This week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo passed a law that will require mental health education in schools by 2018. Love him or hate him, this legislation is long overdue. One in 10 children between the ages of one and 15 have a mental health disorder. As someone who has a mental illness myself, I think it is so important to recognize the signs of these illnesses early on so students can figure out how to manage them.
Being from a family that has a long history of generalized anxiety disorder and depression, I was well equipped to handle the world with my disorder. I had (and still have) a huge support system of people who knew exactly what I was going through and ways to deal with it. However, some people are not nearly as lucky as I was.
Mental health education is so important to those who are struggling, whether they have support or not. Cuomo definitely made the right call on this one, and for more than one reason:
It increases the likelihood that students will recognize the signs of mental illness early on.
Like most illnesses, early detection is key to getting things figured out. When students realize they have mental illnesses at an earlier point in their lives than, say, full-blown adulthood, they have more of a chance to develop coping mechanisms.
These coping mechanisms, as anyone with a mental disorder knows, can make or break you in terms of social life, grades and any other aspect of being a functioning human being.
Educating early will decrease the negative stigma associated with mental illnesses.
Learning about mental health early on will allow for more understanding of the issues that come with it. For people who have never had mental health issues, it is hard to understand what a mental disorder entails.
As humans, when we don't have a lot of knowledge about a topic, we tend to be wary of it. This can lead to a sort of ostracizing of the people we don't understand, which then leads to stereotypes and stigmas. Educating young people about issues like these is a huge step forward in erasing these stigmas.
Students will not only learn how to handle mental illness, but other emotions as well.
Mental health education is not only about mental illnesses. The word mental, by definition, means "of or relating to the mind." Through mental health education, students will learn how to handle a wide range of emotions like grief, anger and even happiness.
It will help students to live their lives to the fullest extent.
Mental health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a state of well-being in which every individual realizes their own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and succeed at said work and is able to make a contribution to their community.
That's a long list, but take a good look at it-- these are all things that the general population strives for in their lives, whether they know it or not. We all want to be great and do great things, but sometimes our own brains get in the way.
Learning how to cope with mental illness and mental disorders is key to erasing the social stigma and getting help. Mental health education is a great start, but it's been a long time coming. Maybe if we had had this education when my generation was young, we would have an easier time navigating the world now. We can only hope that, with this new legislation, future generations will be more capable of coping.