Teens who struggle with mental health need resources available at our schools. According to Adolescent Wellness Academy, approximately one in five teens suffer from at least one mental health disorder. Disorders related to mental health do not generally target adults, in fact, they primarily affect ages 12-17. Of that group, 20.17% of those ages reported suffering from at least one major depressive episode in the past few years.
Depression, while increasingly common, looks and affects many students differently. Associated with lower grade point averages, The Prevention Resource Center states that 5% of students don’t finish their education due to psychiatric disorders. Without accessible and effective resources, students may often find themselves with no one or nothing to turn to which can lead to peers and staff being affected out of concern for the students.
This slows work productivity and can hurt the students’ future, it’s not a lost cause to support teen mental health. It is invaluable to be able to support their needs. According to the National Association of School Psychologists, it would cost between $2.7 and $4.9 billion annually to fund school psychologists.
Psychologists are only a small part of what the school should be able to provide but they can help to address issues such as mental health, bullying, poverty, and even can go as far as trying to help with diversity struggles.
Like many others, I experienced seasonal affective disorder, more commonly known as seasonal depression, which for those of you who don’t know, SAD is a depression that only happens at a specific time of the year. SAD caused me to have a lot of emotional stress and pain, also during this time, I found myself looking for help. Thankfully, DHS offers school psychologists and counselors that can help us and in that. We are lucky because there are not enough schools that have that.
Winter is also coming up as well as exams and those can factor into stress and anxiety for many students. According to Nemours Teens Health, they state that seasonal depression can cause sudden changes in mood, negative thinking, changes in sleep, and many more effects. During my exams last year, I tried just about everything to be able to pass while having SAD and I wanted to do well but I wasn’t as successful as I wanted to be.
Without taking into consideration these facts schools might lead students to struggle even more on upcoming exams. I had to force myself to get out of my bed to even eat, let alone go to school. When I was at school I wanted to not only leave but also never come back and many schools need to recognize the importance of helping with this.
The six minutes of passing time is not enough to get a break. Even according to UW Medicine, your brain gets a boost when you have different electrochemical brain states. If schools don’t see that getting a psychologist is worth it there are other ways to help their students who are struggling by giving them something as small as a longer passing time.
