Photo Courtesy of Reporter Cordell Conover
The mental health epidemic is growing rapidly amongst teenagers at San Luis Obispo High School. Throughout America, 1 in 3 high school students experience feelings of sadness and/or hopelessness and SLOHS is not hidden from this epidemic.
“School, home life, and people at school are the main causes of stress. Being overloaded with work and not having enough communication with teachers affected my mental health,” said freshman Ali Schwartz.
In America, there needs to be more resources and reliable information for people suffering through a mental illness. Similarly, not enough is being done at SLOHS to combat this issue, as numerous students across all grade levels are suffering from some form of mental distress.
“I feel support from literally two teachers. I feel like most of the time, teachers expect you to go out of your way to talk. There needs to be more of a checkup,” said Schwartz.
Most of the stress that SLOHS students are under stems from the workload and tests that are put on students everyday. Getting good grades at SLOHS sacrifices many students’ mental health. However, around the school there are not enough resources for students to explore that could better their mental health.
“We need to have more programs, more support, more awareness towards our mental health,” said an anonymous junior.
The Coronavirus Pandemic has affected many students’ mental health for the worst. More than one third of teenagers in America reported having poor mental health during the pandemic. School connectivity also struggled during the pandemic, with most students online throughout the main part of the year. School connectivity is an important part of a student’s health because it helps them feel a part of a community. With this lacking, some students don’t have someone to turn to for help.
“I actually developed anxiety during the lockdown and I’m still taking medication for it. Covid-19 has really impacted my mental health a lot,” said an anonymous junior.
Students often have outside factors in their lives that can influence their mental health. Emotional abuse, physical abuse, and parents losing their jobs all escalated due to the pandemic. These traumatic events all have the potential to exacerbate someone’s mental health. Students want to get the message across that outside factors end up affecting them, not only at home, but at school as well.
“I want to see more of an understanding, like mental health days and understanding that outside of school, we have our own lives. School isn’t our life,” said Schwartz.
Expressions made multiple attempts to speak with the counseling department about what they offer for students suffering with their mental health, but we didn’t receive a response.
Sources: CDC.org
