Today we have a guest post. “Fred” originally wrote this last year but as we are in the middle of the 2023 exam season, it feels appropriate to share this again.

Mental Health In Schools

Schools offer an array of options on how to deal with a mental health problem which you might be going through. However, how good are these options? Whilst at school, it is noticeable that recently schools have been putting in a lot of effort into assisting people with their mental health, yet it is also apparent that there are many people not getting the proper aid which they require.

As I myself go to a private school, pupils there are offered perhaps many more ways in which to tackle their mental health problems. This ranges from just talking to their friends or a member of staff, to getting special counselling for free. Something that I have noticed is often the idea presented by the school of ‘everything staying private’ not actually being the case.

As a result, pupils who are looking for guidance of some sort in regards to their mental health are much more intimidated by the fear of even their ordinary academic teachers treating them differently due to what they are struggling with. An example of this is a girl which I used to have in my class. From word of mouth, it became apparent that the girl is clearly dealing with mental health problems which led to not only pupils treating her differently, but like I said, teachers.

A school environment is known for being a place in which secrets are difficult to hide, and needing to go and speak to ‘professionals’ was very open with other pupils knowing it is happening (teachers saying in front of others, you have an appointment with such and such at 1pm) as well as teachers which i would presume are informed about the pupils mental health.

The reason why this is such a problem is because with certain people knowing about this, they may take advantage of the pupil by bullying even if it is someone giving a funny look as if to say, “Oh there goes the girl with problems.” However, that is a different topic.

Yet again, this issue of teachers finding it impossible to handle things privately and listening carefully to what exactly the pupil has to say, they manage to take it out of hand stressing about the reputation of their school which can be damaged if people become aware of pupils having struggles with mental health whilst at this school. This is more than likely the reason in which pupils are just sent home for ‘mental health reasons’ leaving for months at a time.

For this reason, I believe that if you are looking for assistance in relation to your mental health, doing it outside of the school environment is certainly the best way to beat any problems which you might be dealing with.

Often schools do not provide the right team or resources in order to tackle the wide topic of ‘Mental Health.’ Nevertheless the right thing to do is to talk about it. Still, if you notice that it is not working, there is no point wasting your time, but rather look for help outside of school from places such as ‘The Julian Campbell Foundation.’

The Julian Campbell Foundation is a charity which is dedicated to assist young people with their mental health and direct them in the right direction to beat whatever it is they are dealing with. With a trained team, you can get help from them on social media, or by having private meetings with members of their team, whilst also having the certainty that whatever it is you say, is kept between you and your councillor, unless of course, you say otherwise.

There are many others out there, so you can find help anywhere on the internet if you would like, as the most important thing is helping your mental health and giving you the reassurance that you have gained the right assistance, and hopefully soon you will not be dealing with any Mental Health problems. If you think that perhaps you might be, yet are not 100% sure, it is better to find out and get the confidence that everything is ok, rather than stress and worry that something may be holding you back from happiness.