By Gene Lambey
Special to the AFRO
As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, school systems across the country in states like New York and Colorado are taking extra care to provide mental health resources for students.
In Maryland, Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) and the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) partnered with organizations like Talkspace, offering virtual licensed counseling to students suffering from depression or other mental disorders.
The AFRO spoke with Dr. Kimberly Ferguson, BCPS’ executive director for the department of social and emotional support, about BCPS’ partnership with Talkspace and other programs available to students.
“Talkspace is just one of the opportunities that we have to support student’s mental health. Here in Baltimore County, we recognize the importance of our student’s mental health wellness and safety. Mental health involves emotional, psychological and behavioral wellness,” said Ferguson.
Ferguson mentioned BCPS’ “tiered-intervention support,” system where all students have access to school counselors, psychologists and social workers.
“Talkspace is an online therapy service that connects individuals to a dedicated, licensed mental health therapist through private messaging,” said Dr. Ferguson. “Our students can exchange messages with their dedicated Talkspace therapist by way of text from the privacy and convenience of their computer or smartphone.”
“We partnered with Talkspace and have services available to all of our students in grades 9-12. Every student has the opportunity to login for free and access the self-guided lessons or to connect with a therapist by way of text messaging. We started this project in December and for the next couple years, our students will have access to it.”
“Right now we’re seeing some promising numbers,” she continued. “We have quite a few students who have signed up for the services and Talkspace Go, meaning the self-guided lessons and we also have students who elected to engage in some of the therapy.”
Ferguson also spoke on the year-long campaign, Mind over Matter, which advocates for mental health and wellness for students. BCPS staff, in this campaign, are trained to watch for signs of mental disorders or warning signs of suicide.
According to Mental Health America (MHA), a mental health research and advocacy organization, in Maryland alone, “16.39 percent of youth age 12-17 reported suffering from at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year.”
Across the country, students are in need. MHA reports state that in 2023, “the state prevalence of untreated youth with depression ranges from 32.6 percent in the District of Columbia to 77.1 percent in South Carolina.”
More and more, school districts are looking to be part of the solution.
Officials within New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) have been recognized for choosing to partner with community school mental health programs, offering resources to students experiencing depression and other mental disorders. Telehealth services like NYC Teenspace; also developed by TalkSpace, are offered to NYCPS students similar to BCPS students.
In Colorado, a program called I Matter is changing lives. The initiative provides students with up to six free virtual counseling sessions to speak with a licensed therapist, but funding ends this summer.
The Mayo Clinic defines depression or major depressive disorder as a condition when patients experience a “persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest” which can affect “how you feel, think and behave,” leading to more mental and physical complications if left untreated.
In the U.S. depression is one of the most common mental illnesses. MHA says it affects more than 21 million Americans each year. Roughly 3.7 million youths 12 to 17–or 15 percent–are affected by major depression.
The AFRO spoke with Jennifer Rothman, director of youth and young adults initiative at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) on depression symptoms in schools K-12.
“What you typically find in depression symptoms of sadness, loss of interest in things you enjoyed doing,” said Rothman. “Sometimes you can have a feeling of guilt, loss of appetite, low motivation and a lot of problems with concentration and inattention, which is why our students may have a difficult time with their studies.”
“If you have family members that experienced depression and or other mental health conditions, you are more at risk to have that condition,” Rothman added.
“For younger children, more like elementary age, what you hear most about elementary students is ADHD and anxiety. Those are precursor to what could possibly be a more serious mental health condition later in life. For depression to show at elementary age, I think you might want to look toward things happening at home.”
Dr. Sunny Patel, senior advisor for children, youth and families for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and Nancy Kelly, director of children and school mental health at SAMHSA, spoke to data on depression and the origin of its causes in young children and teens.
“From the programs that we worked on, like Project AWARE and our traumatic Trauma-Informed Support Services (TISS) in schools program, common factors for youth depression include bullying and victimization, social media use, climate change and educational expectations. Family conflicts like relationship hardships or a young person discovering their identity can feel incredibly overwhelming.”
“The rates of adolescence depression increased from 8.1 percent in 2009 to 15.8 percent in 2019,” said Kelly.
“It is an interplay between genetic predisposition, environmental influences and issues that occur. Depression is a complex interplay of these factors. One of the things that increases this risk include children experiencing physical illness stressful events whether it’s bullying, neglect, trauma, death of a loved one, break up…”
Patel said discrimination against Black and other marginalized groups of youth and teens can also lead to depression. In the past five years, however, a main stressor has been the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nearly a quarter million children in America lost a primary caregiver. As a child psychologist, I took care of many of these kids during the acute period of the pandemic,” said Dr. Patel. “I am conscious about this idea that the pandemic caused the youth mental health crisis. I think we have to be very careful. We knew that the kids were not quite alright prior to the pandemic, ” said Patel.
In addition to health concerns, the pandemic also relegated teens and young children seeking social interaction to virtual platforms.
“ was the way to communicate. Young people and adults were able to stay connected with each other through texting or social media,” said Kelly. But there is a down side.
Kelly said users should beware they are using social media in the right way because it can attract a lot of attention and, sometimes, cause “shame and guilt, do not lead to healthy behaviors or self efficacy.”
“Links between social media screen time and adolescent mental health through data from American Academy of Pediatrics found that it’s not the – but what they are looking at– the quality and the content,” said Kelly.
In the NIH report, an increasing percentage of students experiencing more frequent levels of sadness or hopelessness from 2009 through 2019 increased from 26 percent to 37 percent. Suicidal tendencies in high school students risen up over the last decade to 44 percent with 16 percent having a suicide plan.
“Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10-24. In 2021, nine percent of high schoolers reported attempted suicide during the previous 12 months. Suicide attempts were reported most frequently among girls compared to boys; 12.4 percent versus 5.3 percent. We know that risk for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts is greater among youths of certain communities and identities,” said Kelly, discussing the suicide rates and tendencies among youth and teens.
“There’s a disparity in the rates of depression or persistent feelings of sadness that increased significantly for boys from 21 percent to 29 percent between 2011 and 2021; adolescent girls increased from 36 percent 57 percent so the delta was almost 36 percent.”
Patel said the data is different depending on gender.
“Girls have internalized symptoms of depression, feeling sad or excessively guilty or feelings of worthlessness. Boys display it externally, often showing anger, irritability or high-risk taking and those are things to be mindful of,” he said, adding that the data from the CDC survey did not include studies on transgendered youth and teens.
Kelly said addressing mental health issues when they arise can go a long way in helping youth take control of their mental health.
“Getting help in the early stages of their mental illness or at the first signs of minor behavioral health symptoms can help from developing into more serious conditions.”
“One of the greatest protective factors for youths of all years is having one positive, supporting relationship with at least one trusted adult. That is all it takes,” said Kelly, speaking on ways that parents of youth and teens can help their children with their mental health.
The best thing a parent, school teacher, or medical official can do for a child or a teen struggling with their mental health is to listen. Communication between parents and schools regarding their children must be maintained. Listening to what children are saying and offering help is a great start. Schools, organizations and medical providers offer several tools to assist students having a difficult time as Dr. Patel and Kelly presented to us. Strategies such as “talk therapy” or psychotherapy and medication can help. All the student needs is a little incentive and a supportive, responsible adult.
Gene Lambey is a resident of Washington D.C. He is writing for the community.
