“Are we talking too much about mental health?” Ellen Barry writes about recent research that raises questions about whether large-scale mental health interventions are improving the health of young people. Some even suggest that it may be harmful. The article begins:
In recent years, mental health has become a central topic in childhood and adolescence. Teens talk about psychiatric diagnosis and treatment on TikTok and Instagram. Alarmed by rising levels of distress and self-harm, school systems are introducing prevention courses in emotional self-regulation and mindfulness.
Now some researchers are warning that we risk taking it too far. They argue that mental health awareness campaigns can help some young people identify illnesses that desperately need treatment, but have a negative impact on others, overinterpreting their symptoms and treating themselves poorly. begin to think that they have more problems than they actually do.
Researchers point to unexpected results from trials of school-based mental health interventions in the UK and Australia. Students who received training in the basics of mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy did not become healthier than those who did not participate, and some were even worse off, at least for a while.
And new research from the US shows that among young people, ‘self-labeling’ as having depression or anxiety is associated with poorer coping skills such as avoidance and rumination. .
In a paper published last year, two research psychologists at the University of Oxford, Lucy Foulkes and Jack Andrews, found that the “prevalence” caused by reporting mild or episodic symptoms as a mental health disorder He coined the term ‘inflation’ and suggested that awareness campaigns were: contributing to that.
Dr Foulkes, a Prudence Trust Research Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, said: ‘The message is emerging that teenagers are vulnerable, more likely to have problems and the solution is to leave them to the professionals. ” and writes: Two books on mental health and youth.
They argue that school systems should proceed cautiously with large-scale mental health interventions until high-quality research reveals these unintended negative effects.
“That doesn’t mean we need to go back to square one, but it does mean we may need to press pause and reroute,” Dr. Foulkes said. “It’s possible that something that was very intended went a little too far and needs to be undone.”
Among adolescent mental health experts, most agree that this remains a minority view, and that the far more pressing problem is lack of access to treatment.
According to the nonprofit research group Mental Health America, about 60% of young people in the United States with severe depression do not receive treatment. Desperate families in crisis turn to emergency rooms, where teens often remain there for days until a psychiatric bed becomes available. Experts say there’s good reason to take a proactive approach to teaching schoolchildren basic skills that could forestall future crises.
Dr. Foulkes said he understood that his argument contradicted that consensus and was prepared for a backlash when he began presenting it. To her surprise, she said, many educators reached out to her to express their silent approval.
“It’s definitely scary for me to say that,” she says.
What do you think about the current focus on youth mental health from parents, schools, social media influencers, and even public health authorities? It’s an important issue that I’m glad is being addressed Or have we crossed the line by talking too much about mental health?
Is social and emotional learning part of your school’s curriculum, or has your school participated in a mental health program like the one described in the article? If so, what is that program like? Was it something? What did you learn? Did you find the program or curriculum helpful? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?
What benefits have you experienced from learning more about mental health? How has that knowledge improved your life?
Have you ever experienced negative effects like those described in this article? For example, have you diagnosed yourself with a disease that may not have been accurate? Or only about the problem and not about the solution? Did you feel as if you were learning and felt hopeless about the situation? Do you see young people glorifying mental illness?
Lucy Foulkes, one of the research psychologists interviewed for this article, suggested that schools should “put a pause” on mental health programs because of the potential negative impact. But Lucy Kim, a senior at Yale who has campaigned for more mental health support on campus, said stigma and barriers to treatment remain major issues. Who do you most agree with and why? What do you think is the most pressing issue regarding the mental health of young people in your area?
If you think schools need to address mental health education, what suggestions do you have for how schools should approach mental health education? For example, because mental health education is something that all students should receive. Shall we? Or should mental health education be targeted at those who need it most? If so, what would you like to learn about?
