The need to... take a Break The need to... take a Break

Should high school students take mental health days?

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What is a mental health day?

Between students and teachers the definition of a mental health day changes. To every person, a mental health day means something different. Maybe it’s a day to sleep in and reset your brain. Maybe it’s a day to catch up on homework. It could be anything, but essentially, it is the act of skipping/ missing school for reasons related to your mental health. It’s a day taken to simply decompress.

Mr. Peter Szameitat, a science teacher at Fairview said “I’d say a mental health day is taking time for myself away from my job, from my school, from my work, because I’m feeling like my workload or something about my regular day to day routine is weighing too heavily on me. That if I keep going the same way that I’ve been I’m gonna lose the capacity to do the best that I can do.”

The world of high school

High school is a world of its own. Students are thrown into new situations, new challenges arise, and most students face learning “the balancing act.” Between learning to drive, getting a job, playing competitive sports, joining extracurriculars, keeping up with academics, and all things friend-related, the stress of being a high schooler is usually addressed to full capacity.

An estimated amount of 31.9% of people ages 13-18 across the USA have some shape of anxiety disorder, according to Georgetown University. Within the last couple of years, anxiety and depression rates have risen in the USA.

“We’ve always been a fairly busy office of providing support for students, but I think in the last 3 years absolutely, there [has been an] increase in anxiety. The issue certainly feels bigger than it’s been in the past,” said counselor Ashley Houston.

“I mean just in general it’s important to be aware of your own stress levels and how you’re responding to things,” said Szameitat. “It’s a skill that we need to learn and work with.”

While the first thought of skipping school can be negative, taking a mental health day can be used as a resource as well.

“To me, a mental health day isn’t a complete day off, I think just staying home from school or sleeping in a little bit but still catching up on all your stuff, and getting well rested and getting ready to come back, later or the next day,” said Cecil Carroll (11).

Between the ups and downs of not only high school, but life as well, it’s important to take care of yourself.

Taking a day off

Believe it or not, skipping school can be used as a resource when used responsibly, according to some students and teachers.

“I actually encourage kids to [take a mental health day] when they’re really stressed. I think that it helps [...].

Sometimes you just need a day to get organized or to take care of yourself,” said social studies teacher Jennifer Kraemer.

In a poll conducted by the Royal Banner, 60% of Fairview students who responded said they had skipped school for mental health reasons at least once.

“I have skipped one day before because of mental health reasons. Yeah, I just stayed home and caught up on all my homework, and it did really help. And even though it didn’t really feel great on the day, because I was just doing homework all day, it felt relieving afterward,” said Carroll.

Mental health stigma

The stigma surrounding mental health is an issue nationwide. It’s constantly thrown under the rug or thought of as an excuse. The advocacy and resources for students struggling with anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, or any mental illness have grown throughout the years, as its become more apparent that it’s an issue in need of addressing.

“It’s kind of taboo in some families to even suggest it. That somehow there’s a weakness associated with [mental health difficulties] and really, taking care of yourself makes it so that you can do a better job as time goes on,” said Szameitat.

As time has gone on, resources for mental health have improved. However, there’s still work to be done.

“I really wish that stigma wasn’t there,” Houston said. “It’s an important issue to talk about.”

Organizations as local as Fairview’s Sources of Strength group, as nationwide as the Suicide Hotline, and everywhere in between, are dedicated to providing students with resources and the platform to help themselves half a day off to catch up on homework, or it could be something more serious.

“There is a spectrum of why someone might use that. Sometimes it might just be a break or sometimes it’s something bigger,” said Houston.

Understanding those around you and that everyone’s needs might be different is a skill within itself.It can clue teachers, friends or counselors into the the negatives. I think certainly you probably have to put some limits on it and make sure people aren’t avoiding the situation. You certainly don’t want to create that space where someone is just avoiding something hard,” said Houston.

Sometimes, when you’re already in over your head, it can feel like it’s impossible to get back to a place of neutrality. Taking a mental health day can be used as a resource, and something can benefit people in a variety of ways. It’s important that if you take one, for whatever reason that it may be, to be able to come back with a better mental state, less anxiety, or whatever you might need.

“I think that it’s important that people understand that asking for help and taking time to take care of yourself and the people around you is an amazing thing,” said Szameitat. It needs to be viewed as something positive.” and others.

“I think that’s what it’s all about, the individual identifying what needs they have, where they’re at and then as a school, as an educational system, we can do a lot better job,” said Szameitat.

Resource or risk

Taking a mental health day can be a resource within itself. The ability to take time to reset can be very beneficial. There are so many individual reasons that could contribute to anxiety and to the need/want to take a day off.

“It’s not just school that’s a stressor,” said Szameitat “There are lots of other things that can lead to needing a mental health day.

Not only can school or homework create the need to take a day off, but there is a variety of reasons why it could be necessary. With school, work, friends, sports, family and anything else happening, the amount of stress can increase. A mental health day could be fact that maybe you really do need a break to decompress.

“Honestly, my opinion is that you should take those days, whether they’re official mental health days or not. You need some time to step away from what you’re doing so you can get in the right headspace. We shouldn’t be punishing people for doing that,” said Szameitat.

On the other hand, like any other resource, a mental health day can be used irresponsibly. The point of a day off is to reset so that in the future, you are able to continue putting your best work forward, as well as create a good environment for yourself mentally.

“It could become like a never-ending cycle if you take a day to do work but then you end up missing out on more work in that class,” said Vivian Cao (11).

Being responsible for things such as these is important so that you don’t find yourself in a spiral.

“I think the positives outweigh

MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES:

Suicide and Crisis Hotline - Dial 988

Boulder County Mental Health Hotline - https://namibouldercounty. org/resources/boulder-county-mentalhealth-resources/

SAMHASAS National Hotlinehttps://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/ national-helpline

Mental Health, Boulder Countyhttps://www.mentalhealthcolorado.org/ help/

Counseling and Pyschiatric Serviceshttps://www.colorado.edu/counseling/

Elianna Jewett

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Or...No Favorite At All: The reason I don’t watch spooky movies is definitely not because I get scared. I had nightmares about the AMC Walking Dead haunted house and The Sixth Sense until like 6th grade.

Samuel Schwalbach

Shutter Island: I like it because it really messes with your head and you have to pay attention to the film to understand the ending.