Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
I am a teenager, and my mental health matters too
I was about to be one of them. One of those whose voices are silenced. One of those whose cries are unheard.
One of those whose lives are lost to mental illness and stigma.
When I was 11, I suffered from stress and negative thinking. Laughs, mockery, and constant criticism planted in my mind that I was not good enough. They echoed in my head and goaded me to harm myself.
Self-harm seemed like the best way to cleanse myself. Each drop of blood on the pencil I stabbed myself with resembled bad blood. Self-harm was the only solution to drain out all that bad blood. Because, I believed, “pain is good.”
I was not alone. In Florida, over 5,000 children were sent to emergency rooms in 2021 from self-inflicted injuries, far more than any other age group. Why?
Because the State of Sunshine doesn’t protect its children’s mental health enough.
In Florida, from 2016 to 2020, the number of youth suffering from anxiety or depression increased by nearly 22%, and their stories are just as diverse as them.
It is the story of a middle school girl, who goes days without food just to get the physique of the Barbie doll her peers want her to be. Excessive dieting and shaming herself in front of the mirror throw her into depression and anorexia.
It is the story of a high schooler. The final school bell means freedom for his more-privileged peers. But for him, it means going to an after-school job and going home to take care of his younger siblings, so his single mom can work at the local supermarket to make ends meet. Anxiety and fatigue from juggling all these responsibilities overwhelm him.
It is the story of an LGBTQ+ student, for whom, every day, school is a battle. What is supposed to be a safe haven for learning and growth is instead a hailstorm of slurs and discrimination to trudge through. It pushes and locks them into the dark room of trauma.
These are the children of America: the faces of our future. While they cry for help, they are shamed into darkness. Fear of being pushed into the sidelines haunts them. Stigma is real.
Dealing with stigma ultimately becomes an existential decision that often ends in death.
A 2018 study attributed 90% of teen suicides to mental health disorders. These are deaths that society is responsible for. Our actions have led 16-year-olds to hang themselves as their bottled-up depression bursts. In fact, due to stigma and the lack of safe spaces, LGBTQ+ youth are four times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers.
A study by the American Civil Liberties Union highlights the mental health crisis in Florida. It found that 95% of Floridian schools have no school psychologist, and 92% have no social workers on staff. While the recommended counselor-to-student ratio is one for every 250, Florida’s ratio is one per 554. No wonder we rank 30th nationwide in youth mental health.
It is time we step up.
It is time we follow New York. In
2022, Governor Kathy Hochul allocated $53 million for children mental health services, including more school-based intervention. She also proposed bonuses for behavioral mental health workers to grow their workforce by over 20%.
It is time we learn from California. Governor Gavin Newsom launched the “Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health” last September. This program allocates nearly $5 billion for expanding mental health resources in critical intervention points such as schools and training for more than 40,000 behavioral health professionals. He also plans to create a digital platform for mental health assessments and interventions that can be accessed from anywhere. No child is left behind, and that’s how it should be.
It is time we prioritize youth mental health in Florida. Fostering brighter minds paves the way for a brighter future for generations to come. All we need to do is act today.