By Marlene Adelman
CONTENT WARNING: Includes mentions of specific mental health conditions, suicide, and an ableist slur.
My middle school experience was riddled with mental health struggles. I was unable to move from my bed and even more unwilling to leave the house. School became my greatest nightmare, and I had no idea why.
Eventually, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and depression. Even with a prescription in one hand and documentation in the other, I was met with questions and stares when I got back to school. They didn’t come from fellow peers or teachers, but from the guidance counselors and nurses. I remember being asked, “Yeah, you might be sad, but can’t you be sad at school?”
10 years later, my sister goes to the same school. Nowadays, there’s an entire website dedicated to the guidance department, flyers adorning hallways on dealing with mental health, and a general importance placed on being able to reach out. The topic is always open for discussion, yet many of the same issues remain. So, what has really changed?
The National Alliance on Mental Health reports that children “aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year”. Another 2021-2022 survey of college students from Healthy Minds and the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments said that “44 percent reported symptoms of depression, 37 percent said they experienced anxiety and 15 percent said they have seriously considered suicide.”
Perhaps more concerningly, the NAMI also noted that only “half of youth with mental health conditions received any kind of treatment in the past year.” But how could that be, if everyone is so aware of it? My sister has come home on several occasions telling me about classmates experiencing constant anxiety or a friend of a friend with cuts on their arms. While they discuss their issues freely amongst themselves at lunch, they aren’t willing to do so with the supposed trusted adults in the same building.
It’s hard to trust people if they aren’t there. A 2024 nationwide survey from National Center for Education Statistics reported that less than half of public schools are able to provide proper mental health services to its students. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires all its counties to have proper crisis intervention services, but they also base that on an act from 1966. Not only has it been barely amended since then, but the Commonwealth’s website still lists its old title (which wasn’t changed until 2011)– the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of 1966.
It’s hard to trust people when they have an obligation to something else. The American School Counselor Association notes that counselors are required to inform parents and administration “when a student poses a serious and foreseeable risk of harm to self or others” and can “engage appropriate emergency response personnel” including a “911 dispatcher, child protective services, [and] law enforcement”. Many times police have to get involved, most of whom aren’t trained in dealing with mental illness. This can escalate a situation and victimize someone already in a vulnerable position.
It’s hard to trust people when you know who they used to be. The same counselor who casually told my mother, “Either you bring your daughter to school, or the truant officer will” still works in the district today. She’s been listed on the new website and is a part of the newest efforts in providing a supportive environment for its students. She’s part of the team that says they want positive change. But it’s hard to know whether the change has come from them wanting to or needing to as public perception around mental health has shifted.
If a solution is to be found, it must begin with the higher-ups. The Pennsylvania Children’s Bureau and Department of Education must take a closer look at their mental health service programs and provide more resources to schools at all levels. If they’re still listing a word on their site that is effectively considered a slur, there’s surely other aspects of the program that are outdated.
If police are going to continue to be involved, especially if a student is potentially dangerous to themselves or others, they need to partake in mandatory mental health training programs. They exist already, the Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety as an example. A 2016 New York Times article noted positive change in officer viewpoint and interaction, saying “the approach, which teaches officers ways to defuse potentially violent encounters before force becomes necessary, is useful for officers facing any volatile situation, even if a mental health crisis is not involved”.
It is true that there have been great strides in breaking down the mental health wall. If there’s so much talk, no one should be afraid of asking for help. But talk is cheap if results do not follow. If students are still experiencing mental health issues more than ever, it’s not enough. If students are still ashamed to admit they’re having a mental health crisis, the stigma still exists. If students are having suicidal thoughts and following through with them, there’s more to be done.
Although the topic of mental health is everywhere, students continue to suffer in silence. In that way, they’re no better off than I was 10 years ago. If it took this long to see real discussion, perhaps we will have to wait another 10 years to see real results.
Featured image by Marcel Strauss on Unsplash.
