For many people, the mention of “mental health” feels taboo and uncomfortable; bringing it up in conversation seems inappropriate and even embarrassing. For the sake of the holistic health of our society and students, this is a mindset that needs to change.
During my own time in high school, our mental health curriculum was nearly non-existent. I applaud my school for including an attempt at educating their students on mental health and the importance of taking care of both body and mind; however the curriculum was scant, surface-level, and inadequate. In one particularly poignant class, I recall our 45 minute unit on mental health ending with, “anxiety and depression are common among people your age, so you might want to do some Googling if anything came up for you during class today.” Unfortunately, this experience is not uncommon among American adolescents and, in a society that is only increasing in likeness to a pressure cooker, this experience has to change.
Incorporating mental health related curriculum can be controversial for a number of reasons. Some people have concerns that mental health programs in schools are inappropriate, ineffective, inefficient, and potentially dangerous. We live in a society that has developed a deeply-ingrained stigma around issues of mental health which has made many view the topic as unnecessary for high schoolers, and, worse, even potentially triggering mental health issues. However, there is a growing number of high schools successfully implementing mental health education programs and I am going to demonstrate how the known benefits of such an intervention in helping and protecting our students far outweigh such concerns (Gresham & Elliot, 2014).
Regardless of opinion or stance on the topic of educating about such issues, there is statistical evidence for the alarming prevalence of mental health-related disturbances amongst American adolescents. In a study done looking at the National Comorbidity Survey Replication- Adolescent Supplement, it has been found that one-quarter of youths qualify for diagnosis with a severe lifetime mental disorder (Merikangas et. al., 2010). Regrettably, analysis of the same data found that less than half of adolescents who are likely to have mental health disorders receive any form of treatment (Costello et. al., 2015).
Not only do such disorders impede the quality of life for the affected individual and those in their lives, but such afflictions also pose a serious risk to their livelihood. Without proper awareness and treatment, mental health disorders can result in self-harm and, in extreme cases, suicide (USDHSS, 2017). The Center for Disease Control has reported suicide to be the second leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 (CDC, 2020). Despite professional awareness of this intense risk, there continues to be a discrepancy in American schools’ attention to the problem.
Schools and educators are generally charged with educating students on academics and preparing them for the work-related challenges of the “real world;” however, their responsibilities extend past viewing the students as a collection of figures, facts, books and computers skills. On average, the National Center for Education Statistics has found that American students spend about 180 days per year in school, with the average school day lasting seven hours (NCES, 2009). That adds up to a staggering 1260 hours per year. Given this large proportion of waking hours students spend in the classroom, schools need to be viewing their students as multidimensional humans with unique- and maybe tumultuous- thoughts, feelings, interpersonal relationships, and problems.
Increasing mental health education programs would raise student awareness and preparation to deal with mental illnesses and issues most common among adolescents. Namely, these programs would include information around anxiety disorders, social problems, stress, addiction and substance abuse, emotion regulation, depression, ADHD, and eating/feeding disorders.
The central impact of a mental health education programs in high schools is a reduction of stigma around mental illness and increased awareness of potential warning signs for mental illness and appropriate responses to them. (Mash & Wolfe, 2010). Such an education program provides students with the needed information to safely monitor themselves and their friends. By reducing stigma around mental illness, affected students can feel more accepted while struggling or undiagnosed students also feel more comfortable in reaching out to the community for help.
While mental health education programs have significant implications for helping students personally affected by mental illness, they also educate all students on healthy practices for their body, mind, and interpersonal interactions. One study by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning looked at over 200 social and emotional learning programs in schools and found significant improvement in social and emotional competency, attitudes, prosocial behavior, and academic performance with a reduction of conduct problems (Durlak et al., 2011). As we all know, problems such as stress and relationship troubles are not limited to individuals with mental illness, and mental health support and education programs teach all students how to better prepare for and manage struggles.
There are many approaches to implementing and encouraging mental health programs in high schools. While no program is ideal for every school, any therapeutic focus on mental health education is a step in the right direction. From educator-lead movements such as #iteachmentalhealth, where teachers to share on social media their positive presentation of mental health topics into their teaching, to National Alliance on Mental Illness-funded educator training on proper mental health education, many resources exist but it is up to us to introduce them to our high schoolers (Hudson, 2019; NAMI, 2020).
For the health, safety, and happiness of all students, and to avoid more young people suffering in silence as I myself did, I urge readers to consider strongly supporting the movement for making mental health education an integrated part of high school curriculums.
About the Author
Hannah Davis is a senior studying Education and Psychology while pursuing her elementary teaching license at Smith College in Northampton, MA. She grew up on the North Shore outside of Boston and plans to return to the area to pursue an elementary teaching career upon graduation.