Prioritizing Mental Health: Service Provision in Arizona’s Public Schools The transition from childhood to adolescents introduces several challenges to youths’ socio-emotional, relational, and mental health. Ranging from poor self-esteem, to friendship and family friction, to depression and anxiety, all of these challenges constitute a significant need for psychosocial and emotional support. Failure to provide such support has been associated with physical and behavioral co-morbidities that affect health and wellbeing across the life course. The purpose of this paper is to expose the current public health crisis surrounding the lack of mental health services available to students in Arizona’s public schools. After providing a general …show more content…
Background Mental health, like physical health, is not merely the absence of disease or mental disorder. Rather, mental health encompasses emotional, psychological and social well-being, ensuring that individuals are capable of: navigating life’s complexities, developing fulfilling relationships, adapting to change, using healthy coping mechanisms, and achieving their potential (CDC, 2013; Osius & Rosenthal, 2009). Mental Health in Children and Adolescents The provision of mental health support for children and adolescents is imperative for their healthy psychosocial, emotional, and physical development. Approximately 5-9% of all school-aged children and 10-20% of all adolescents have mental health problems (Kotch, 2013; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2015). Prevalence of disease does not vary significantly across race or ethnicity, however an association does exist between poor mental health and low-income communities (Oisus & Rosenthal, 2009). The transition from childhood to adolescence marks a stage in development wherein one might expect to see higher rates of mental health issues, especially in the forms of anxiety and depression (Hill & Lynch, 1983; Osius & Rosenthal, 2009). During this period, youth are gaining autonomy and trying to determine who they are and how they fit into their social realities; while their bodies and brains simultaneously undergo extensive development and their social
It is not uncommon to hear stories about a teenager experiencing mood swings and rebelling against those in authority. Nor is it uncommon to experience general sadness or anxiety in high school and college. However, it is often difficult to tell the difference between normal teenage angst and clinical depression. It is not commonly known that there has recently been a staggering rise of depression in adolescents. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in twelve adolescents in the United States suffer from depression, which is 8.3 % of the teenage population. In order to combat the problem of adolescent depression, it is essential that parents take an active role in their adolescent’s life by both acknowledging and
It is estimated that one in every five youth experience mental illnesses that interfere with their everyday routines (“NAMI”). Mental health in the United States is a growing epidemic that needs to be solved. Youth with mental illnesses may never know that they have one; screenings for mental health are not something a lot of people take advantage of. Schools are a place where youth develop the most. In order for this to happen, society needs to make schools feel welcoming and provide support for those who need help. While some people do not believe mental illnesses exist, schools should require mental health screenings in order to prevent future violent situations, educate their staff, and do more to make students feel comfortable.
Adolescence is a critical time of development. During this period there are significant changes in brain development, emotions, cognition, behavior, and personal relationships. It is during this time that most major mental health disorders appear, many of which carry over into adulthood. Behavior patterns such as substance abuse also often develop during this time and may continue throughout adulthood. Many adolescents struggling with mental health issues begin to exhibit symptoms such as acting out at home or in school, showing a decreased interest in activities that they previously enjoyed, or bringing home poor grades. Others ultimately are charged with offenses ranging from status
More mental health facilities need to be made for adolescents. Adolescents experience the same mental disorders adults do, but there is not the same amount of places for children to go to for help. The history of mental health facilities in the United States today has been improving, and more changes are being made as we speak today by President Bush. The process of being admitted to a ward is also a long process that is the same for children and adults. It involves the emergency room at the hospital and even long hours of waiting for a bed to open while stuck in the crisis unit. Some diseases children encounter include alcohol use, drug use, emotional disorders, eating disorders, serious antisocial behaviors, suicide, and
With the prevention of mental and physical health difficulties and the advancement of well-being and health, there is emphasis on reducing the breach between mental health needs that are not met among youngsters and teenagers and operational evidence-based services to meet them (Rones and Hoagwood 2000; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1999; U.S. Public Health Service 2000 as cited in Flaspohler, Meehan, Maras, & Keller, 2012). Despite evidence that school viciousness and other main problems among youth may have declined or leveled off, a significant need for effective prevention programming is still necessary. Current data suggests that of “11.3 % of young people in this country, about 7.4 million youth altogether, have at least one diagnosable emotional, behavioral, or developmental condition; 40 % of these youth are diagnosed with two or more of these conditions” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2010).
