Mental health issues are currently on the rise, but why? And what can we do to help stop them from worsening? Mental health issues could be worsening for a multitude of reasons, such as bullying/discrimination, costs, people’s environments, the stigma around it, and more. We can still help to prevent them from getting even worse, however, by ending the stigma, making help more accessible, being more vocal, providing ways to connect therapy to the individual, and by supporting those who struggle with mental health.

Mental health issues have been worsening since COVID, and even before that, there’s no denying that. There are an abundance of reasons as to why this may be. Statistics from websites, such as the National Institute of Mental Health, state that as of 2022, around 23% of adults in the United States face mental health issues. Maureen Beaudet, school counsellor at Salem High School, who has been “a school counsellor for 32 years” stated that she believes that COVID, and “the residuals of what we dealt with,” still affect students and people to this day. She also stated that “the way we define mental health” is concerning, as it is generally looked at in a negative manner. Not only all that, but bullying and discrimination affects people and their mental state.

Bullying affects people’s mental states, which is proven by the PACER Center, which states that “(19.2%) of students report being bullied” as of 2023. Discrimination also affects people’s mental health. Discrimination can cause certain people to not be able to get the help they need by essentially blocking them out from getting it, which is proven by Harvard School of Public Health, which states that people get discriminated against, preventing them from getting (mental) healthcare, whether it’s because of their income, race, sexuality, gender identity, etc. Eric Farley, a teacher at Salem High School, who works with students who have depression and/or anxiety, or other mental health issues, “to help them cope throughout the day.” He stated that he believes that mental health is certainly getting worse, and it could be because of isolation, as society wants people to be more individual and less expressive when it comes to their emotions, as “they’re considered less human” if they are vulnerable and show their emotions. He stated that he also believes that social media contributes to the isolation, as “they [people] don’t communicate in a positive manner.” He also stated that people being bullied and discriminated against contributes to mental health issues, specifically he said that “a lot of stereotyping has contributed to this” increase in mental health issues. Another thing he said is that a pattern he’s noticed is that “society tries to put everyone in a box,” which severely downplays people’s individuality, and makes them feel bad if they don’t conform to the ‘norms’ that society has created.

Lori Marenda, teacher at SalemHigh School and board president for Mental Makeover, stated that “since COVID it’s [mental health issues] increased considerably.” She added on to this, saying that the current state of the world, whether it be the economic state, social state, or political state, is “a lot to deal with on a daily basis.” She said that there is “a stigma around getting help” where some people think that it is a flaw, or “a weakness, when it really isn’t.” In fact, it is more of a sign of strength, because it takes serious courage and will in order to be able to ask for help, or even just to say that you are struggling with mental health issues. She also expressed that the environment that people are in also contributes to their mental wellbeing because if your environment is bad, such as where you are, who lives with you, and especially “if you’re in an abusive relationship.” However, when asked if she believed that mental health issues were going to get worse, she replied by saying that she’s “going to be optimistic and say I hope not.”

There are certainly ways we can prevent mental health issues from worsening in the future. For one, Lori Marenda stated that we could start by “ending the stigma,” especially regarding the older generations. However, she said that she feels “the younger generation” is generally more welcoming and willing to get support, so it may just keep getting better with time. She also expressed that we need to “continue supporting people who need support.” Eric Farley said that we need to “be more vocal” when it comes to mental health issues, and we need to encourage people to not “hide it [their struggles].” He voiced that everybody needs to “realize… everybody has some kind of feelings that need to be addressed.” He also stated that we need many more people to “accept the fact that mental health is a serious topic.” However, there is still more we can do.

 

Maureen Beaudet expressed that in order for us to prevent mental health issues from worsening, especially when it comes to students, then we need to support them so that they “feel more successful in choosing their own destiny,” because they tend to feel a lack of control over their lives, so if we allow them to feel more successful, they can regain that feeling of control. As previously stated by her, the way we view mental health as sort of a negative thing is bad, and instead she stated that if we viewed it “as a way of building confidence in their [people’s] lives,” then mental health issues would likely be less common. She also said that if we could give people “opportunities and programs… to pursue, fulfill their passion,” then mental health issues would be less common. She expressed that she is “a big believer in different kinds of therapy,” so if we made therapy more of a broad term that had different ways of going about it, then it’d likely make mental health issues less prevalent, and that “therapy should be a broad term and incorporate what someone has/enjoys.” Overall, she believes that “hope is really key to improving mental health.”

Mental health issues are a problem that’s on the rise, one that some may think is unable to be fixed, and one that some might not even think is a problem. The reality is that it is an issue, and that is a fact that cannot be denied. Some reasons as to why it could be getting worse is because of the state of the world as a whole (whether it be political, economic, social, etc.), people’s environments, feeling a lack of control, bullying, discrimination, and the stigma around getting help, among other reasons. Some things that we could do in order to make mental health struggles less of an issue are to connect therapy to the individual, ending the stigma around it, supporting those who may need it, being vocal, realizing it’s an issue, and encouraging people to learn more about it. If people work together, as a community, then we can help people who suffer from mental health issues, and work to stop mental health issues from worsening even more.

 

Sources:

  • National Institution of Mental Health

(www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness#part_2555)

  • Bankrate

(www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/news/average-cost-of-therapy/)

  • PACER Center

(www.pacer.org/bullying/info/stats.asp)

  • Harvard School of Public Health

(hsph.harvard.edu/news/discrimination-in-america/)

  • National Alliance on Mental Illness

(https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/mental-health-by-the-numbers/#2020-recognizing-the-impact)