Improving Mental Health Literacy

According to research, about 1 in 5 people may experience mental health concerns during their adolescence. If not addressed, this can lead to negative outcomes in their development, academics and mental wellness. In an effort to improve mental health awareness Canada implemented a curriculum resource, The Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide (The Guide). The first version was released in 2008, and is currently in it’s 3rd version. Stan Kutcher and his team, share their 2016 findings in the Canadian Journal of Psychology, where they evaluate the efficacy of the curriculum. The curriculum was taught by classroom teachers in secondary schools. It covered student’s knowledge and attitudes related to mental health and mental illnesses. The study looked at the impact of curriculum and resource applications through surveys provided pre-curriculum, post-curriculum and 2 months post-curriculum.

The Guide is a web based Mental Health Literacy curriculum developed by mental and education experts, certified by the Curriculum Services Canada, a pan-Canadian curriculum and standards and evaluation agency and is endorsed by the Canadian Association for School Health. The guide was field tested and includes 6 modules on: the stigma of mental disorders and treatments, experiences of mental illness, seeking help and finding support, and the importance of positive mental health. It was developed to integrate into the current health curriculum and takes about 10-12 classroom hours.

The study shows the curriculum embedded in the usual school setting is an effective way to improve mental health literacy in young people. The guide raises awareness by providing knowledge, resources and decreasing stigma around mental illnesses. This is especially of concern for adolescents, since mental illnesses show onset during adolescence and can be recognized by age 25.

Below are points raised by the study.

Some clinician implications:

Increased Mental Health Literacy in school settings may encourage young people to to seek help from Mental Health Care providers
Embedding Mental Health Literacy interventions in schools may enable and empower teachers and students to have better communications with Mental Health Care providers

Some limitations:

Further research using control groups is needed
Further validation of the measurement tools used in our study is needed

In reviewing American journals, there is very little evaluation literature on the mental health education in public schools, although there is a hint of their potential impact. ”Research into school-based mental health literacy is still in its infancy and there is insufficient evidence to claim for positive impact of school mental health literacy programs on knowledge improvement, attitudinal change or help-seeking behavior. Future research should focus on methods to appropriately determine the evidence of effectiveness on school-based mental health literacy programs, considering the values of both RCTs and other research designs in this approach. Educators should consider the strengths and weaknesses of current mental health literacy programs to inform decisions regarding possible implementation.”

Education policy advocates in England recognize the value of including mental health awareness as part of the standard academic education and are bringing it into their public discussion.

Teachers training materials for the Mental Health & High School Curriculum is free and available for download:

http://teenmentalhealth.org/product/mental-health-high-school-curriculum/

For more information please visit:

www.paintedbrain.org

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4679167/pdf/cjp-2015-vol60-dec2015-580-586.pdf

http://teenmentalhealth.org/product/mental-health-high-school-curriculum/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil_Humphrey/publication/264832203_Why_schools_should_promote_students’_health_and_wellbeing/links/5570039808aefcb861ddb7f2/Why-schools-should-promote-students-health-and-wellbeing.pdf

2017 Children’s Mental Health Report

The Child Mind Institute released it’s annual Children’s Mental Health Report. The 2017 report looked at the teenage years guided by 3 main concepts:

The adolescent brain develops until at least age 25
Most mental health disorders have onset before 24
Encourage understanding adolescent mental health through education and anti-stigma programs will change lives

According to the report, “Adolescence is a time of unprecedented cognitive and physical growth and vivid experiences of new ideas, feelings, and ambitions. It’s a period of intense learning and development, but it is also a high-risk period for impulsive behavior, and for the onset of mental health and substance use disorders.”

Understanding the brain development during adolescence helps understand teenage behavior and explore interventions and strategies. The report summarizes the neurological changes, their strength and weaknesses in decision making, long term effects of drug and alcohol and why certain mental health disorders show an onset during this growth stage. In addition, the report offers strategies for engaging teenagers in getting treatment and highlights successful programs that decrease mental health stigma and increase treatment-seeking behavior.

Below are some highlights from the report:

2017-CMHR-PDF

For more information please visit:

http://www.paintedbrain.org

http://www.childmind.org

Anxiety Cases on Rise with Teens

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the United States. It affects about 1/3 of adults and adolescents and relative to depression is seen as less serious. It is easy to dismiss as everyone has it to some level. Philip Kendal of the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorder Clinic at Temple University in Philadelphia explains,

“It has an evolutionary purpose, after all; it helps us detect and avoid potentially dangerous situations. Highly anxious people, though, have an overactive fight-or-flight response that perceives threats where there often are none.

But sometimes there are good reasons to feel anxious. For many young people, particularly those raised in abusive families or who live in neighborhoods besieged by poverty or violence, anxiety is a rational reaction to unstable, dangerous circumstances.”

In surveying current articles there seems to be several reasons that cause increased anxiety amongst teens. The teens in unsafe environments, overestimate danger and underestimate how they will cope. Teens in low socio-economic neighborhoods can feel unsafe if there is a history of trauma, abuse, or unstable family life. In school, anxiety specialist call them the “silent sufferers” as they can be mistaken for shy.

In more affluent neighborhoods, Suniya Luthar, a professor of psychology at Arizona State University, says, “These kids are incredibly anxious and perfectionistic,” she says, but there’s “contempt and scorn for the idea that kids who have it all might be hurting.”

New York Times published an article titled, “Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering From Severe Anxiety?” The spike in severe anxiety is alarming, and has overtaken depression as common symptom for seeking counseling. “In 1985, the Higher Education Research Institute at U.C.L.A. began asking incoming college freshmen if they “felt overwhelmed by all I had to do” during the previous year. In 1985, 18 percent said they did. By 2010, that number had increased to 29 percent. Last year, it surged to 41 percent.”

Since 2012, the Washington Post reported, the Boys Town National Hotline has seen a 12 percent spike in teens reaching out via calls, texts, chats and emails about their struggle with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. According to the CDC, rates of suicide have increased, and the rate of hospital admissions for suicidal teenagers has also doubled over the past decade. Suicide rates among 15- to 19-year-old girls doubled between 2007 and 2015, reaching a 40-year high.

In addition, teens express anxiety over their acceptance in social media.

A report by the Young Health Movement in the United Kingdom revealed Instagram is the most detrimental to young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

The report says 91 percent of 16-24 year old use the interest for social networking. Rates of anxiety and depression in young people have risen 70 percent in the past 25 years. Social Media has affect their sleep and created worry, especially if they use it more than 2 hours a day.

Dr. Peyton is a child psychologist who works at SSM Health Dean Medical Group clinic in Sun Prairie and says he has witnessed how social media in general is creating a lot of problems for teens. He says Facebook is the worst for cyber-bullying, and Instagram is creating a lot of “compare and despair.”

At the same time, social media can also be used positively to connect. Thomas Simon told CNN in August. “It’s an opportunity to correct myths about suicide and to allow people to access prevention resources and materials.”

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 80 percent of kids with a diagnosable anxiety disorder are not getting treatment. The silver lining is that anxiety disorders are highly treatable.