TW: Discussion of mental illness.
Teen Mental Wellness Day takes place on March 2nd to bring awareness to, you guessed it, teen mental well being. On this day, we aim to create a safe space and to destigmatize mental health issues among teenagers. Speaking from personal experience, I began to endure severe mental health problems in high school. I was afraid to talk to people about it, and did not fully understand or know anything about why I was feeling the way I was, or how to prevent and treat my symptoms. I later found out I have depression and anxiety, and since, have been figuring out ways to improve my mental health and destigmatize the topic. Although there are many days dedicated to mental wellbeing, Hollister created Teen Mental Wellness Day.
Teenagers with intersecting identities are more likely to have mental health issues. Experiences related to identity, trauma, socioeconomic status, technology, violence, and discriminatory living conditions for people of different sexualities, genders, races, ethnicities, and disabilities, cause mental health issues among teenagers. Stress under capitalism is one of the key reasons children and teenagers face mental health problems. Treatment for mental health is stigmatized, expensive, and inaccessible. According to the CDC, “Age and poverty level affected the likelihood of children receiving treatment for anxiety, depression, or behavior problems.” And according to WHO, “Mental health conditions account for 16% of the global burden of disease and injury in people aged 10-19 years.” Also mentioned by WHO are the factors that contribute to mental health issues among youth.
There is corruption within the professional mental health system—psychiatric wards, prescription medicine, healthcare cost, doctors, etc. Many teenagers are not heard in their homes, schools, or in the medical field. There are services and providers who can help and are willing to, but the first step is for people in a teenager’s day to day life to be there to listen and offer support. According to Teen Mental Health, “1 in 5 young people suffer from a mental illness, that’s 20 percent of our population but yet only about 4 percent of the total health care budget is spent on our mental health.” Mental health problems range from person to person, and can be caused by many stressors.
Mental health among teenagers deserves to be taken seriously. Some teenagers might need counseling, prescription medicine, support in other areas, or someone in their lives to talk to. The help they need could range from a one time sit down to needing or wanting therapy in their lives on a regular basis. Regardless of the many paths a teenager will take, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. Seeking to destigmatize mental health is something we can all contribute to and should strive toward. As a former teenager who struggled myself, please do not be silent, and seek professional help when possible.
Mental health issues have been increasing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you or a loved one is struggling with mental health during the pandemic, feel free to click here to read about healthy coping mechanisms, along with more helpful and professional resources on mental health, including various hotlines: The National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-237-8255, and The National Child Abuse Hotline at 800-422-4453.