Research Journal #1
Middle and High School is a time of immense change. Aside from no more recess, the biggest changes happen from within. And a little without. Bodies are changing, and with that emotions and expectations. Suddenly it isn’t enough to get AR points and have a good group of friends to play tag with at recess. Now you have to get used to multiple teachers, multiple groups of classmates, and increased expectations for success in schools. The teachers don’t seem to care that you have other classes, assigning homework like you have all the time in the world to focus on this one assignment. You can get enough sleep, fulfill all your responsibilities at school and home, or have a social life, but you can’t have all three. Your hormones are going crazy, giving you mood swings like you wouldn’t believe and muddling everything in your head so it is impossible to gain perspective. And the breaks never come.
Sure, schools give you a Monday off here or there. You get a week at Thanksgiving, two at Christmas, another for Spring. But those aren’t really true rest periods, are they? Your entire break is spent working on projects from your teachers you suddenly have time for, meeting all the family expectations-since it is family time, after all- and maybe, if you get lucky, squeezing in an hour with your best friend. For seven years, the cycle is never ending, expectations only getting bigger and social pressure growing stronger. And it doesn’t end there; suddenly you’re in college and facing even more, or maybe you didn’t make it to college and now have to face finding a job degree-less.
With all of that pressure and no time to actually release any of it, it is no wonder that an increasing number of people are suffering from mental health issues. Anxiety, ADHD, depression, eating disorders, and PTSD- just to name a few- are all added weights that make functioning a daily struggle for so many. Unfortunately, unlike the amount of homework heaped on kids, very few actually acknowledge the existence of mental health as a common obstacle that needs to be addressed. Instead, mental health is treated like a taboo subject: only the “odd-balls” suffer from mental health issues. The cool kids? The top 10? They are above mental health issues.
It is this kind of thinking that makes mental health issues so dangerous. When the fear of being judged outweighs the benefits of getting help, mental health issues go unchecked and leave our kids vulnerable. When your own mind is acting against you, and you have no one to help you be objective, what is there to stop you from doing something drastic?
If we can be the voice of perspective for our kids when it comes to being upset over fights with their friends, why can’t we be that voice when it comes to their minds?
That is why openly acknowledging the importance of a mental health is so important to me. Kids are forced to quietly struggle every single day of their lives instead of seeking help at the sources meant to be available to them. By staying quiet about mental health, by not encouraging questions and discussions, we make mental health unimportant. Instead of silencing our kids, we should be encouraging them to be vocal. Talk to them about mental health. Educate them on what is okay and what isn’t. Make it okay for them to talk about it with their parents, or their friends, or people that can help them.
If someone had told me that not everyone faced my struggles every single day, that I didn’t need to face my struggles every single day? I can’t even imagine what my life would have been like if I had known. I probably would have been able to ask for help before I broke down sobbing, gasping for breath, unable to explain to myself or my parents why I was suddenly about to pass out from facing them in our own home.
Don’t let mental health be a quiet killer. Talk about it. Make it okay. Teach our kids how to balance themselves, how to protect themselves. Let them know it’s okay to ask for help. Not everyone suffers from mental health issues, but it isn’t worth the sensibilities of a few to silence the struggles of the many.
Mental Health Matters 