Education and Mental Health: The Need of The Hour

By Dhruv Makhija

INTRODUCTION

When questioned about their most invaluable asset, human beings tend to look towards the material items they worked hardest to obtain, however what the true answer to this question is actually one’s health. Countless sayings about how our health is the only true asset have spread worldwide, and to some extent a wave of people getting inclined to maintaining their fitness has started which is a good sign indeed. However a grave issue still persists, one that is overlooked by almost 70 percent of the global population. The issue of mental well being. Mental well being is just as important as its physical counterpart however the former struggles to receive sufficient attention leading to a crisis that is too grave to be ignored anymore. A mental health crisis and that too amongst the youth of the society who are looked at as the future of this world. It's high time to take the issue of mental health seriously and save the future of this world from a future filled with doom and gloom.

EDUCATION AND MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health is a sensitive topic for many while others brush it off as something that is laughable and not worthy to be deemed as important. The latter section of the society is the reason why countless youths suffer during their adolescent years either turning to addictions as a means to escape or worse ending their misery permanently. Mental health crisis is indeed a serious problem- one that the children should be taught to deal with efficiently starting from their school years itself. Education and mental health have a convoluted relationship. Stress due to academic life often forms the first layer of mental health issues that only seem to grow over the course of a person’s life. However, education itself is also a solution. A solution to the seemingly never ending problem of deteriorating mental health. When taught about the right way to deal with stress and the importance of their mental well being in school, children will not have a hard time coping with the adversities they face later on. This will act like an insurance policy to save them to the maximum possible extent from any and all mental health related problems they face over the course of their lives. This kind of life altering knowledge that is applicable to solve real world problems, every human faces is the kind of knowledge that should be made the first priority of any education system over the world. Why this is not the case as of now is a question that baffles many.

EDUCATING, EVADING, EVOLVING

Education is the tool that is supposed to help mankind evolve. Evolve in ways that help bring its goals closer to being easily achievable. Education also guides the young minds, moulding and shaping their consciousness even before they are at the age when they learn to spell. Educating children starting right from primary school about mental health and the effects of various worldly circumstances on it is an impactful sure shot way to ensure that children take it as seriously as possible and when they do the result will be a generation which is fully aware of the importance of maintaining their mental well being and this generation is much more likely to prosper than its counterparts whose abilities are suppressed by problems created by their own mind. Education on the topic of mental well being will help evade the problem of deteriorating mental health and this will help mankind truly evolve because the foundation on which the evolution of humanity is built upon is better laid by hands who are fully aware of the importance of an issue such as the importance of mental health.

SYNERGY FOR RESILIENCE

When education combines with the important agenda of promoting mental health awareness, it leads to the creation of a synergy that is enough to ensure that the future of the nation is safe. Due to the already flawed education system that persists and is in desperate need of an overall, the students in India are already facing stress beyond comparison. Whether it be the increasing number of suicides in a city labelled as the education hub like Kota or it just be a young toddler who has to mug up things without understanding and failing to do so will result in punishment for him, the education system at times is the reason for various stress and problems students have to face. However when the education system actually promotes the mental well being of the students it will lead to the creation of a partnership that is enough to promote a healthy and fulfilling life. Resilience which is the tendency to hang on despite all the problems is an invaluable trait that students will learn in the never ending quest of looking after their own mental well being and when this quest becomes a part of their curriculum it will lead to the creation of a society that is not flawed with its idea of mental health but rather a society that understands the sensitive topic with much accuracy which is the need of the hour.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, emphasising the importance of mental health is the need of the hour especially for a country like ours which has unlimited potential even now for leaps and bounds on the road of development. Mental health is just as, if not more, important than physical health, hence mental well being is something that is the most important to teach children about as soon as possible solely because of the importance of the issue. Integrating mental health awareness with the curriculum helps in creating a society that is sure to prosper as its inhabitants will be those who are mentally capable just not because of their intelligence but also because they will be as close as possible to being stress free. The combination will lead to a society being created that can be summed in just three words, “Paradise on Earth”.

By Dhruv Makhija