Perspectives in Mental Health: Week 2 - Education
When I sent out the question form for this series, Mental Health Education was one of the largest requests. This is exciting to me because I don’t see mental health education as a strictly policy-based matter. To me, education around mental health can happen through policies, observations, and individual accountability — which I don’t find extremely radical to say.
Policy and programs are extremely important in progressing mental health education broadly. I recently spoke on a panel for LookUp Live’s annual summit, and one of the questions that were asked was “if you could pass any legislation what would you pass?” My response was to make basic mental health education a requirement in schools, even a simple one-semester psychology course could be implemented in schools. High schools across the United States require at least one course on basic physical health. But I’m a firm believer that having a basic understanding of how the mind works are beneficial. Knowing how our thoughts, habits, and emotions form helps us understand ourselves and others. When I was in high school, I took a one-semester course on psychology. This class barely scratched the surface of the vast field of psychology. However, it positively affected my relationships and taught me how to be a better student by teaching me better habits. It’s a huge misconception to think that mental health education is limited to mental illnesses. While I think learning about common disorders and experiences is important, I think mental health education can be a lot simpler than that. Mental health education should not be centered solely on illness. Rather, it should teach young people healthy coping and learning strategies. While also giving insight into how the mind works. I know many health courses cover some mental health topics briefly, but I think a simple course on basic psychology goes far in helping someone understand themselves and others.
However, I don’t think creating new policies is the only way to improve mental health education; especially in the states. The last two pathways that I mentioned work hand in hand. If an individual takes accountability for understanding their own mind, others can observe this self-improvement and apply the same or similar habits to themselves. Of course, not everyone has the privilege or opportunity to teach themselves “healthy habits”. And of course, mental health is more than “health habits”. But education is should not be constrained to the walls of a school or classroom. Instead, we can learn from others around us. Early in my childhood, I faced my fair share of adversity. But the habits, mindsets, and lessons that I learned from my peers still affect me greatly today. Sometimes education rests on recognizing the areas in which another excels.
The sunset from their engagement :,)
This past weekend two of my greatest friends got engaged. At their engagement party, I cried tears of joy, not just because of their engagement but because of who they are as individuals. I met these two in my freshman year of university and without them, I strongly believe that my approach to school and work would be drastically different (and I don’t mean for the better). They’re both seniors this year and everyone in our community looks up to them for their passion, mindsets, and faith. I realize I inherited so many of their habits into my daily routine. From how I talk and lead others, to how I approach my research, they have deeply inspired the way I want to live my life. And their character is not something you can learn in school. It’s the type of education that you get from watching two people love each other, others, and themselves.
Therefore I encourage you to learn and to value education outside of the “academic” environment. Policies that support and implement Mental Health Education will always be something I support. And I firmly believe we should work toward this type of policy more. Because if we can help people understand themselves, then we have a greater opportunity to understand others too. Mental Health Education teaches us how to negotiate, have conversations, and understand trauma and experiences. It teaches us how to cope with stress and anxiety. It teaches us habits that help us in school, work, and in our communities. Mental health education is a door toward empathy.
That being said, alongside mental health policy, we cannot ignore our individual responsibility to learn. The word “education” comes from the Latin words “educare” and “educere” meaning “to train” and “to lead” respectively. Education is the act of training yourself about a certain subject or thing and then leading a life acting on it. Education is something that happens through academics and policies but it is also something that happens within us. An easy way to do this is by recognizing the strengths that others have, and then realizing there is so much we can learn from others (and there is so much about you that others can learn from too).
I’ve learned to look at the Latin roots of common words from the couple that got engaged over this weekend. I can confidently say that I have learned much from that alone.
So congratulations to you two :) you know who you are!
Much Love, Always!
Here are some mental health resources that could expand your knowledge of mental health!
NIMH Digital Resources on specific topics
Some of my favorite videos about Mental Health related topics