Recently, Jessica Olsen, a writer for Southeast Missouri State University’s Odyssey team, wrote an article titled “Shame On Her Mental Illness.” In this article, the stigma of mental illness is addressed. Olsen claims that her inspiration to write this article came from her own struggle with mental illness. Olsen states, “I was having a lot of issues with my anxiety over winter break, and I had a lot of time to do some self-reflecting. I asked myself why I was struggling so bad, and I realized a lot of it was because I felt alone. I felt like a freak and that nobody understood. I found myself being a victim of the stigma and I thought about how different it would be if all of my friends were aware of just how bad my anxiety could get and what triggered it. If I could be able to turn to one of my friends and say, ‘I’m having anxiety ove this, please help talk me down,’ I knew it would make a world of difference. Instead, I deal with it all in my head.” Olsen interviewed 18 students at her university who have a mental illness. One of these students stated, “If we can teach children about sex, why not mental illness?”
As an education major, this statement really got me thinking, "How many children actually understand what a mental illness is?"
Olsen’s article inspired me to conduct a survey of nine children ages 10-17. In this survey, I asked each child “What is a broken bone?” After they answered (all correctly), I asked them, “What is schizophrenia?” Two of these individuals gave me a close-enough-to-correct answer. I asked each of them if they have ever broken a bone. Five of the individuals had. I asked them if I could use their name, along with the fact that they have broken a bone, in my article. All of them said yes. I asked each of them if they had a mental illness. If the answer was yes, I asked them if I could use their name in my article. Only one individual out of the six who admitted to having a mental illness granted me permission to use their name.
Michael Friedman, Ph.D., states in his article, “The Stigma Of Mental Illness Is Making Us Sicker,” “From a young age, children will refer to others as ‘crazy’ or ‘weird.’ These terms are commonly used throughout adulthood as well.” While conducting my survey, one child actually told me, “Schizophrenia is when you have really weird depression.” This is obviously not the true definition of schizophrenia, not even close. This only exemplifies the lack of education that this generation is receiving on mental illness.
I can’t help but imagine that if this child ever does find himself depressed, he will likely keep it to himself so that others won’t consider him “weird.” The National Alliance of Mental Illness has found that approximately one in five adults in the United States, 18.5 percent, experiences mental illness in a given year. Only 41 percent of those adults received mental health services in the last year. That means that well under half of all people who reported having a mental illness sought help. Many mental illnesses only get worse over time. In some cases, this may lead to suicide. According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 15-24. More than 90 percent of children who commit suicide have a mental health condition. Children should never die due to a treatable medical condition.
As adults, we should lead by example. If we break the silence and the stigma of mental health, then our children might feel more comfortable speaking out if they find themselves in a difficult mental health situation. This is information that should be taught in schools, and at a young age. In an ideal world, this subject would be as common as learning about photosynthesis or how to do long division.
As educators, if a lack of education on mental health stops even one child from seeking help for a mental illness in their lifetime, then we are doing the next generation a huge disservice.
