Owing
to the pandemic, mental health in all humans is an increasingly talked-about
topic. Yet, our attempts to eliminate the stigma around it seem to fall short
every time. Asking for help regarding mental issues is still looked down
upon.
- More than 1 in
3 high school students had experienced persistent feelings of sadness or
hopelessness in 2019, a 40 per cent increase since 2009.
- In 2019,
approximately 1 in 6 youth reported making a suicide plan in the past
year, a 44% increase since 2009.
- Student mental
health is one of the least talked about topics and the most overlooked
ones. Adolescence is the time of life to have a healthy start. But when
these bursting-with-energy individuals get trapped in the clutches of mental
disorders, things no longer remain pretty. These feelings were found to be
more common among lesbian, gay, or bisexual students and female students.
- Almost half of
the lesbian, gay, or bisexual students and nearly one-third of students
not sure of their sexual identity reported they had seriously considered
suicide—far more than heterosexual students.
- The number of
black students who reported attempting suicide in 2019 rose by almost 50%.
Poor
mental health among students is more than just feeling blue. Mental health
problems in youth often go hand-in-hand with other health and behavioural risks
like increased risk of drug use, experiencing violence, and higher risk sexual
behaviours that can lead to HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancy. Because many health
behaviours and habits are established in adolescence that will carry over into
adult years, it is very important to help youth develop good mental health. On
top of that, the pandemic has disrupted each student’s balance between work and
play. The emotional effects of being physically away from friends, combined
with all the uncertainty that engulfed us, had a heavy toll on all of us.
There
is a role for everyone in preventing the deterioration of student mental
health. Parents, families, schools, and the community as a whole, have a duty
towards their youth to make sure it flourishes. Hiring counsellors is the most
basic step that every school can take.
More
needs to be done for mental health and about it.
Darshini Shah
