Mental Health Week is being held on 4-11 October and will coincide with World Mental Health Day on 10 October. The Mental Health Foundation of Australia describes the aims of the week as “promoting mental wellbeing, furthering knowledge about mental health and eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness”. The theme of the week varies between states, and includes Western Australia’s theme of ‘Act Belong Commit’ and Queensland’s theme ‘Value Mental Health’.
The importance of addressing mental health in schools is especially pertinent following a landmark survey conducted by the Australian Child Wellbeing Project, which showed that one in five students are bullied on a weekly basis.
World Mental Health Day aims to encourage individuals to take personal ownership over their mental wellbeing through making simple mental health promises to themselves. The promises can be made on the Mental Health Australia website and the site is open to the public. The website states that “it doesn’t matter if you have a mental illness, care for someone with a mental illness, know someone with a mental illness or just care about good mental health” anyone can be a part of the campaign.
Although each State has chosen a different theme, Western Australia’s theme ‘Act Belong Commit’ is a useful way to approach Mental Health Week. It emphasises the different ways in which an individual can be proactive in seeking help and improving their own mental health. Mental Health Week should be seen as an opportunity to encourage students to take steps to help their mental wellbeing alongside the other goals of increasing awareness of mental health conditions.
The Australian Child Wellbeing Project, which is due to deliver its final report in November, surveyed students from Years 4, 6 and 8 around Australia. It found that 60% of students that are bullied report health complaints, most of which are symptoms of stress such as dizziness, frequent headaches, inability to sleep and feeling nervous. Health complaints are more common in students who are already marginalised based on their culture, socioeconomic background or disability. Bullying and a sense of isolation from their peers increases the vulnerability of these students to mental health issues.
The Project aims to break down the responses to the surveys to understand which groups are most at risk. Overall, 80% of children were optimistic about their future, but marginalised groups reported a significantly lower level of life satisfaction and health.
Considering the prevalence of mental illness in Australia, promoting the good mental health and awareness of mental illness of both students and staff is extremely important for schools. It is estimated that 45% of Australians will experience mental illness during their life. One in five Australians have experienced mental illness in the past 12 months. We have written in the past about the importance of addressing mental health problems in schools and discussed the scale of the problem caused by mental health in young people in our article on ”R U OK?” Day.
The Mental Health Australia ‘make a promise to yourself’ initiative is a great idea which can be promoted to students by schools. The self-promise campaign can help to raise awareness of mental health issues and remove the stigma associated with mental health. Educating students on mental health can help them to identify problems and enable them to seek help for themselves or others. Mental Health Week and World Mental Health Day are excellent opportunities for schools to implement measures to allow students and staff to acknowledge and manage mental health issues.
What is your school doing for Mental Health Week?