Anxiety and Depression in Schools

TW: This article will be talking about anxiety, depression, and some signs of it. If this could be triggering to you please do what you have to do and be kind to yourself.

Within schools, many students struggle with their mental health. Even though many are struggling, solutions aren’t widely known. This article is to bring awareness to anxiety and depression and hopefully offer ways to help.

According to the CDC, “7.1% of children aged 3-17 years (approximately 4.4 million) have diagnosed anxiety. 3.2% of children aged 3-17 years (approximately 1.9 million) have diagnosed depression.” This is an insane amount of kids affected by these mental health issues. It’s also important to note that this is only in children that are diagnosed. There are many adults who don’t get diagnosed because of lack of resources, money, and so many other reasons. Due to this, there are a lot of people who have anxiety and depression that don’t have the proper tools to work through it. That causes, in students especially, a decline in their mental and physical health.

Anxiety and depression can show themselves in many ways. The following are a few of those ways; nervousness or worries, extreme fear, and even physical symptoms of headaches and stomachaches. With depression, it can be seen as feeling sad and hopeless most of the time or different changes within behavior. These symptoms can manifest in different ways. More resources and information can be found using the link provided at the bottom of this article.

There are ways to help with these feelings. In my opinion, therapy is the best choice. It can help to work through the emotions you are feeling with a licensed professional with an outside view. But it isn’t an option for everyone, so there are some ways to help it on your own like journaling, meditation, spending time outside or with loved ones, or taking some self care time. Overall, I feel that the best help is professional, but these techniques can help if you don’t have access to professional care.

Everyone struggles and it’s important to be there for them. If you or someone you know is struggling, tell them to try to talk to someone they trust so they aren’t dealing with it on their own. Be kind and be yourself.