School Mental Health (SMH)

Mental Health in School

Mental health risks in children are abundant, and resources to manage them are scarce. Psychological illness in children is a pandemic in itself. A country as populous as India, is home to the world’s largest pool of young people. We house one fifth of the world’s adolescents who have one of the highest youth suicide rates globally. Also, suicide is the leading cause of death in Indian youth, beating infection and accidents too.

That speaks low of the emotional and psychological prowess of our kids. In general, the prevalence of some or the other psychological disorders in adolescents is 46.3% which is one in every two children. As parents, educators and professionals, we seldom acknowledge that optimal mental health is critical to children’s success in school, as well as through life.

schools are the best places to nourish mental health

Emotional and Behavioral Problems in School Children

Typical concerns in school-age children include disruptive behavior and mood related disorders. Separation anxiety and defiance are seen mainly in primary school children (aged 4–10 years), whereas generalized anxiety, behavior problems, and depression are more common in secondary school students (aged 11–18 years). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders occur at all ages, while eating disorders and psychoses tend to increase rapidly from mid-adolescence (13 years onwards). Full blown anxiety and depression are more striking around puberty and after.

Chaotic Minds of Children

Childhood emotional chaos is for real. While children are struggling with academics and extracurricular competition, they must also confront peer pressure, career struggles, pubertal changes, sexuality concerns and decision-making challenges. Children face tremendous stress at all stages – school and home. This jeopardizes their chances of maturing into emotionally responsible adults. Nobody likes to talk about mental illness, or wellness for that matter. Most teenagers aren’t even aware of adolescent depression or anxiety. If they do feel any symptoms, they eagerly hide them for fear of rejection by peers, ostracization by family, and stigmatization by the society at large. We need to educate and empower them.

Areas of Concern

  • Poor academic grades
  • Aggression and anger
  • Attention disturbances
  • Hyperactivity, impulsivity
  • Childhood depression
  • Fright and social anxiety
  • Communication styles
  • Teasing and bickering
  • Gender discrimination
  • Sexuality and puberty
  • Career choice confusion

Wellness Components

  • Developmental Screens
  • Multiple Intelligence
  • Study Skill Inculcation
  • Emotional resilience
  • ADHD & LD awareness
  • Parent Empowerment
  • Teacher Empowerment
  • Stress Management
  • Wellbeing Assessments
  • Wellness Information
  • Enlightening Workshops

How Schools Can Play a Role

Since children spend the largest chunk of their time in school, schools hold a key role in their development ranging from friendships and social exchanges to academic fulfilment, cognitive progress, emotional regulation and behavioral outlooks. All these areas are negatively impacted by poor mental health. Schools could potentially become a medium to assess, diagnose and intervene. Schools offer a safe base to discuss these issues with children, and have them gather awareness, overcome stigma, and seek solutions to their problems in a comfortable milieu.

Mental Health Contributors in schools

School administrators, supervisors, teachers, and school medical doctors all make noteworthy contributions to a child’s development. Likewise, professionals like child counselors, psychologists, educators and psychiatrists, can partake in their emotional progress, within school itself. Our continuum of socio-emotional health includes life skills training, aggression and anger control, building frustration tolerance, enhancing study skills, beating adolescent turmoil, making suitable career choices, avoiding harmful and risky behaviors and building meaningful relationships, to name a few. We hope to connect to understand your need and offer our expertise.

MindFrames ‘E’ Strategy for School Mental Health

An ideal approach to mental wellness in schools (for one and all) would be to establish an emotional and behavioral wellness curriculum. Here are some ideations that we work with.

Enlighten

Students aren’t aware about emotional wellness, and so, they are oblivious to mental illness too. They need open and continuing exchanges to decrease the ignorance and the stigma surrounding mental health. The sooner these conversations start, better will be the wellness climate in school and in their life. Psychological well-being quizzes, surveys, suggestions and announcements; not only for children but also for parents, is a good way to encourage productive discussions and enlighten children and parents about these issues.

Educate

Happiness, motivation and peace, are assumed to be innate childhood traits, but they aren’t always. Teachers, parents, and students need training to appropriately identify and respond to signs of emotional and behavioral turmoil. Teachers play the role of caregivers in the school and may feel ill-informed or under prepared to handle crisis and distress in kids. Hence teacher, parent and student training at intervals, helps. This could be offered online through training videos and audios, presentations and other resources.

Enrich

Superior educational settings are so, because of their inspiring educators. Hence their mental health is of prime importance. Teachers experience high levels of stress every day, which can have a negative impact on students’ social adjustment and academic performance. This is true because a teacher’s mood will affect how they react to children’s academic and emotional needs. Workplace wellness for teachers, like stress assessment and management, teacher mentoring, mindfulness training and relaxation techniques make a huge difference.

Empower

Even with the presence of a school counselor, the average ratio is not much better than 1000 students, per counselor or more. Children and teachers can be empowered to do a lot on their own through a series of evidence-based tools prepared by experts in the field. These include but are not limited to mindfulness and relaxation techniques, art therapy ideas, play therapy protocols, incorporating behavioral wellness into the curriculum, and other out of the box modalities that empower students to overcome emotional challenges.

Dr Shefali Batra: School Mental Wellness

Schools have long agreed that the unmet psychosocial needs of children and families overwhelm the resources of schools and undermine their capacity to educate children appropriately. Most schools admit to being deeply dedicated to the holistic wellness of their students. But it takes careful and committed programming. After all, wellness is more than physical health. Wellness of the mind and body takes effort and direction. We consult with schools, and suggest, innovate as well as augment the existing emotional wellness programs with a preventive and empowering philosophy in place. Schools make a mammoth difference in the lives of their students. We are eager to help you help them reach their zenith.

Dr Shefali Batra is a Feature Writer in the Teenager Today (India’s first Teen Zine) since 15 years. The magazine is focused on adolescent wellness. 

References

  • Parikh, R., Michelson, D., Sapru, M., Sahu, R., Singh, A., Cuijpers, P., & Patel, V. (2019). Priorities and preferences for school-based mental health services in India: a multi-stakeholder study with adolescents, parents, school staff, and mental health providers. Global mental health (Cambridge, England), 6, e18.
  • Fazel, M., Hoagwood, K., Stephan, S., & Ford, T. (2014). Mental health interventions in schools 1: Mental health interventions in schools in high-income countries. The lancet. Psychiatry, 1(5), 377–387.
  • Atkins, M. S., Hoagwood, K. E., Kutash, K., & Seidman, E. (2010). Toward the integration of education and mental health in schools. Administration and policy in mental health, 37(1-2), 40–47.

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