How to Address Mental Health in Schools? (+21 Important Issues)
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OptimistMinds
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Author bio
The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
The current Blogspot will be based on the question “what are the ways of addressing mental health in schools?”. We will discuss various ways of addressing mental health in schools. issues related to mental health in schools, the importance of addressing mental health in schools and the type of issues related to mental health in schools.
What are the ways of addressing mental health in schools?
Addressing mental health in schools is a necessity of today. The mental health of school-going children has a significant impact on their physical, social and emotional health. Following are some of the ways through which mental health issues can be addressed in schools :
- Awareness sessions conducted at schools to help the children understand the importance of mental health in schools, remove stigmas associated with mental health and create a comfort level of students related to mental health issues.
- Advocacy of mental health services in the form of social support, counseling, awareness sessions and psychoeducation in the school premises.
- Teachers train in order to observe the behavior patterns among students that show changes in behavior regarding low mood, hyperactivity, isolation, anger issues, academic issues and attitude problems.
- Eradication of stigma at all levels in school related to mental health issues by training the teachers to normalize talking and discussing about the various mental health issues and discussing their impact.
- Providing individual counseling to students reporting or identified with any types of anxieties, insecurities and behavioral problems. Involving teachers and parents to manage such cases as and when required.
- Providing group counseling to classes or groups of students that report issues related to academics, emotional outbursts, anger or low confidence.
- Parent counseling sessions in order to educate them about mental health awareness. Parent counseling sessions also focus on psychoeducation of parents about various practices in parenting that leave a lasting impact upon individuals.
- Assessing students for underlying emotional issues majorly substance abuse, anxiety, depression, anger management and impulsivity.
- Training students on need based analysis for mental health issues like resilience building, public speaking, crisis intervention and any other conflicts.
- appreciation , acknowledgement and motivation to be highlighted as key principles among management and school staff including teachers to raise and nurture confidence among students.
Besides the above mentioned ways , conducting various campaigns in schools and talks in morning assembly regarding the awareness, advocacy, treatment options and facilities available for mental health among students are of immense importance.
What are the issues related to mental health in schools that need to be addressed?
The various mental health issues that need to be addressed in schools are :
- Low confidence
- Anxiety
- Exam anxiety
- Social Anxiety
- Separation anxiety
- Identity crisis
- Conflict among students
- Achievement issues
- Learning difficulties
- Diturbed relations with teachers
- Academic issues
- Bullying
- Harassment
- Favourisms
- Self esteem issues
- Anger outbursts
- Identity crisis
- Career counseling
- Trust issues
- Socialization skills
- Mood disorders
- Communication barriers
The importance of addressing mental health in schools?
It is important to address mental health issues in school. Following are the various important factors related to addressing the mental health issues in school:
- Addressing mental health issues in school results in decreased incidents of bullying
- Addressing mental health issues in school results in increased self esteem
- Depression features and tendencies significantly decrease due to the school’s addressing mental health issues among students
- The emotional distance between teachers and students significantly decreases and thus learning outcomes improve.
- The students are better able to resolve their conflicts related to identity crisis.
- Students are considerate towards emotional support
- The socialization skills of students improve
- The anxiety levels of students significantly decrease
- There are decreased reports of harassment cases
- The self esteem of students significantly improves
- The learning outcomes of students improve significantly
- Students are better able to vent out their emotional anxieties
- Students are better able to choose their careers
How can we eradicate mental health stigma from schools?
In order to eradicate mental health stigma from the `schools the following steps can be taken :
- Train the teachers to talk about mental health with students
- Train the school faculty and staff to show empathy towards emotional anxieties of students, teachers and administration
- Provide talk sessions to the parents for awareness of mental health issues among the students
- Train teachers to identify and screen students mental health issues
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Conclusion
In the current blogspot we focused on the ways to address mental health in school. We also discussed the importance of mental health in schools and the various issues related to mental health among students. We learned methods to improve the mental health of students in schools.
Frequently asked questions: addressing mental health in schools
How do you address mental health stigma in schools?
Mental health stigma in schools can be addressed by :
- Advocacy
- Awareness campaigns
- Sessions
- Counselling on individual and group levels
- Training of teachers
- Parents Training
Why is addressing mental health in schools important?
It is important to address mental health issues in schools in order to maximize the learning outcomes of students, smooth their learning process, decrease their anxiety and depression levels.
What can schools do to help students with mental health issues?
Inorder to help students with mental health issues the schools can take the following steps:
- Eradicate stigma related to mental health issues
- Promote mental health of students through seminars by trained professionals
- Normalize talking about mental health issues
- Promote seeking help from mental health professionals
Citations
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