Teen years: hope; freedom and fun, right?…Or anxiety; depression and fear?
If you said this to most adults they would go off on their “when I was your age…” and “you have nothing important to worry about” and even “you don’t know what real work is” - but the fact is: times have changed since they were young. Specifically mental illnesses - the number of 15/16 year olds with anxiety or depression has doubled in the past thirty years, as has the hospital admissions for teenagers with eating disorders. A survey in 2016 showed 93% of teachers reporting an increase in rate of mental health, with 82% aiding a pupil with these issues on a monthly basis, and some even weekly and daily.
However, the changes are not all bad: over recent years awareness has increased massively, consequently removing some of the stigma that has come with mental illness for decades with the help of charities; celebrities; tv shows; books and ‘awareness’ days. There is even a possibility that these two changes link with each other. With the raised awareness, more young people have been able to recognise in themselves signs and symptoms. Despite this potential trend, the increase in those diagnosed is still far too substantial to be explained away.
But rather than focusing on the questions of ‘where has this come from’ and ‘why has this happened’, why don’t we look at what we can do and what we are doing. As aforementioned, teachers are becoming more involved in the mental health of their students, and while their role as teacher is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child, they are not fully equipped to deal with everything that comes with a mental illness. As an educator they do not have the correct training to be a counsellor of any type, and though at times their support will help in many ways there are some things they cannot help with. Not only for a lack of training is this not a sustainable or effective method, but for lack of time. Being a teacher involves non-stop work with kids for around 7 hours a day, not including the heaps of marking and lesson planning and exam writing they have to do outside of this. In addition, as if the lack of time and training was not enough, consider how many pupils occupy one school. There are physically not enough teachers for each student to get the appropriate amount of care from this method.
Another way of dealing with this increase is young people taking on the role of counsellor themselves. This can be beneficial to both sides as it often assists the ‘counsellor’ with problems of their own, and for the child being helped a person closer to their age may be more empathetic to their troubles. This said, the responsibility that comes with taking on the worries of another is a huge one to bear, and during early adolescence, even right through teen years, this burden is one that should not have to be carried by any individual. As well as this, there is a lack of experience. This is not to say young people today do not understand what mental illness is - if anything, statistics mentioned in this article prove the opposite. But at age 15, no one will have taken a course in psychology, or psychiatry. Not many will have even studied them. Of course, they may be familiar with mental illness and some may know many coping mechanisms, and even be able to help just as well as a counsellor would - but they shouldn’t have to. Teen years are dedicated to finding yourself, and remembered for the storm of raging hormones pulling at emotions throughout. This tempestuous mess requires full dedication and focus on yourself, and while helping others is a very noble act and is not something that should be stopped, it shouldn’t be up to them alone.
In spite of all this, it is possible to get help through schools. However, one of the key difficulties with this system is that the student in need of help has to seek this out themselves, which clashes with the fact that it is very common for people with mental illnesses to not want, or recognise they need help or even feel ashamed to ask for this. A recurrent fear is that of disappointing parents, and here we face another problem we must address. Though much of the stigma has cleared, the thought that by having a mental illness it is a let down to parents remains a repeated misconception. Mental illness can occur even if you live in a middle class, two-parent household with a loving childhood behind you; even if you are smart, talented and hard-working. Mental illness does not occur for just one reason.
Another flaw in this system is that often the students do not know how to ask for help, therefore acting out in ways that put either themselves or others at risk as a non-verbal way of doing this. Due to the increase in mental health in young people, counsellors prioritise those who are actively harming or endangering themselves or others, which is not at all a good message to send. For one thing it gives them an incentive to do just that, as they know no other way of getting the help they need. For another, it broadcasts the image of those struggling getting priority, leading to a horrific glorification of mental illness.
All in all, though awareness has increased and stigma decreased, and support networks are becoming more prominent, we still have a long way to go. As the new generation, it is our job to ensure the continuance of this progress in years to come. These years are always described as the “best of your life”, so let’s make them so. Let’s fill those teen years with hope, freedom and fun.
