2024 Mental Health Essay Contest Awardee: Honorable Mention
Breaking the Silence
Gisele, Pennsylvania
“In 2020, 16% of U.S. kids ages 12 to 17 had anxiety, depression, or both, a roughly 33% increase since 2016” according to the health policy research group KFF. Mental health, a prevalent concern among adolescents, negatively affects todays every 1 out of 5 young adults. Mental health can be defined as our emotional, cognitive and social well-being. Psychological welfare ultimately affects how kids all around the world feel and make choices daily. Despite mental health regards being so widespread, teenagers often fail to seek help in fear that they may face stigma. Mental health stigma is ultimately when a person is discredited or seen as inferior simply due to their labeled psychological illness. On that account, young adults are often left with feelings of shame leading them to hide their mental condition and feel a lack of social acceptance. As a society, it is important that adolescents can seek treatment without feeling less than or inadequate. For this reason, social media, schools and local communities should engage in diverse ways to share resistance strategies so that our growing generations can feel safe and supported. By promoting awareness and open education, we can work towards reducing mental health stigma to create a more inclusive society for young adults facing mental health challenges.
To eliminate and or reduce the stigma faced by our youth, teenagers should join support groups, speak out to administrators, and engage in school practices that assist in challenging this stigma. To begin, support groups overall provide adolescents the opportunity to understand and relate to others with common concerns. Some benefits of joining a local support group are reduced stress, improved communication and improved self-acceptance. While peer groups provide young kids with many benefits, this is not always an option for all communities. For this reason, speaking out to school administrators like teachers and guidance counselors is an efficient and convenient option for diverse groups. Simple conversations with others help adolescents facing psychological challenges to normalize their condition. By creating a standard, teenagers will feel empowered to not only educate others but to also seek necessary help for themselves. However, to create this said standard I suggest that schools require routine meetings with students throughout the year. In my case and in schools around my area, students are only provided with a once-a-year meeting where mental health is discussed. I feel that to successfully combat the prevalent mental health stigma, school policies should regulate meeting with students once a month so that young adults feel supported and heard. The first step in tackling the mental health stigma crisis is to encourage teenagers to take part in support groups and school practices as well as open communication with administrators.
Additionally, mental health stigma often leads to resulting behaviors like depression, anxiety and social isolation. It is important that teenagers understand and are provided with the proper resources or coping strategies to overcome their issues. Adolescents commonly struggle with mental health treatment as they are clueless in regards to their available resources. Teenagers also tend to have a negative attitude towards getting help leading them to attempt to solve their issue alone. To take steps towards combating this issue, proper education and communication with our youth is imperative. For instance, some coping options for mental health stigma resilience include attending concerts or sports events, practicing self-care and participating in family events. These opportunities are not only age appropriate but will result in positive outcomes like increased self-esteem and decreased feelings of shame. By allowing teenagers to go out and express themselves, they are slowly tackling their condition as they are socializing with others who may be experiencing similar concerns. It is imperative to reduce the mental health stigma that teenagers are educated on their resources and take part in coping strategies.
To make society more inclusive for people facing mental health challenges, we can endeavor to reduce the stigma around mental health by raising awareness and encouraging open education. Mental health stigma is a prevalent issue among teenagers today. The mental state of our adolescents plays an immense role in everyday living as well. Today, 9 out of 10 young adults who are battling a mental challenge claim that they are negatively affected by this stigma leaving these individuals with feelings of shame and social anxiety. To combat this issue so that upcoming generations can feel supported, school policies should regulate mental health education as well as routine personal meetings. Teenagers themselves should additionally take part in a variety of resources that will assist in coping with their challenges including attending support groups and participating in self-care. To foster a society that embraces the complexities of mental health challenges, reducing mental health stigma and implementing effective coping strategies for youth are crucial steps.
NIH recognizes these talented essay winners for their thoughtfulness and creativity in addressing youth mental health. These essays are written in the students' own words, are unedited, and do not necessarily represent the views of NIH, HHS, or the federal government.
Page published May 31, 2024
