In my opinion mental health days are a necessity for students, especially high school, and college students. Sometimes we need to give our brains and body a rest, a time to de-stress and not have to worry about assignments or class. But unfortunately, there is a normalised stigma surrounding mental health days where people think that everyone is going to abuse their power of excused days off for mental health.
Just, in general there has been a long-lasting stigma about mental health, some including that everyone experiences these issues and it’s not that serious, or that you shouldn’t talk about your mental health issues to others because it might make them uncomfortable.
But there is also something called self-stigma which refers to the negative attitudes, including internalised shame, that people with mental health issues have about their own condition. More than half of the people who experience mental health issues don’t receive the help that they need for their disorder because they are afraid of the effects of stigmas and discrimination.
I think that many people would be able to benefit from having mental health days in school and in the workplace. In some states its mental health days aren’t as stigmatised as others, like for example California’s Governor Gavin Newsom “signed a Senate bill into law in 2021 that allows students to miss school for mental or behavioural health concerns and treats the absences as a missed school day.”
As of 2022 only 12 states have recognized mental health as a legitimate and serious reason to miss a day of school. These states understand that a student’s mental health is a priority and that for students to not see school as a major cause for their stress, anxiety, and depression; then they need to be less restrictive on absences.
School is one of the major stressors for teens today and is harming their mental health, having mental health days is a solution that every school should implement into their school systems. This could help students become more motivated to do their work and participate in school, instead of viewing school as a chore and a place that feels like a prison.
I know from personal experience that school can feel like the worst thing happening in your life, causing anxiety and depression and overall, just poor mental health. It can make you feel like you’re drowning in class and assignments, and it makes you so unmotivated that you don’t have the energy to do your simplest assignments. Then, at some point it all becomes too much to handle and you just breakdown.
So, next time you decide that you can’t handle going to school because you are not mentally in a good place, take a mental health day and don’t feel guilty about it. There are so many people out in the world who are experiencing the same exact feeling that you are, and you shouldn’t invalidate your feelings just because you’re going to miss a day of school. This is just a temporary moment in your life that will pass and then you’ll get to continue and do amazing things in your future.