How do teens feel about mental health?
Research done by Maddie Howson
Mental illnesses are so common!!!!! Nearly 1 in 5 adults live with a mental illness (NIMH). According to the CDC, 1 in 3 adolescents have anxiety and about 1 in 5 have depression. Unfortunately, suicide crosses all age, racial, and socioeconomic groups in the US and around the world. In the US, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among children and adolescents ages 10-24. Suicide is preventable, and mental illnesses are treatable. How are we letting so many adolescents suffer in silence to the point where they want to end their lives?
We need to do better.
So, this is where my survey comes in to play. At the beginning of my Junior year I had to start deciding what I wanted my final research project to be, and what impact I wanted my research to have on my community. I knew that I wanted to help teens in my community especially because I too was struggling with mental health, and I wanted to see a change. I set up a 6 simple question survey. This survey was designed to gather information about how comfortable students feel discussing mental health with others and what resources they are most likely to tap into for help. The data was collected anonymously, and used to benefit my research. In addition, I am collaborating with RyeACT Coalition and its community partners, including the school district, as they are working at the community level around the topic of youth mental health.
If you want to continue and see the results, keep scrolling.
This first question just asked the student to select their current grade level. As you can see here, we have a relatively equal amount of responses from each grade level. The survey exceeded my expectations because we ended with a response rate of 41% as 434 of the 1,056 high school students participated.
My intention for asking this question was to identify the sources of help people would seek if one of their friends was in need of help. I knew parent and friend would be a popular choice, but I was curious about how many would seek help from someone at school. Based on the responses, we are now able to pinpoint specific people who should be prepared when someone comes to ask for help. As you can see here, parents, friends, and school related personnel were the top choices.
71.0% of students said they would go to a parent for help.
62.9% of students said they would go to a friend for help.
An aggregate number of 69.6% said they would go to school related personnel for help.
An aggregate of 85.3% of students said they believe mental health is more or less a problem for for their peers. According to the CDC, 1 in 3 adolescents have anxiety and about 1 in 5 have depression. Given that these are two of the more common mental illnesses among youth, the prevalence of mental illness is real and accurate. From the data, peers know that mental illness is prevalent and a great issue.
This question is definitely more personal in that the individual is being asked to make the decision of where they would seek help. I think this is a valuable question because a lot of times people know where to go if a friend needs help, but when it comes to that person itself, this decision can be difficult. Both of the questions asked about where someone would go regarding help give us the essential information we need to know about how to move forward.
71.7% of students said they would go to a friend for help.
62.0% said they would go to a parent for help.
An aggregate of 38.7% said they would go to a school personnel for help.
My intention with this question is to identify how comfortable people feel talking about mental health with the person/ people they chose above. If students are choosing options 1 and 2, I think that is a major problem and will drive my research senior year. If students don’t feel comfortable talking about mental health then I and the school community need to take initiative to reduce the stigma and provide them with resources and options to be able to become more comfortable talking about it with others.
An aggregate of 52% said they feel comfortable enough talking to someone about their own mental health.
However, an aggregate of 47.9% said they wouldn't feel comfortable talking to someone regarding their own mental health.
While more people felt comfortable than expected, there's still some work to be done around stigma.
My intention with this question is to identify what resources the community NEEDS to add and needs to have accessible for students. I think this question is valuable to the survey because it will allow me to take a course of action specific to the needs of students at Rye High School. We now have knowledge about the types of resources students believe would benefit them best.
58.7% want specific strategies and programs throughout the HS.
37.7% want a specific contact person at the HS.
35.5% want online resources for support.
23.9% want peer support groups.
Although these are just the thoughts of students in my community, teens tend to share opinions about mental health. This is what students want, and this is what students NEED to have accessible.
