Mental Health IS Important by Lydia

Mental Health IS Important by Lydia - February 2022 Scholarship Essay

The elective class that I wish existed was a class that taught meditation strategies, to recognize the emotions being felt and how to deal with stress. My yoga class has briefly gone over these concepts but I think that there is so much value and benefit to studying these things for a whole semester or even a year. My yoga class was a great way to destress but I could never really apply it to my life outside of school. This elective would teach skills that no one really teaches, and then teach you how to use them in everyday life away from school. Mental health is so important and I think that it is time to take a stand and make sure it gets the recognition that it needs.
I would hope that having this class available students would be able to deal with everything that the world is throwing at them, without them being perceived as weak for talking to a counselor or therapist. Maybe then the number of suicides in high school-age kids would decrease dramatically. If this class was an option for students to take, they wouldn’t have to admit that they have depression. The student could just say that they want to understand parts of the mind to gain a better understanding to help themselves as well as those around them. Having people judge you is the worst possible feeling and so if this elective was able to make people feel safe and learn how to deal with the stress that is modern-day high school, then I think that any expense necessary should be spent to lower depression and suicide rates. As technology is becoming more and more advanced, scientists are learning so much about the brain and what affects mental health.
If there was a class that was able to teach high school kids how to take control of their mental health, then maybe having a high school kid wouldn’t be a big scary thing for parents. I know that my parents are often worried about my mental health and how they are able to help, but they don’t have any knowledge on the subject either. And so maybe this class not only teaches students how to change their mental health but by learning it themselves they can teach their children; the next generation.