Simply our Responsibility. by Catherine

Simply our Responsibility. by Catherine - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

Adding coursework in mental and emotional wellness to American high school curriculum is a crucial step to the prevention and treatment of mental illness and substance abuse in young adults. Suicide and alcohol-related traffic deaths are the top two killers of American college students (1), and equipping them with the tools to stay mentally and emotionally well prior to graduation may make a difference in that statistic. Though some school districts briefly discuss mental health in general health class, I know from personal experience with long-term psychiatric care that at least one full quarter of time should be devoted to the development, implementation, and practice of these wellness tools for them to be effective.

Mental health issues are incredibly common on college campuses, and unless students have already struggled with mental health issues in high school, it is very unlikely that they have any familiarity with the tools and resources to keep them well. Despite the fact that at least 1 of every 4 college students experiences a mental health problem each year (2), we as a nation do not make the effort to educate students about mental health. Students are rigorously prepared for collegiate writing, sports performance, and even study skills prior to leaving high school, but why are they not prepared for the possibility of developing a mental health condition?

Many people are unaware of the vast amount of tools and information available to maintain mental and emotional wellness, because these are often not taught until reaching crisis. Some students may never suffer from a mental health condition, but they will certainly benefit from learning how to identify symptoms in their close friends and family, how to approach the conversation of getting help for them, and how to support them as they go through treatment. The discussion of self-worth and discovering what composes each student’s personal self-esteem will improve the likelihood of success in college, thereby increasing retention and graduation rates. All students would benefit from learning deep breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, and relaxation techniques, as stress is a problem common to all people, not just ill ones.

Those students who are currently suffering or will in the future suffer from mental health problems (remember, that’s 25% of them!) will especially benefit. Learning cognitive behavioral therapy techniques like identifying thinking errors, challenging negative thinking, and performing personal behavioral experiments to change behavior are tools that they will find enormously useful in college. For those that are or will be too ill to manage on their own, a course in mental and emotional wellness taught as if it were any other subject in school may encourage them to seek professional help, and prevent hospitalization in the future. Hospitalization due to mental illness averages 7 days (3), and in some cases can be double or triple that time. This can cause enough disruption in coursework to influence a student to withdraw, resulting in delayed graduation or withdrawal from higher education entirely.

It is our responsibility as a nation to educate students about maintaining their emotional and mental wellness prior to leaving for college. The stress of a new home, new friends, and new levels of responsibility can cause even the healthiest of college students to feel distressed, and equipping them with tools to manage their emotional struggles will increase retention rates, lower hospitalization rates, and reduce the incidence of suicide. It will not only improve the state of mental health in America, but will reduce stigma and encourage sick students to seek outside help if and when they need it.

(1) https://apha.confex.com/apha/139am/webprogram/Paper241696.html
(2) http://www.acha-ncha.org/docs/ACHA-NCHA-II_ReferenceGroup_ExecutiveSummary_Spring2012.pdf
(3) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/mental-health.htm