Where is Mental Health Education in American Schools?
By Brianna Skappel
Reflecting on my time in high school and my struggles with mental health, I started thinking about possible resources I should have obtained. I realized that I did not know who our school counselor was, nor did I know where their office was (and I went to a small school, my graduating class totaled 58). More than this, I started to remember the ‘mental health’ curriculum from health class. We discussed schizophrenia and “multiple personality disorder” (now dissociative identity disorder, or DID), and were showed videos portraying the disorders as disturbing and scary. We never learned anything about anxiety or depression, which were things that my classmates and I actually went through. Anxiety and depression are more common disorders; anxiety affects about 19% of the population, and depression about 7%. In comparison, schizophrenia affects an estimated .25% to .64%, and DID an estimated .1% to 2% of the population. Schizophrenia and DID are relatively uncommon disorders, and it was inappropriate for these to be the only representations of mental health. Using these disorders came off as a scare tactic, sending the message that mental health is bad and fully debilitating. Instead of truly teaching us about mental health, it perpetuated the negative social stigma against mental health. This curriculum was an absolute failure and had no beneficial purpose to students.
So, what are the curriculum requirements for mental health education in American schools? Would mental health curriculum be beneficial to students?
As it turns out, only 23 states have adopted some form of mental health curriculum for K-12 students. Out of those 23 only 10 have passed state laws for a comprehensive curriculum. The remaining half of the states in the country have no mental health curriculum. My home state of Minnesota is one of the states that does not see a need for the curriculum. My disappointing experience of a “mental health lesson” is possibly shared by high school students across the country. Students leave high school being ill prepared to navigate mental health issues in the real world and perhaps carry on the negative stigma often associated with mental illness. This is dangerous for mental health, especially with rising rates of psychological distress and suicide in adolescents.
A comprehensive mental health curriculum has been proven beneficial. Kutcher and colleagues (2014; 2015) found that a mental health curriculum introduced in Canadian schools increased mental health literacy among teachers and students and reduced negative mental health stigma. With a significant increase in psychological distress and suicide rates in American adolescents over the last 10 years, introducing a mental health awareness program is a suggestion long overdue. Our mental health is not to be ignored. A comprehensive mental health curriculum needs to be introduced to K-12 schools across the nation. It would give students information that may help them navigate their struggles, identify issues they are having, and teach them skills to manage problems or encourage them to seek help if needed. It would also aid in changing the stigma against mental health by providing truthful information.
What can we do:
Commit to learning more about mental health issues.
Be open about struggles with mental health.
Talk with others about mental health whenever possible.
For further advocacy, look for resources like those provided by the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network or the National Association for School Psychologists.
References
Binau, S., Cooper, A., Duffy, M., Joiner, T., Twenge, J. (2019). Age, period, and cohort trends in mood disorder indicators and suicide-related outcomes in a nationally representative dataset, 2005-2017. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 128(3), 185-199.
DID Research. (2016). Dissociative Identity Disorder Prevalence. https://did-research.org/did/basics/prevalence#:~:text=Most%20current%20studies%20place%20the,Psychiatric%20Association%2C%202013)1.
Kutcher, S., Mcluckie, A., Weaver, C., Wei, Y., (2014). Sustained improvements in students’ mental health literacy with use of a mental health curriculum in Canadian schools. BMC Psychiatry, 14, 379.
Kutcher, S., Morgan, C., Wei, Y., (2015). Successful application of a Canadian mental health curriculum resource by usual classroom teachers is significantly and sustainably improving student mental health literacy. Can J Psychiatry, 60(12), 580-586.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2017). Statistics: Any Anxiety Disorder. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml#:~:text=Prevalence%20of%20Any%20Anxiety%20Disorder%20Among%20Adults, Based%20on%20diagnostic&text=An%20estimated%2019.1%25%20of%20U.S.,than%20for%20males%20(14.3%25).
National Institute of Mental Health. (2019). Statistics: Major Depression. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml
National Institutes of Mental Health. (2018). Statistics: Schizophrenia. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/schizophrenia.shtml
Today. (2019). TODAY analysis: More states requiring mental health education by law. https://www.today.com/health/today-analysis-more-states-requiring-mental-health-education-law-t162822