Is It a Mental Health Concern? School-Based Solutions Can Help Provide an Answer

Decreasing grades, evolving social dynamics, growing irritability, and outbursts. School administrators, educators, and parents see these behaviors all too often on campus.

With the spotlight intensifying on student wellness and safety, these changes are often met with an increasingly common question – is the student experiencing a mental health concern?

Throughout grade school, children experience pivotal moments when emotions and behaviors can vary from unwieldy and unpredictable to seemingly perfect. Understanding the root cause of these changes is both important for the short and long term.

“It’s important to determine whether the feelings and emotions are normal or a shift in your brain chemistry that is causing symptoms to be at a clinical level diagnosed by a mental health professional,” said Tracy Spinner, Senior Vice President of Education and Strategic Initiatives at Goodside Health.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), nearly half of mental illness begins by age 14.1 Identifying mental health concerns quickly is vitally important.

After all, adolescence is a time of change – both at home and at school – and oftentimes our youth do not have the emotional regulation skills that can help them cope.

“Students are in school for eight hours per day for 180 days a year,” said Spinner, who also serves as co-Chair of the Texas Education Agency’s Taskforce on School-based Mental Health.

“We’ve seen the demand in our schools for mental health services, and we built a program that is bringing vital screenings and convenient teletherapy access to campus right when they’re needed.”

Innovative programs like SchoolMed: Mental Health can help schools and families intervene quickly and support the development pathway for all students by ensuring supports are provided right when they’re needed.

Ready to learn more about the timely mental health screenings, teletherapy, and crisis supports that serve as the foundation for SchoolMed: Mental Health? Click here to schedule time with our experts to see how Goodside Health’s solution can increase health and safety programming on your campuses today.

About Goodside Health

Goodside Health is advancing the delivery of pediatric care by partnering with communities to provide access to telehealth, mental health, and well-care services at school, at home, and in the clinic. Relentless advocates for expanding access to care and promoting health equity, Goodside Health leverages a Whole-Child Approach to care and lives our mission of closing gaps in children’s healthcare through innovation and execution. To learn more about Goodside Health, please visit goodsidehealth.com.

SOURCES:

1. https://nami.org/mhstats