The Importance of Mental Health
Common mental disorders in children and what we can do to stop the spread
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ADHD, anxiety, behavioral problems,” and depression are the most common mental disorders in children. A recent study shows the estimate for children between the ages 3-17,” approximately 6 million are diagnosed with ADHD, 5.8 million are diagnosed with anxiety and 2.7 million are diagnosed with depression.
Mental health issues have become a huge problem for high school students and young kids, many students may feel they don’t have the resources to ask for help, are too afraid to seek a counselor, or feel they don’t have a trusted adult to talk to. A sophomore, Aniayh Steen exclaims “talking to friends, getting a therapist, or telling a counselor is a good way to deal with depression and anxiety, some students believe therapists [don’t] help and are bad but they are like friends and will listen.”
Teenagers feeling alone and dealing with issues on their own can lead to many disasters. For example,” some mass shootings that have taken place were caused by students who dealt with bullying or something at home that caused mental illnesses. Junior, Future Chayee expresses “ I feel like there could be more awareness towards gun control and there is clearly a mental health issue with the people who decide to kill instead of dealing with their issues in a healthy way like seeking a counselor or trusted adult.”
A recent shooting took place at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde county on May 24, when an 18-year-old kid, a former student at the school, shot and killed nineteen children and two adults. According to a new york times post Salvador Ramos was bullied at school and constantly mocked and erased by his friends who called him a “school shooter” this shows how Salvador Ramos dealt with issues at school and should have told a trusted adult or attempted to talk to a counselor, which could have possibly avoided the massacre.
Students should talk to a counselor or trusted adult when having issues with mental illness or dealing with personal issues, to avoid instances like the Uvalde shooting, and suicide.