In an attempt to better understand depression in today’s youth, I have chosen to explore the depths of Major Depressive Disorder and how it affects the young people in our society. Depression amongst school age children and adolescents are the primary focus. The prevalence, adversities, and treatment of the depression are discussed as well. After exploring these few facets of the disorder, I will talk briefly about the Ecological Model developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner and Morris in 1998 that is used by counselors to help evaluate and assess the children who are referred by teachers or medical
Mental illnesses are very common in the United States, with one in five of adolescents having a diagnosed mental illness and in the last year less than half of these adolescents have received proper treatment. The most common mental disorders, anxiety and depression, can disrupt daily life and result in suicide, which is the third most frequent cause of death in teenagers (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Ten percent of adolescents did not have health insurance in 2013 and those who did, had a very limited amount of mental health care services provided to them (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). It has been proved that it is even less likely that adolescents who are poor, homeless, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender will receive the care that is necessary for their health and even life (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Mental disorders are not only an
The National Comorbidity Survey Replication advocates that many mental health issues emerge during childhood and adolescence with half of all lifetime mental illnesses starting by age 14 (Kessler et al., 2005). Therefore, children and adolescents experience high rates of mental health disorders. This is especially concerning because only a small number of these children receive treatment. The underutilization of services has significant implications considering that child psychopathology may be a risk factor for future problems such as substance abuse, academic difficulties, health problems, and adult psychopathology (Turner & Liew, 2010).
Depression is one of the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorders among school-aged youth, with high prevalence and far-reaching consequences (Probst, 2008). “School Phobia and excessive clinging to parents may be symptoms of depression in children. Poor academic performance, substance abuse, antisocial behavior, sexual promiscuity, truancy, and running away may be symptoms of depression in adolescents” (Sadock & Sadock, 2003, p. 554). Depression in adolescents often is an unremitting disorder that predicts ongoing depression and psychosocial impairment (Kratochvil et. at., 2005). It affects the developmental process, resulting in difficulties with concentration and motivation, leading to poor academic performance,
The World health organization defines mental health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease where as the English Oxford dictionary refers to mental health as a person 's condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being.
Pre-adolescence is a crucial stage in a child’s life because it is during this stage that kids can learn the coping mechanism that can prevent complications later on in life (Britton et al., 2014). Some children and adolescents may not have the opportunity to seek proper mental health care during their childhood. This may be due to parents overworking or simply not being able to afford quality mental health care services (Bucci et al., 2016). However, schools can serve children and adolescents as a
Anxiety and depression (internalizing problems) have increasingly become an issue in youths, with nearly 20% of youths across the world suffering from some form of psychiatric disorder (Eisenberg & Neighbors, 2007). In addition to being widespread, these mental health problems have proven strongly debilitating and impairing for youth quality of life (Costello, Mustillo, Erkanli, Keeler, & Angold, 2003) and positively associated with poor academic achievement and increased suicide risk (Gould, et al., 1998). Moreover, the impacts of these issues on youth mental health carry over into adulthood (Weissman, et al., 1999) and adults who experienced psychiatric problems as children display poorer lifelong functioning if the onset of the problem was earlier in life (Copeland, 2015). As such, it is imperative that researchers develop a better understanding of the risk factors associated with the development of internalizing problems in youth populations.
Adolescence is a stage of maturation between childhood and adulthood that denotes the period from the beginning of puberty to maturity. However, many conflicting opinions are raised about weather such a stage of childhood is influenced by stress, depression, and suicide rate. Some people support the optimistic view that says that adolescence is not a period of storm and stress. Others, including me, support an opposite pessimistic view which characterizes adolescence as a period of stress and inner turmoil. Unfortunately, it has been recently proved that depression is a growing problem in today 's society and a major contributing factor for a multitude of adolescent problems. This is because , as research indicates, adolescent depression
Mental health is as important as physical health. Mental health is a state of successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people and the ability to adapt to change to cope with adversity.
The mental health of adolescents is fairly considered to be one of the major prerequisites of the country 's sustainable development in economics, culture, and social life. Subsequently, the easy and nondiscriminatory access to the psychological treatment appears to be a matter of top priority for the federal government. Nevertheless, the recent statistical data indicates the substantial problems in terms of providing the adolescents with the necessary medical support. In accordance with the US Department of Health & Human Services, in 2014, less than 50% of the country 's adolescent population were provided with a required treatment (US Department of Health & Human Services). Moreover, the data on the minorities ' access to the mental health treatment demonstrates that, for instance, African-Americans are twice as likely as whites to be prescribed a treatment from schizophrenia (American Psychological Association). Undoubtedly, such a trend may be primarily explained by the insufficient efforts of both federal and local health care institutions in terms of providing the minorities ' representatives with the necessary psychological treatment. Consequently, in order to understand comprehensively the problem of the adolescent mental health in the US, it is necessary to define the issue-related objective and subjective concerns as well as to analyze the peculiarities of a potential corrective to the