Having a bad day seems like a normal thing and can happen to anyone. Same thing can be said about mental health. The only difference is a bad day is temporary. Mental health was originally discovered in the 20th century, but what started as mental hygiene, a term coined by American psychiatrist, William Sweetzer, had no follow-up for almost a century. Adopted by other patients and psychiatrists, In the mid 1900s, The National Association for Mental Health was born.
A lot has changed since the 1950s. One major impact on the minds of Americans and those alike is social media. Imagine a kid gets a car for his birthday. He’s excited and drives to school. Only to be the highlight of the week. Some are impressed and some are apprehensive. Some are quiet and some are vocal about it. Both negative and positive. That is social media. What’s not on social media are the effects and damages this kind of attention can do to a young mind. Incidents like these can leave children and adolescents to feel rejected, ashamed, guilty and makes them avoid seeking personal help. If we compare the inadequate feelings to the stigmas created by prejudices, stereotypes and discrimination around mental health. It creates a whole new dynamic of a child’s expectation.
In your adolescent years, it’s not uncommon to spend as much time at home as you would at school. The vulnerability this creates between parent, child and peers becomes the most important aspect of a child’s life. Parent’s having a negative attitude toward a child’s mental health can also affect the stigmas that children experience. A study done by Bernice Pescosolido concluded that out of 1300 parents 45% felt their child could suffer if someone found out they had mental health problems while 36% parents believe they may have failed as a parent if their child had mental health problems. (Pescosolido, 2007).
Research also discovered that there’s a thin line between those diagnosed with mental illnesses and those diagnosing mental illnesses. This thin line can also be said about children and parents living with the same mental illness, unknowingly. For example, Bi-Polar Disorder, known for extreme mood swings and behavior shifts, is a hereditary illness. I reached out to an associate of mine, also living with generalized anxiety, attention deficit disorder (ADD), and seasonal affect disorder. “Being neurodivergent, the way I work, and think is a bit different than others.” Denzelle Larkin shared in the interview he is majoring in Psychology because of this discovery.
“I’ve worked in community outreach groups in support of advocacy for mental health awareness. The thin line that lies between stigma and mental health is also sort of the silver-lining. Understanding it can bring so much support to a community”.
Between school, social media, and parents effecting stigmas of a child’s mental health, this increases suicide rates in children and adolescents. Though this isn’t address, examined or studied often. A study done by Yoo Mi Jeong & Hanjong Park in 2020 examined 103 parents’ stigma behind getting psychiatry help for their child directly and indirectly influenced their child’s depression. (Jeong & Park, 2020).
Any effort in preventing negative effects on children and adolescent’s mental well-being can be avoided. Though we can’t always monitor what children are influenced by. We can show support by inquiring, informing and understanding what it means to live with a mental illness.
