Mental Health in Schools

At a small school in Western Massachusetts, students go about their day-to-day classes. Doing work, talking to friends, going to lunch. They complete assignments, write essays, do projects, and participate in extracurricular activities. Doing all of these things at once can easily overwhelm students. For students that may procrastinate or fail to manage their time wisely, it can become too much to handle. They start to have anxiety about being able to finish work and worry about deadlines; they can become depressed when problems start to arise regarding grades, sports, and especially life at home.

When people think about students who have depression or anxiety, they tend to not realize how much of a problem it is or how many people are suffering. This is because, while there are some people who struggle with mental health that do reach out and seek help, there are also many people who don’t seek help, whether it involves going to therapy or taking medication; they may not think that their problems are severe enough to require attention, or think that they shouldn’t bother people by telling them what they are going through.

This can become a big problem because people may wait for a long time to finally tell people what is going on, making it much harder for them to get the help that they need to be happy. Also, some people may never tell people what their problem is and sit in silence, possibly committing suicide as a result.

In a survey sent out to the students at Ralph C. Mahar Regional School, about 3% of the students who responded said that they suffered from depression alone, 24% of students suffered from anxiety alone, and 44% of students said that they suffered from both anxiety and depression. Of the students that responded to the survey, only 12% of them said that they took antidepressants, while 47% of them said that they suffered from depression. That means that roughly 35% of the students said that they had depression, but do not take medication for it.

Out of the students that filled out the survey, roughly 18% of them said that they took medication for anxiety. With 68% of the students saying that they had anxiety and 18% of students saying that they took medication for it, 50% of students said that they have anxiety, but do not take medication for it. These numbers are not necessarily surprising given that there are many ways other than medication that people who struggle with mental health can use to help themselves, but it still is worth noting.

Even though there are many students who struggle with mental health, there are many adults that are in positions where they can help. Sadly, for many different reasons, these adults are not always able to help. The biggest way to help is by realizing that someone is suffering and that they need help that they don’t think they should get.

The people who are most likely to spot the problem first are the families of the students. They can observe things like substance abuse, overabundance of sleep, and grades slipping. The only problem is that it can be very hard for families to know what things to look out for.

Another person that can be helpful in spotting symptoms is a teacher. They can notice how students interact with other kids, how they act in class, and can see if a students’ grades are dropping. The problem here is that teachers already have so much that they have to do on a day to day basis that they have to do that they might not be able to focus on the students. Also, many teachers are not trained enough in dealing with mental health issues.

There is always one thing about mental health that is certain. If you feel like you are struggling with these issues, you should reach out to someone who can help and, chances are, they will try to get you the help that you need. Some things that are very helpful for people who struggle with depression and anxiety are going to therapy, joining some sort of support group, finding someone that you can explain your problems and feelings to, and taking medication. Just remember, you’re not alone. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline number is 1-800-273-8255.