I was chatting with a friend of mine a week ago and I realised that there must be loads of people out there who suffer with MH issues and don't know about it. Apparently 1 in 3 adults do/have/will face a depressive illness in their life time. And many do so unknowingly, undiagnosed and untreated. My response was 'damn, what a crazy world we live in.'
There must be a way we (as a country) can deal with the stigma, shame, lack of awareness and lack of resolution that surround these issues.
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I think that change needs to start amongst the young; that seems to be where these issues tend to start (up to around 25 [approximate figure, with exceptions of course] most people are still forming their perceptions of the world and themselves, etc.) and where they need to begin being treated with.
So how could this be implemented? I thought a blanket approach of doing MH checks on all pupils would help. A friend, however, pointed out that though this might seem useful it would be discomforting to many parents, and therefore not necessarily get the support it deserves.
Next idea was for all students to undergo mental health educational lessons in schools, as part of PSHE or otherwise. The purpose would be to raise awareness (thereby dealing with stigma, helping develop more supportive environments for those facing MH and bring to attention MH issues to those who may be unaware of them, allowing them to pursue treatment).
Another friend brought it to my attention that at number10.gov.uk you can put together petitions and given enough signatures parliament is consented to discuss them.
Maybe I'm going off on one here, maybe there's a particular reason why this hasn't happened yet, but what to people think? Could something like this work and make a difference?
Last edited by random.swirls : 19-10-2011 at 08:18 PM.
Reason: Moving to news and debate as I don't get the impression you want support from this thread?
"I always assumed that love is a dangerous disadvantage. Thank you for the final proof." Sherlock Holmes
"The night is darkest just before the dawn. I promise you, the dawn is coming!" Harvey Dent
"Find something that makes you happy, do it. Because everything else, it's all just background noise." George Mason
"It has long been said in these things, 'The journey makes the character, the trial tests the spirit.'" King Ondor
Moderators, if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it to the right place.
"I always assumed that love is a dangerous disadvantage. Thank you for the final proof." Sherlock Holmes
"The night is darkest just before the dawn. I promise you, the dawn is coming!" Harvey Dent
"Find something that makes you happy, do it. Because everything else, it's all just background noise." George Mason
"It has long been said in these things, 'The journey makes the character, the trial tests the spirit.'" King Ondor
Thanks MeaCulpa. This came onto my radar recently so helping out would be a good thing I think.
"I always assumed that love is a dangerous disadvantage. Thank you for the final proof." Sherlock Holmes
"The night is darkest just before the dawn. I promise you, the dawn is coming!" Harvey Dent
"Find something that makes you happy, do it. Because everything else, it's all just background noise." George Mason
"It has long been said in these things, 'The journey makes the character, the trial tests the spirit.'" King Ondor
I totally agree, there should be MH education classes/lectures in school.
Schools always talk about alcohol, drugs, smoking, social pressure, sex education, etc, but nobody ever talks about depression that has much higher rates!
Also they should talk about eating disorders and self harm. In middle school they did talk to us about anorexia but that was very uncommon... and nobody ever talks about self harm, someone should start raising awarencess, people still think only bored teenage emos do it to get attention.
Schools are definitely the place to start.
"Life is like glass... better leave it broken then cut yourself trying to fix it."
They should educate people. But i can think of plenty of teachers who would make a complete hash of it. Smoking or unprotected sex, thats black and white really, if you do it the consequences are clear cut. But self harm and other mental health stuff has lots of complicated factors and consequences and its more open to opinion. That could all go horribly wrong
He was no longer jean valjean but no. 24601 -les miserable
Some of life's mysteries will never be solved, such as why, after spending an entire evening listenong to Bach, do I find myself humming "the birdie song".......
I am reaching, but i fall, and the stars are black and cold, as i stare into the void of a world that cannot hold- les miserables
I thought that most schools do teach this sort of stuff in SPHE or equivalent? I mean, it's probably not done fantastically well or anything, but we definitely discussed it in class when I was in school. We actually did a class project on it too. It's becoming more and more talked about.
I think they should have classes on healthy coping techniques for people, so that young people learn how to deal with problems in a healthy way - and I think that could be helpful for everyone, since most people get stressed out about family, or relationships, or exams etc.
Good grief can you imagine uneducated teachers trying to discuss very complex issues like psychosis or schizophrenia with a class of moronic 14 year olds?
