Mental Health Classes by Hailey

Mental Health Classes by Hailey - January 2023 Scholarship Essay

One class that should be required for all high school students would be mental health care. Mental health is more common than ever before. But I think the new burst of people claiming to have bad mental health is not because it is new, it is because people are finally learning that it is okay to get help and share your feelings. Even people who do not struggle with mental illness should still learn how their minds work. Learning how to deal with emotions and thoughts, also why people do the things they do. Learning about mental health will help all students throughout their lives.
Learning about mental disorders can help students understand. Students maybe realize they have anxiety and try to get help, or students might realize why their classmates do not think the same way they do. I took a psychology class as an elective, and it helped me learn about my anxiety and what to do to help. Also, allowing students to get a general understanding of psychological disorders will help the stereotypes around those disorders. OCD, PTSD, and EDs are abbreviations people use, but never really understand how they can affect a person. I had an eye-opening experience taking my psychology class because of all the misconceptions I have heard that are untrue. Mental disorder awareness can allow students to recognize the lives of those affected by them.
Understanding the emotions that students go through and others around them will let them connect on new levels. Learning why are parents get disappointed but not mad when we do something wrong and how to change it. Also recognizing when our classmates are going through a bad time and knowing the kind of help they need or even knowing the help we could give them would be really helpful. I know that when people are depressed, it does not mean that they are sad because they have “no friends” it could be that they have lots of friends but they are not getting happiness from them.
Mental health is so stigmatized as soon as I heard the word I think of bad mental health. But, there is also good mental health. Some people do not even know they have bad mental health until they heard what good mental health looks like. Learning about good mental health would be important for young people as well. Coping with stress is something all people need to learn at one point in their lives but unfortunately, some people do not learn to cope until they have been pushed over the edge. I could not cope well with all the stress of school, sports, extracurriculars, and work that I got pushed over the edge and now I know how to deal with it and what steps I need to take when I am starting to feel stressed.
A lot of mental health is kept a secret from people when we should be really learning about it so we can help ourselves and others. Learning about disorders and how to get treated or learning about emotions and behaviors is a great way to start spreading the message about mental health. Good and bad mental health is important for all people. Learning what they look like will help all people throughout their entire lives.