Facing a Student Mental Health Crisis in Overwhelmed Schools

A Study 2023 by Mental Health America noted that while two million young people suffered from depression, nearly 60% received no treatment. And while 75% mental health problems are established before the age of 24, almost 90% of services and support available today are dedicated to acute care models.

Access to mental health services is limited for today’s youth, especially those who are not in crisis. The problem is compounded by the fact that demand far outstrips supply because there simply aren’t enough clinicians, school counselorsor mental health professionals to support the growing number of young people facing a potential crisis.

The National Council for Behavioral Health reports that more than three-quarters of all U.S. counties now face a severe behavioral health workforce shortage, particularly in rural areas. Additionally, current demand indicates an immediate need for 8,000 additional psychiatrists, with projections indicating this deficit could double by 2025.

There is a youth mental health crisis, and schools can play a leading role in supporting students.

Reduce stigma and talk openly about mental health

For superintendents and the educators, counselors, safety and security officials they work with, a critical step is to help integrate student mental health into an ongoing dialogue, not a reaction to an incident. The subject should also be raised with educators throughout the school system. This will provide the perspective and feedback needed to develop effective practices and policies, enabling overwhelmed schools to better support and help students.

A healthy dialogue must also be open with students. We need to teach and encourage children to recognize and talk about the feelings that are causing them problems at home and at school. The practice should be integrated into the school curriculum, alongside subjects such as healthy eating and sex education, and discussed at events such as assemblies. It is essential to recognize and normalize mental health as an integral aspect of overall health and to foster open discussion on this topic in schools.

With a focus on building this open culture, students will be more likely to seek help for themselves or others who are struggling. Schools will thus be better equipped to offer or facilitate access to necessary support services.

Support a structure that allows everyone to be involved

School superintendents and administrators must have a strong structure to help students and support the teaching staff involved. Here are some key areas to focus on:

• Mental health services: When students take this step to reach out, staff must be ready to act. This means connecting students to effective on-site mental health services, led by school counselors. This is extremely important because students are more likely to participate in counseling at school than seek outside resources. In rural communities, this is often the only option for obtaining treatment.
• Staff training: Ensure that staff receive training on Mental Health First Aid (PSMH). Through this training, staff will develop the skills necessary to recognize young people at potential risk and be able to intervene quickly.
• Disciplinary policies: When students feel that their school is a safe place where rules are respected and applied fairly, discipline problems decrease. Review and monitor disciplinary policies, refining and updating them as necessary based on school trend data and student and parent feedback.
• Staff mental health: It is essential that superintendents ensure teachers and front-line staff receive mental health care support to avoid burn-out and personal stress. To this end, schools should explore wellness programs covering aspects ranging from health education to emotional learning to stress management. This emphasis has been shown to increase job satisfaction and have a positive effect on students and the environment.
• Parental participation: Parents should be involved in discussions about mental health and school leaders should be transparent when doing so. In conversations with parents, school officials should be as open as possible. Uninformed parents can prevent students from getting help, while engaged parents can be the best facilitators.

Meet students where they are

Provider shortages and the barriers noted above prevent students from obtaining mental health services. To overcome this problem, they need to learn skills and have easy access to tools that will allow them to manage their mental health.

According to a Gallup survey out of 1,500 teens, you’ll find young people online: teens spend 4.8 hours a day using social media apps. With this in mind, an emerging approach to helping students build resilience to face life’s challenges is to use web-based behavioral health applications that provide safe, clinically robust spaces for students to share their experiences and gain support from empathetic peers and trained professionals. Many of these platforms are available 24/7, and if there are warning signs that a student is in danger, escalation processes ensure that services and adults outside of the platform are involved.

This gives hope to young people who might not otherwise know where to find mental health services and well-being resources or whether they would benefit from them. These apps allow young people to be informed on topics such as recognizing anxiety and how to manage it. In many ways, college students are a subclinical population whose problems do not necessarily require in-person therapy or medication. These apps can prevent students from falling through the cracks and exacerbating what could be preventable worsening of mental health issues.

Concrete example

In Pennsylvania, more than 100,000 students in school districts across the state had access to such an application. This provided them with educational mental health content, self-help practices, moderated forums, therapeutic activities and more, all available from their smartphones and computers. More importantly, students could get professional help through asynchronous messaging and live chat guidance.

Dr. Beth Pausic is a clinical psychologist and vice president of clinical excellence at Kooth Digital Healtha leader in youth-focused digital mental health.

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