Mental Illness

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

IMO, mental awareness should be taught in school at an early age. A frightening number of people will experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, mania and even schizophrenia and the sooner we know to seek out help the better. There's no shame in seeking aid.

 

[macraven]

That’s easier said than done.
Not all schools have the staff to cover what is needed for the students

 

[Pea-n-Me]

From my experience, our pediatrician did a very good job screening for those things.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I started showing symptoms of mental illness as a child, when severe anxiety caused me to bite the skin off my fingers to the first knuckle. My mother took me to the family doctor, who said I was just high strung and recommended warm milk twice a day, after school and before bed. It was the mid-70s when there was still such a stigma attached to mental illness of any kind. I very much doubt...although I would have been saved a lot of grief...that schools then would have even thought to teach such a thing. I too wish they would do so now.

 

[tvguy]

IMO, mental awareness should be taught in school at an early age. A frightening number of people will experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, mania and even schizophrenia and the sooner we know to seek out help the better. There's no shame in seeking aid.

There is no shame in seeking aid and the availability of help should be publicized. I think the delicate issue with mental illness now is, should society "guild" certain people to seek help? And that is a tough one, because people do have a right to make their own choices, but it just seems a number of violent acts by people with mental illness could have been prevented if someone took action to push people to get help.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

While I don't necessarily disagree with you, when or where would this be handled and what would be removed from the curriculum so there is room for metal illness awareness?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

School is (or should be) about math, science, history, English…

I have a very soft heart for mental illness, but a school subject??? No.

Parents (remember those ?), and get your kids the medical help they need.

 

[HeatherC]

Mental illness is definitely real and more needs to be done. And there is certainly NO shame in reaching out. That being said, it is not the job of a teacher to screen or teach about mental illness. That is not how our education system is set up. Teachers are not experts in handling mental illness although they are forced to deal with these types of issues on a daily basis. I do think, however that most teachers and schools in general do a good job in reaching out to and trying to work with parents when these issues arise.

 

[kanerf]

There should certainly be room for this curriculum in whatever Health class they are teaching these days.

 

[PollyannaMom]

What I'd really like to see is more preventative mental health care.

I think making emotional checkups a normal routine (like dental cleanings) would go a long way toward reducing the stigma surrounding mental health care.

Small issues could be caught before they become larger, and provider-patient relationships would already be established when big things in life come up.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

It should definitely be included in health classes. I love all the people who are like "this is a parent's job!" but lol do you not remember being a teenager? How much did you really tell your parents? It's far more likely that a kid or teen with mental illness is struggling silently, afraid of stigma, rather than turning to their parents for help. Addressing things like this openly in health class, giving them resources that they can reach out to and encouraging them to seek help would go a long way to in normalizing things, making it easier for them to actually get some aid.

 

[Southernmiss]

There should certainly be room for this curriculum in whatever Health class they are teaching these days.

Completely agree.

I remembered yesterday that I had frequent stomach aches in 1st grade.

The doctor told mom it was schoolitis. Meaning I didn't want to go to school.

Now I realize 50 years later it was anxiety. I'm still dealing with stomach issues.

My 20 something kids are now seeking help for ADHD. Nothing hit the radar for us as they were growing up because even in the 90s and 2000s we didn't know what to look for.

 

[PollyannaMom]

There should certainly be room for this curriculum in whatever Health class they are teaching these days.

Unfortunately, in our "teach to the test" curriculum, everything but reading and math is getting squashed out far too often. I don't think my DS actually had health classes in most grades.

 

[HeatherC]

It should definitely be included in health classes. I love all the people who are like "this is a parent's job!" but lol do you not remember being a teenager? How much did you really tell your parents? It's far more likely that a kid or teen with mental illness is struggling silently, afraid of stigma, rather than turning to their parents for help. Addressing things like this openly in health class, giving them resources that they can reach out to and encouraging them to seek help would go a long way to in normalizing things, making it easier for them to actually get some aid.

I have worked in schools as a substitute teacher for years and do see this being discussed in health classes to a certain extent. At the younger level, they talk about feelings and how to handle them or to talk to an adult about them. At the upper levels it is harder because not all high schools require a lot of health classes.

 

[Moliphino]

Completely agree.

