Eleanor Service | School and Local News Editor
Stress. Anxiety. Depression. These three very serious things are all topics that today’s high school students are intimately familiar with, whether they realise it or not.
Personally, I suffer from anxiety. And that admission is something that many people are afraid of. They are afraid to reveal the issues they are having, especially when it comes to their mental health. I understand that mentality. I have experienced anxiety in it’s many forms for most of my life, but I’ve only recently been comfortable enough with the concept to talk about it.
Actually, I only realised what it was when I started high school – because sometimes it takes a problem being amplified a thousand times over to admit that it’s really there. And for me, that catalyst was the never-ending stress high school shoves down your throat from the moment you walk through the door. Nothing aggravates anxiety like the kind of terror and panic school inflicts.
When it comes to depression, I would never claim to be an expert on the matter. But I have watched in disbelief as the statistics on teenagers suffering from this mental illness, (emphasis on illness, for those incapable of realising this is not simply teen angst or over-reaction) skyrocket, but the treatment available stays stagnant. Here at St. Andrew’s and St. Bride’s we have a fantastic Guidance department on hand to assist pupils with any problems they may be having, but they can only do so much.
When it comes to mental health, there needs to be dedicated staff trained to deal with this issue, or these pupils’ mental state will continue to deteriorate. But if that’s not enough to incentivise any establishment, here’s another way to look at it: If more and more pupils’ mental well-being continues to suffer, so will their grades. Which means you can kiss your precious performance statistics goodbye. Take this as just a gentle nudge, in case the thought of thousands of teenagers descending into a world of misery and distress isn’t enough to encourage you to do something. Because it doesn’t seem to have been enough so far.
But this truly begs the question, what is at the heart of this issue? Here I can only speak from personal experience, but I’m certain that my story is in no way unique. As I have said, I suffer from anxiety, and that didn’t start in high school. My panic attacks started in high school. My anxiety chest pains started in high school. My breakdowns started in high school. And I do not think this is in any way a coincidence. High school is revered as this time of joyous youth, free from the shackles of responsibility. But this is entirely a falsehood. High school is instead a time of mounting homework, days spent studying late into the night, and desperately trying to get through the day on just 4 hours of sleep, because that essay apparently won’t write itself. And teachers only seem to compound this issue.
Far too many times I have had to sit through an adult – so far out of touch with the reality of our situation that they can’t even see it – use fear mongering scare tactics to glorify and encourage unhealthy studying routines. And then they wonder why we’re so stressed. They spend hours rambling on about how we must do 3 hours studying per subject a week (but 5 hours for maths) and 2 hours of homework a night at least on top of school itself. And then as a quick little addition go “but you have to take care of yourself as well”. As an afterthought.
Because who cares if your miserable and unhealthy? The stats are good!
Now to be abundantly clear, there is a fantastic support network of many caring and concerned teachers in our school community – but this problem is more than just confined to the walls of the school building. The deprecating importance of mental health continues to be neglected, festering into a dangerous commonality among teenagers.
This deep-seated and complicated problem must be solved not through teachers, homework diaries or study schedules. It has to be solved with a shock to the system and it’s time for the powers at be to pull the plug on ignoring mental health for any longer.
