Mental health illnesses are serious problems that are affecting today’s world, specifically today’s youth. Mental health illnesses like depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or Schizophrenia affect so many people in negative ways. In order to assist in the treatment of these types of disorders, schools are teaching students indicators, signs, symptoms, and courses of action to take when identifying mental illnesses in themselves or others.

Mental health illnesses can be very serious and take its toll on the human brain. Depression, for example, shrinks the grey matter in a person’s brain, causes memory problems, trouble thinking clearly, generates feelings of guilt or hopelessness, no motivation, increase in sleep or appetite problems, anxiety, and causes brain inflammation. Anxiety, (a mental illness many teens suffer from) causes a feeling of fear and uneasiness. It can cause individuals to sweat, feel restless and tense, and increase that person’s heart rate. It can be a normal reaction to stress, but after a certain point your brain will experience  negative effects from being in stress mode for and over abundant time. Both depression and anxiety can quickly become life threatening to an individual depending on the severity of illness and the effect on their mental state. In some cases self-harm can come into the picture and even sucide can creep its way into someones already vulnerable mindset. 

As you can see, mental health illnesses can be very serious and needs to be dealt with as such. That is why schools are now mandating required mental health days in order to better educate our fellow Noles. A student I came across spoke to me on why they believed mental health days are important. Hana Hassan explains that “mental health care is important and proper representation of mental illness online can save lives. If someone is going through a tough time and they look around and see no one going through what they are going through, that will fuel a sense of hopelessness as well as loneliness. On the contrary, if they look around and find those who are facing similar struggles they will realize that they are not alone. This sense of community can ease the anxiety of speaking up and asking for help. The mental health sessions are a great example of proper representation of mental health identification. By integrating these sessions into student curriculum students can learn key indicators of mental health. This may even save a life one day!” Another fellow Nole, Brittany Nguyen, explains that “mental health is extremely important because it affects our whole body and our mind. It is something that affects us in every stage of life. The Mental health days helped spread awareness on symptoms and signs of mental illnesses. It also helped get rid of the bad stigma surrounding mental health. It even provided students with resources to contact for help if and when someone needs it. These resources can get quick help for those who feel like they are falling towards a dark place.” As you can see, mental health illnesses are a serious issue that people of all ages are dealing with. Mental health illnesses is a topic that is very serious and needs to be dealt with a sense of urgency. Our school provides designated days dedicated to educating ourselves on the signs, symptoms, and proper care of a variety of mental illnesses. This gives students the opportunity to learn about mental illness, identify it, and properly care for it. This will benefit everyone because not only can a person help others but help themselves, and better their self-care.