It’s hard out there for today’s youth. Youth mental health has been deteriorating for decades and the COVID-19 pandemic intensified this trend. Youth in Canada saw the most significant drop in self-reported mental health following the pandemic and report a 1.3 times higher rate of depression than adults and a 1.8 times higher rate of anxiety. These rates are even higher for gender diverse and non-binary youth, and impacts to mental health are also compounded by intersectionality, particularly identities related to the construct of race. In fact, the majority of the most distressed calls to Canada’s Kids Help Phone come from Black youth who, along with Indigenous youth, also report higher levels of anxiety and depression than the rest of Canada’s youth population.
In 2020, nearly one quarter of hospitalizations for children and youth aged 5 to 24 were for mental health concerns and in 2018 suicide was the leading cause of death for 10–19-year-olds—in Canada. School refusal for depression and anxiety is increasingly common and negatively affects performance and dropout rates have been positively correlated with suicidal ideation.
A 2021 study by The Lancet revealed that 75 percent of children and youth said that they think the future is frightening, and nearly half of youth miss school due to anxiety with the highest absence rates among high school students. With growing uncertainty around the economy, climate, and global conflict, plus the pressures of social media, today’s youth need even more support through challenging times. All of this is mounting evidence that we are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis while Canada’s mental health care system is woefully underfunded.
Youth need better support
We need to do better by today’s youth, especially given that 75 percent of mental health disorders emerge before the age of 18. Providing mental health services and education to youth where they are is the best way to reach them. As a community where youth spend a significant chunk of their daily lives, schools play a pivotal role in healthy social and emotional development. Canada’s school system is also underfunded in many areas though, so how can schools, with limited resources and capacity, take on a more proactive role?
While many barriers to better in-school mental health supports stem from a lack of organizational infrastructure and capacity, knowledge gaps are also a barrier. Individually, school teachers and administrators need to build their mental health literacy to be able to notice signs and symptoms of poor or declining mental health among students and talk about them in an informed way. School staff also need to develop cultural competency, especially at schools with limited cultural diversity amongst staff. Professional development related to mental health, anti-racism, and gender diversity are particularly important to being able to support student well-being as individuals and as a school community. Organizing school- or district-wide training ensures that everyone has the same information and is delivering equitable student support in terms of knowledge and expectations.
Classroom curriculum and other school programs and extracurricular activities are also vital to influencing youths’ perceptions of mental health, raising awareness about the signs of mental illness, ensuring youth know when and where support is available, and helping to reduce stigma so kids get help when they need it. Integrated, school-based mental health curriculum is what helps improve knowledge and attitudes around mental health, particularly upstream interventions that take a holistic and multi-tiered approach. There are many programs and services designed to support teachers and school administrators to do this that don’t require reinventing the wheel.
For example, having an active gay-straight alliance (GSA) club at school can help. 2SLGBTQIA+ youth face a higher risk of bullying and depression or anxiety but schools with a GSA that was known to students had lower school-wide bullying and reduced 2SLGBTQIA+ victimization compared to schools without. Simply the presence of these clubs contributed to a positive school climate, even for students who didn’t participate, resulting in school-wide benefits. Many if not most schools have GSAs, so making all students aware that the club exists could have improved benefits for every student at your school, not just those identifying as 2SLGBTQIA+.
In recognition of the discrimination that many students identifying as 2SLGBTQIA+ (including nonbinary and gender diverse students) typically face in high school, Western University’s Centre for School Mental Health has developed a unique program with a gender-affirming foundation. In a focus group study of program participants, students felt that the program, based on the Healthy Relationships/Fourth R framework and delivered through a GSA, provided a safe place to explore and validate their experiences. In fact, one of the goals of the wide array of Healthy Relationships programming is to foster positive mental health and many of the programs are developed to be delivered in class. Some of the positive benefits for students participating in these programs include an increased intention to get help when needed and a lower chance of being physically bullied.
For Black and Indigenous youth in schools where these students aren’t represented among staff, individual care and culturally responsive programming is critical. Indigenous youth in particular benefit most from mental health programs created based on Indigenous values and beliefs that incorporate emotional, social, and spiritual components of wellness, but programs adapted for Indigenous values and beliefs also help. Once again, Western University’s Centre for School Mental Health has developed an Indigenous-informed Fourth R program for Indigenous youth, and the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework, a collaboration among the Assembly of First Nations, Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, the Native Mental Health Association, and other mental health leaders, provides a range of culturally relevant resources for supporting Indigenous mental health.
Help beyond the classroom
If your school doesn’t have the in-house resources for more individualized care, teachers can recommend the Canadian Mental Health Association’s free BounceBack® program to students who could benefit from this kind of support. The program connects youth aged 15 to 18 with a coach who can help them develop self-selected skills for managing low mood, worry and stress, and improving overall mental health. The Canadian Mental Health Association is a leading national mental health organization providing advocacy, programs, and resources that help prevent mental health problems and illnesses, support recovery and resilience, and enable all Canadians to flourish and thrive. Since being launched in 2008, BounceBack® has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety by 50 per cent at program completion.
School administration professionals and teachers have a heavy but critical role in supporting today’s youth. If you’re struggling with the weight of this responsibility, the Canadian Mental Health Association offers a free BounceBack® program for adults. With 20 topics to choose from including understanding low mood and depression, practical problem-solving, and supporting friends and family, you can customize your learning plan based on the kind of support you need. And if you’re not quite ready for coaching or want to get today, check out the online video series. Like putting your oxygen mask on before helping others, you need to prioritize your wellbeing so you can ably support youth in your schools.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Laura Mousseau is a writer for the Canadian Mental Health Association. She has lived experience with depressive and anxiety disorders which started in her youth.
References:
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