I remembered yesterday that I had frequent stomach aches in 1st grade.

The doctor told mom it was schoolitis. Meaning I didn't want to go to school.

Now I realize 50 years later it was anxiety. I'm still dealing with stomach issues.

My 20 something kids are now seeking help for ADHD. Nothing hit the radar for us as they were growing up because even in the 90s and 2000s we didn't know what to look for.

That was me in 5th grade. I remember the guidance counselor telling me to pretend my foot hurt and concentrate on that so the stomach pain would go away - AKA it's all in your head. My mom took me to a psychiatrist and I was diagnosed with social anxiety and depression. I also developed cyclic vomiting syndrome in December of that school year.

 

[Gracedis1]

They do cover mental health in health class in high school here. And the pediatrician does a mental health screening every year.

 

[GreatLakes]

I had health class staring in 5th grade all the way through high school. There isn't really any reason the basics of mental health can't be discussed just like we do physical and sexual health in these classes. It can't be in depth but nothing in health class below college is really that in depth and specific topics are added to curriculum all the time.

 

[DLgal]

While I doubt necessarily disagree with you, when or where would this be handled and what would be removed from the curriculum so there is room for metal illness awareness?

Our district is doing it. Nothing is removed from any curriculums. This is done during things like assemblies, weekly check ins with counseling staff, discussed during advisement (like a homeroom period) in high school, etc. At this level, they discuss more in depth about depression, anxiety, etc.

The elementary schools have a Monday morning huddle every week where the whole school sits outside at the start of the day and the administration covers a different topic for 15 minutes. It's stuff like kindness, recognizing bullying, being a good friend, taking care of others, including everyone, supporting each other, encouraging each other, etc. It's a way to establish a cohesive school community. This is as important as academics at this age. It's part of a program called PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions in Schools) and SEL (social emotional learning). They also begin teaching mindfulness practices using a program called Calm Classroom. This can help kids with anxiety issues learn some ways to cope with their big feelings. A LOT of elementary aged kids experience anxiety, especially after the pandemic.

In middle and high school, everyone is assigned a homeroom/advisement class. The homeroom teachers do the same thing every week for one 30 minute period during the block schedule. The other open 30 minute periods during the week are office hours for extra help in whatever subject kids need. Kids have the same advisement teacher throughout their time at each school, and classes have all grade levels so there is a sense of mentorship also from older students.

Our district had made mental health a priority and they have done a great job, in my opinion. They have a vast trove of resources both on campuses and on the community that they can refer kids and parent to. They very much encourage students to reach out if they need help via a program called Speak Up, We Care.

 

[kerry1379]

My kids' schools do it. It will usually be in the form of assemblies or presentations by the counselors in individual classes. They do it in elementary, middle, and high schools here. And I think it is in the health classes of older kids too. They aren't screenings but it is informational and encourages anyone struggling to seek help and where they can do that. Our pediatrician has also screened at every yearly well check for depression.

 

[tzolkin]

School is (or should be) about math, science, history, English…

I have a very soft heart for mental illness, but a school subject??? No.

Parents (remember those ?), and get your kids the medical help they need.

But, historically school really hasn't been about those things. Public education has never been simply about learning basic facts/subjects. The primary goal has been about producing healthy, productive citizens who are able to participate in their society and economy in meaningful ways. I think mental health definitely falls under that umbrella, especially since mental illness can lead to poor academic performance, can disrupt all the other kids in a class, etc.

I know in every discussion about public education parental responsibility is brought up. And, of course, parents should be the primary people in a child's life who teach them about health/social skills/etc, but the reality is that many parents are not either willing or able to do so. How does it possibly benefit our society to simply say, "Oh well, that's the parents' responsibility" instead of stepping in to help a child in need?

Many mental disorders have a genetic and/or environmental factor. Parents with untreated/unmanaged mental illness themselves or parents who are raising their child in an environment of trauma/abuse/drugs/etc are probably not the most reliable for getting their kids the mental health care that they may need.

I don't think the OP was meaning that there should be an entire class dedicated to mental health (like replacing English or Math class), just that awareness of mental illness should be discussed at school. Personally, I believe that decreasing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment may be just as important to their long-term academic or professional success (perhaps even more so) than anything they learn in one of their primary classes.