A Silent Epidemic

Recent studies have found that mental illnesses have drastically increased in recent years. For example, a 2014 study by the International Journal of Bipolar Disorders uncovered that the number of cases of Bipolar Disorder doubled from 1995 to 2014 (Kessing, Vradi, and Anderson, 2014). Another study by Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (2016) discovered that between 2003 and 2011, ADHD rates have increased 5% every year. On top of this, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (2016) reported that Childline, a counseling service for young people, had an all time high of callers expressing suicidal thoughts in 2016. Clearly, mental health is becoming more and more of a crisis every single year.

These results show that we need to prioritize mental illness in teens, and this should start in schools. Kelly Burch, a writer for Weareteachers.com (2018), explains that treatment of mental illness affects student success in school. She says researchers found that students who received treatment were more likely to succeed in school, while students left untreated might have more trouble (para. 9). But Meg Anderson (2016), writer for National Public Radio, explains that schools cannot pay attention to mental health because there is a lack of funds and lack of training in the staff (para. 2). Schools need to increase the attention and funds they give mental health, so students can reach their full potential.

Giving more attention to mental health can definitely help more students succeed in school. For example, I have a 504 plan here at school, which University of Washington’s Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology program (2017) defines as “a plan developed to ensure that a child who has a disability identified under the law and is attending an elementary or secondary educational institution receives accommodations that will ensure their academic success and access to the learning environment.” This plan allows me to overcome my GAD, OCD, and ADHD at school, so I can do my best. My plan gives me access to things like quiet work space when needed, the ability to turn in assignments late, and even a large-block answer sheet on my SATs because the bubbles are difficult for me to fill in. Before I had my 504 plan, school was unbearable. I would be in the nurse’s office at least once a week having panic attacks, so I missed a lot of class time and fell behind. In the year it took to set up my 504 plan, my teachers were told that I needed accommodations in the meantime, but since the plan wasn’t set in stone yet, I didn’t receive them. Now that I have my plan, I have a more relaxed time in school and perform better. If the process would have gone faster, I would’ve been better off in school sooner.

It took a year to get my plan together even with my professional treatment and family support. Imagine the struggle for students who don’t have access to the doctors and medications I do. They could not be doing their best in school just because they don’t have proper treatment.This is why schools need to become more aware of students’ mental health. So students with struggles like mine can get help quickly and easily so we can be successful.

There are many ways to promote mental health in schools. One way is to educate and train the teachers better. The National Centre for Social Research demonstrated in a study that teachers are much more comfortable helping their students with mental disorders when they are trained to do so (Page, 2017, para. 11). Some other ways are to better integrate mental health into schools’ curriculums, promote a healthy learning environment, and to hire trained professionals. Meg Anderson (2016) from National Public Radio suggests a big change schools can make is making clinical care available to their students. She says one school in Washington DC arranges for a psychiatrist to visit the school one or two times a month (para. 46). This gives kids the opportunity to receive treatment who wouldn’t be able to otherwise.

I realize that providing for mental health takes extra money that some schools just don’t have, but mental health is a rising epidemic affecting so many children today, so something must be done. On a greater scale, an increase in mental health funding from the government’s healthcare spending could help. At the very least, school officials can contribute to a healthy environment, which requires no cost at all. If we want to see a change in teen’s mental health, we need to pay more attention to it at school and provide help to those who need it.

REFERENCES

Anderson, M. (2016, September 20). Here's How Schools Can Support Students' Mental Health. Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/09/20/459843929/heres-how-schools-can-support-students-mental-health

Burch, K. (2018, March 01). Do Today's Students Have More Mental Health Issues? Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://schoolleadersnow.weareteachers.com/student-mental-health/

Chadd. (2016). General Prevalence of ADHD. Retrieved April 27, 2018, from http://www.chadd.org/understanding-adhd/about-adhd/data-and-statistics/general-prevalence.aspx

Kataoka, S. H., Zhang, L., & Wells, K. B. (2002, September). Unmet need for mental health care among U.S. children: Variation by ethnicity and insurance status. Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12202276

Kessing, L. V., Vradi, E., & Andersen, P. K. (2014, September 16). Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4164856/

NSPCC. (2016). It turned out someone did care: Childline annual review 2015-16. Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.nspcc.org.uk/services-and-resources/research-and-resources/2016/childline-annual-review-2015-16-turned-out-someone-did-care/

DO IT. (2017, June 28). What is the difference between an IEP and a 504 Plan?

Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.washington.edu/doit/what-difference-between-iep-and-504-plan