Destroying Stigmas around Mental Health

​According to mentalhealth.org, “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.” Mental Health affects everyone in one way or another which is why it is so important to bring attention to it and get rid of the stigmas around it. Research found by PubMed shows that completed suicides are three times more common in males than females yet additional research by the National Institute of Mental Health, shows that men are far less likely to seek help when struggling with mental health. 

---

Author

Lucia Condes
​Outbreak! 2020

I live in a relatively large suburb of Boston named Acton, where I attend the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. The high school is ranked #16 out of 347  in Massachusetts public high schools, thus making it a highly competitive environment. Unfortunately, the high levels of stress certainly don’t help those who struggle with their mental health. “Six young people from two small towns lost to suicide in 30 months. A cumulative grief that seems without answers, a weary desperation to make it stop, and the inescapable fear it may happen again.” - The Boston Globe. A little over two years ago I lost a close friend of mine to suicide.  His death not only severely impacted his family and friends, but also the community as a whole. Even people who had never met him grieved for his loss because that is the impact that suicide has in a community.
As mentioned before, men are far less likely to ask for help when they’re struggling, many in fear that they’ll seem weak. But that stigma is very dangerous and needs to be removed. A good step towards preventing suicides from continuing is taking the fear of asking for help away, providing the right channels and resources. Performing required suicide/mental health screenings on the entire student population, just like they do vision tests and scoliosis screenings so that people don’t feel singled out, would be a step closer towards fixing the issue. On top of that, educating teachers and staff about the warning signs of mental illness as well as making sure students have access and are educated about suicide prevention hotlines could make a drastic change.
 Although no method is proved to be superior to others, it’s important that actions are taken, and something is done about this huge issue that impacts communities as a whole as well as individuals.
  
Works Cited:
“2020 Acton-Boxborough Regional High School Rankings.” Niche,
www.niche.com/k12/acton-boxborough-regional-high-school-acton-ma/rankings/.
Arsenault, Mark. “After Suicides in Acton and Boxborough, a Communion of Sorrow - The
Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, The Boston Globe, 16 Dec. 2018,
www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/12/16/communionsorrow/MYpGPXjdUoIBaJwxi8h98N/story.html. 
“How Does Acton-Boxborough Regional High Rank Among America's Best High Schools?”
U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/massachusetts/districts/acton-boxborough/acton-boxborough-regional-high-9258.
“Men and Mental Health.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/men-and-mental-health/index.shtml.
S;, Bachmann. “Epidemiology of Suicide and the Psychiatric Perspective.” International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, www.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29986446/.  
“What Is Mental Health?” What Is Mental Health? | MentalHealth.gov,
www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health.
Zalsman G, Hawton K, Wasserman D, “PubMed.” National Center for Biotechnology
Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, www.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.