

Over the past seven years as the school psychologist at an ethnically diverse high school, I have observed that it is not uncommon for high school students (aged 14-18) to experience psychological, social, sexual, addictive, adjustment, and disability-based issues of such clinical significance as to warrant independent professional support. The professional psychologist can provide diagnostic clarification, therapeutic intervention, and even subsequent referrals when appropriate. Parents intuitively recognize the significance of timely intervention at this important transitional age and are eager that their child be afforded the best help the community can offer. Many parents express intense devotion to do

Every teenager lost to suicide leaves behind scared and confused loved ones. Despite being a prosperous country, the United States is plagued with a sickness that cannot be as easily cured as chicken pox and is even more difficult for many Americans to understand. When one is ill, they go to the hospital, but when one suffers from a mental illness, he or she is often met with scrutiny and shame. Should students be given a better education about mental illness, stigma towards the mentally ill be removed, and policies be instated in schools letting students seek help, suicidal teenagers would be more likely to seek potentially life-saving treatment.

Schools are vigilant in providing students with an education for taking care of their body with all of the required fitness classes. Yet they continuosly neglect teaching students on how to take care of their minds. Never do they adequately teach you the importance of taking care of your mental health. Nor do they teach you the preventive measures you can take against depression. The school system must confront mental illness if they hope to

When looking at America today, one of the fastest growing issues facing society is menatal illnesses. In 2015, Minnesota reached an all time high for suicide rates, 13.1 per 100,000. Not only that, the percentage of youth with serious mental illness (SMI) is higher than the percentage of the same statistic in the United States of America by 7%, with the suicide rate being 8% higher. This is all a problem, but it can be fixed, with help. Unfortunately less ithan 55% of youth in Minnesota with severe deppresive episodes recieve any treatment. Over 91% of these youth will be or has been a student in Minnesota's public school system. So, the way to reach the highset number of individuals is through the schooling system.

Mental illness is a very misunderstood thing as there are so many mental illnesses that range differently with low and high extremities depending on the person and not every medication will work for each person. There was once a time where mental illnesses were frowned upon and it was something people rarely talked about. Patients would be kept hidden and locked away in asylums and treated in horrible and brutal ways. However through time, mental illnesses are heavily discussed through social media, in school, non-fiction and even fiction. Mental illnesses are very common in nowadays teen fiction. With all this once hushed topic now in the open it is very interesting to see how authors interpret mental illnesses and how they would portray their characters. This is my main reason for choosing this topic to explore. I chose texts that displayed different mental illnesses in teenagers and how each individual gets better. I chose All The Bright Places and Holding Up The Universe written by Jennifer Niven, Perks Of Being a Wallflower written and directed by Stephen Chbosky and an award winning short film Empty directed by Tom Smith

It honestly flabbergasting how such an epidemic isn’t being discussed more considering the huge impact is has on today's youth. Coupled with the fact that when it is discussed it commonly brushed off with a person stating that teenagers just think they deserve special treatment, and that “they had it worst when they were are age” Teenage depression has a gigantic impact on the kids of today and it is time we as a nation work against teen depression. Kids shouldn’t have to

The University College Cork (UCC) Social Research Ethics Committee (SREC) approved the study early in 2017. Participants included those from a selected third-level education setting. All participants invited to partake in the research were informed of their right to withdraw from the proceedings at any stage. Each individual, all of whom were pre-service student teacher educators were supplied with an information sheet, and a written consent was provided prior to the completion of the questionnaire.