Whilst it's a good idea in essence, I think teachers will end up making a dogs dinner out of it. I mean I had one teacher tell me back in year 10 that if a person talks about suicide it means they wont go through with it because they're not actually serious, apparently people who are suicidal never give any warning and just go ahead and do it
Can you imagine a teacher like that harping on about mental health? 90% of what they say will be fictional rubbish. And then there was another teacher who said there's no such thing as depression, just selfishness and silliness. In response to finding out that someone in the class was taking time off school under orders from CAMHS.
Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money.
They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Good grief can you imagine uneducated teachers trying to discuss very complex issues like psychosis or schizophrenia with a class of moronic 14 year olds?
Whilst it's a good idea in essence, I think teachers will end up making a dogs dinner out of it. I mean I had one teacher tell me back in year 10 that if a person talks about suicide it means they wont go through with it because they're not actually serious, apparently people who are suicidal never give any warning and just go ahead and do it
Can you imagine a teacher like that harping on about mental health? 90% of what they say will be fictional rubbish. And then there was another teacher who said there's no such thing as depression, just selfishness and silliness. In response to finding out that someone in the class was taking time off school under orders from CAMHS.
It doesn't have to be teachers, I think it would be best if those will be lecturers from the outside, not necessarily psychologists, but people trained especially for that by the ministry of health or education, or something.
All my schools used to bring people from the outside and the ministry of education sent us several people, so it can be done in this subject too.
I agree that regular school teachers will screw this up completely.
"Life is like glass... better leave it broken then cut yourself trying to fix it."
Good grief can you imagine uneducated teachers trying to discuss very complex issues like psychosis or schizophrenia with a class of moronic 14 year olds?
Can you imagine the threads on RYL with all the people moaning about how they've been 'triggered' by these conversations, and/or how the teachers were insensitive and/or inaccurate. Can't have it both ways.
Schools have a hell of a job to do as it is. Generally, they do cover topics such as mental health although not in any great depth and really, why should they? I'd rather a child be able to read, write and have at least a basic numerical ability, and schools can't manage that as it is.
There are already so many different charities and organisations trying to raise awareness, although I'd say people are plenty aware of self-harm and mental health difficulties. If people weren't aware of these things then they wouldn't be present in the public consciousness, but they are. Of course people might not have a great understanding of any of it, but they know it exists. And that would roughly be the level of understanding a school could teach to. Teenage dramas cover these issues often, and this will provide a better understanding for people than an hour or so in a lesson.
Can you imagine the threads on RYL with all the people moaning about how they've been 'triggered' by these conversations, and/or how the teachers were insensitive and/or inaccurate. Can't have it both ways.
Schools have a hell of a job to do as it is. Generally, they do cover topics such as mental health although not in any great depth and really, why should they? I'd rather a child be able to read, write and have at least a basic numerical ability, and schools can't manage that as it is.
There are already so many different charities and organisations trying to raise awareness, although I'd say people are plenty aware of self-harm and mental health difficulties. If people weren't aware of these things then they wouldn't be present in the public consciousness, but they are. Of course people might not have a great understanding of any of it, but they know it exists. And that would roughly be the level of understanding a school could teach to. Teenage dramas cover these issues often, and this will provide a better understanding for people than an hour or so in a lesson.
People have no understanding at all! They seem to think it's only emo teenagers who try to get attention. At least from what I've heard people saying. I never saw anything that tried to raise awareness.
But the trigger is an issue though... That might be a problem.
"Life is like glass... better leave it broken then cut yourself trying to fix it."
People have no understanding at all! They seem to think it's only emo teenagers who try to get attention. At least from what I've heard people saying. I never saw anything that tried to raise awareness.
But the trigger is an issue though... That might be a problem.
I said they know it exists but may not always understand it. For the vast majority of people they will have had no personal exposure to self-harm and so why should they understand? I have little to no understanding of what someone with liver disease is going through, or what makes someone gamble everything away, or why people think boxing is a good form of entertainment.
Why should everyone be forced into understanding self-harm? Especially when people who self-harm (or who have done in the past) have differing opinions on it. Personally I do think a lot of people use it as a cry for attention, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I have personal experience of self-harm, so it's not like I don't understand it.
Teen dramas always have some sort of mental health issue on the go, usually self-harm or an eating disorder. In general they handle these things well and often have an information service available to go along with it. But then I've seen people here dislike these dramas because they aren't "accurate" enough and/or they are too triggering.
