Mental health is really important in today’s time, especially for teens.
For years mental health hasn’t really been taken seriously and it has caused further health problems for people, most commonly in older people. In an article it states, “It wasn’t long ago that even hinting at the notion that a relationship exists between our mental and physical health would inevitably seem to frustrate, even infuriate, patients as though their suffering were not real.” This backs up the fact that back then people didn’t really believe in mental health issues or take it as seriously as they should have which is why older people tend to ignore their mental health leading to physical or psychological problems as time goes on. Usually when you go to the doctor they would ask questions about your mental health and if you are having problems there isn’t really too much that is done.
My interviewee stated “Mental health is having certain emotions take over your mind and health”. Years ago doctors would basically tell people that were actually concerned about their mental health that it was all in their head, which could be another reason why older people don’t care too much about their mental health.
Teen mental health is a totally different story. Since the pandemic it was proven that teens’ mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and stress had a significant spike and it just got worse as time went on. Even today in the 21st century there are some major issues when it comes to dealing with teens’ mental health and there are things being done to help out but, is it really enough?
There are some alternatives that are used to deal with it but more often than not the treatments that teens are going through aren’t working as well as people may think. One example of this can be the “Wise Teens program”,this was based around technology and because of this the schools using this thought that it would draw the attention of the teens to try and help out. Unfortunately this was not the case. The issues that took place with this program may have been because it is based around technology which is one of the main causes for mental health issues in teens. Due to issues with this method, there was an experiment that took place. The school put some students into the Wise Teens program and they put another set of students into a hands on program to see if there would be a difference in the students. Unsurprisingly there was. The students who were placed into the hands on program were doing way better than the students in the technology based program.
I believe every school should try doing hands on programs that students who are struggling with their mental health can be comfortable with going to without having their condition getting worse and worse. There should also be methods taking place in classrooms as well so that students have a safe space throughout their whole day rather than just for a short period of time. As Mia Oberlander states in her article, “Those serving up mental health guidance online and at school, should be cautious.”
Overall I believe the world should try more methods that people would be comfortable with using that would actually be effective. This means focusing on the physical, mental and emotional health of someone which would prevent further issues for them in the future. For instance, I feel like SPASH is doing an okay job with dealing with students’ mental health but, I feel as though there should be more alternatives to deal with it.
