Flashback: Balancing Our Minds

This past month, I had the honour to attend the Balancing Our Minds Youth Summit at Rogers Arena.

Balancing Our Minds Youth Summit is a day where high school students across the Lower Mainland gather to discuss major issues surrounding mental health, to educate young people about the sensitive topic, and to find ways to create a safe environment where people can express themselves and get the help that they need. At the conference, I was inspired by the many speakers who gave us insights on their experiences with various mental health issues and how they overcome emotional and mental barriers to become the people they are today. At the event, I was given the opportunity to connect with mental health nurses, school counsellors, and teachers. One of the most prominent discussion we had was why students’ mental health are progressively deteriorating and the causes of this trend.

One of the most interesting response to this question was that children are facing increasing amounts of pressure from their parents to succeed in school. This is because of the rising demand of undergraduate degrees. This mentality is also highly prominent in minorities, as they often compare their children to other exceptional students and hold them responsible for meeting the same standards. In more extreme cases, children are threatened with abandonment if they cannot achieve straight As and/or be admitted to a prestigious university. On the flip side of the problem, students themselves feel as if they cannot speak out about their struggles because of the stigma behind the topic. They are afraid of being judged, excluded, or bullied. Yet, it is a crucial topic that needs to be addressed and taught to the future generation.

In my opinion, I believe that our current curriculum should include Mental Health as a mandatory subject to students. One of the main reasons why bullying happens due to stigma behind mental health is because of lack of education about the topic. These lessons should include learning about the different types of mental illnesses, disorders, and their treatment methods. It should be followed by lessons on how to recognize signs of depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses and how to get help for their peers or themselves. Another big topic that should be covered in these classes is suicide prevention and intervention. To address these topics, lessons should be primarily discussion-based, where students can share their perspectives and experiences openly with each other without any judgement nor shame. By exposing the future generation to these topics, who are the most vulnerable to mental illnesses, we can create a safer environment for everyone to share their feelings and find ways to cope with their emotions.

Aside from educating students, an important element to improving the mental wellbeing of the future generation is to educate parents on these topics. Many parents grew up in an age where mental health was considered something too taboo to be taken seriously and discussed. For immigrant parents, they may have come from places in the world where mental health was a ticket to detention or other negative consequences. A way of educating parents on these topics is through parent-teacher conferences or monthly parent meetings at schools. By educating parents on these topics, children would be less likely to feel disconnected or that they must keep their feelings away from their families. Communication between parents and children will also improve.

Moreover, by educating both parents and children on mental health, I believe that our future generation can improve their mental wellbeing, and as a positive consequence, the prominence of mental illnesses will decline.