Education
This section offers information for educators and students on the role that education plays in mental health awareness and recovery.
Grade-school children with serious emotional disturbances have the highest rates of school failure because of the discrimination and stigma associated with these disorders. Fifty percent of these students drop out of high school, compared to 30 percent of all students with disabilities. The situation gets worse as the students get older: college-age students are especially vulnerable to mental illness; many psychiatric disorders first emerge in the late teens or early twenties.
Not only do students with mental health problems experience difficulties but their teachers do, too. It can be frustrating to teach such students who have mental illnesses not only because of their difficulties in learning but because of the impact of their behaviors on the rest of the class.
Mental health awareness by everyone in the classroom may increase acceptance and understanding of people with mental illnesses, decrease the negative attitudes that are oftentimes attached to mental health problems, and lead to treatment for youth with mental health disorders.
This section provides materials such as brochures and fact sheets; books, articles, and research; and links to resource organizations. These materials and resources offer both theory and practical advice to help teachers and students gain in understanding and useful information. (More information is available under Children.)