Like many here, I'd really love to help reduce the stigma and the apparent shame of dealing with MH issues. Considering many do it alone even sometimes without their families being aware of anything, it could really open a few eyes. Saying that, how many children will actually take it all on board at 14-16? If you taught it in college then I think that'd be at an age where people would more than likely have dealt with a little more in their lives in which they could possibly relate to the topics being taught. In school though, it's such a shame but I think the stigma would still be there. Yes, I understand the objective is to educate and make people aware, but it's also about maturity and life experience. That of which the vast majority of children say under 14-16 wouldn't have had yet.
Flipping the coin and looking at the other side, you'd never know who was dealing with what, as it's not commonly spoken about. If it is - at that age you barely comprehend it yourself (I didn't know what generalised anxiety was at 14 and I only really learnt about it properly at 16/17, I continue to learn about it even at 20 now).
Overall yeah, why not, start young. MH issues should be spoken about more openly, in my eyes just as much as physical health. It's getting to the stage now where pretty much every adult knows of somebody who is a) dealing with a MH problem, b) is medicated for a MH problem or c) is having some kind of therapy for a MH problem.
Everything passes, everything changes. Just do what you think you should do.
Everyone's life will improve once they realize most psychology "experts" are more a part of the problem than the solution. A problem with modern psychology is it doesn't maintain any real distinction between right and wrong, normal and abnormal. If a kid is depressed they want to give him a pill and treat him as "flawed" even though the real cause is getting beat up by a drunk parent every week. I mean the kid could be perfectly normal.
There are many basically normal people being driven to be abnormal by people who enjoy a facade of respectability. Just pressuring kids to achieve and to study too hard to memorize things sets them up for problems. Training people to be stress sensitive and to need it to function is debilitating and a root cause of PTSD in many people (especially military). In many ways schools are actually debilitating people and setting them up for problems but you wont hear many "authentic" experts telling anyone that.
Just pressuring kids to achieve and to study too hard to memorize things sets them up for problems. Training people to be stress sensitive and to need it to function is debilitating and a root cause of PTSD in many people (especially military). In many ways schools are actually debilitating people and setting them up for problems but you wont hear many "authentic" experts telling anyone that.
I don't really agree with the general gist of your post, but I do sort of agree with this. I do think schools (as well as parents, friends and the individuals themselves) do put a lot of emphasis on success and achievement and if/when this doesn't materialise it can be hard to take. I'm not so sure about the "stress sensitive" aspects, because in my experience schools generally encourage forward planning and organisation so as not to become stressed.
Everyone's life will improve once they realize most psychology "experts" are more a part of the problem than the solution. A problem with modern psychology is it doesn't maintain any real distinction between right and wrong, normal and abnormal. If a kid is depressed they want to give him a pill and treat him as "flawed" even though the real cause is getting beat up by a drunk parent every week. I mean the kid could be perfectly normal.
There are many basically normal people being driven to be abnormal by people who enjoy a facade of respectability. Just pressuring kids to achieve and to study too hard to memorize things sets them up for problems. Training people to be stress sensitive and to need it to function is debilitating and a root cause of PTSD in many people (especially military). In many ways schools are actually debilitating people and setting them up for problems but you wont hear many "authentic" experts telling anyone that.
I actually think you have something of a point here (shocking I know ;-p) Though I do agree with JodiE that not all MH professionals do this/want to do this, and I think there are many other factors than schools that help to form poor coping mechanisms.
'Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.'
['There is only one thing we say to death. Not today'.']
'We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell. Oscar Wilde
Its hard to dance with the devil on your back. Sydney Carter
I think a basic discussion could be okay, but I agree with above posts that pathologising everything is a big part of the mental health problem. When you're told something is a problem, instead of learning to work around it, it can result in lowering self esteem and making everything worse. Medications are also not well understood and often cause as much harm as good. Now that's not to say there's no mental illness or that pills never work or that there should be no education, but I would think it could be harmful to push it in student's faces too much. When you're a teenager, you tend to feel abnormal already, and to pathologise every negative feeling or idiosyncrasy can really create problems that wouldn't have existed before.
So maybe some basic education about self harm/eating disorders (and possibly not labeling them as a disease but just giving non-judgmental information about how to get help) and maybe some basic information about long term disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar, etc.) just to decrease stigma for people who truly have it, but it would have to steer away from labeling students, making those who have been diagnosed as feeling even more separate, or encouraging self diagnosis.
Stereotypes are the epitome of human laziness.
- me
My girlfriends grand mother is also running a similar campaign currently based in Warrington, as well as asking for better provision of CAMHS services that don't reject people because they have "complex" problems.
