Dear Mr(s) President,

It was brought to my attention that schools don’t discuss mental illnesses and this should change because it’s a big problem. A mental illness is a diagnosis by a mental health professional of a behavioral or mental pattern that may cause suffering or a poor ability to function in life. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitting, or occur as a single episode. Though the causes of mental disorders are often unclear. Many disorders have been described, with signs and symptoms that vary widely between specific disorders. Mental Disorders are usually defined by a combination of how a person behaves, feels, perceives or thinks.

There are many categories of mental disorder. Commonly recognized categories include specific phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dementia and schizophrenia. Those are only some of them. Scientifically, there are over 200 different Mental Illnesses. Half of these mental health conditions begin by age 14, and 75% of mental health conditions develop by age 24. One in five U.S. adults experience a form of Mental Illness and one in 24 has a serious mental disorder. There are twice as many deaths caused by suicide than HIV or AIDS. One person commits suicide every 16 minutes. Though only 1 in 25 suicides are successful. But at least 6 people are affected by every suicide. 30,000 Americans commit suicide every year. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15 to 24-year-olds and 2nd for 24 to 35-year-olds. Men take up 79% of all suicides while women typically just have suicidal thoughts. About ⅔ of people who are depressed, kill themselves. The main cause of suicide is depression that is untreated, undiagnosed or ineffectively treated and over 50% of suicides are committed with a firearm.

I have many friends with mental illnesses and I wish schools would teach more about ways people can help and support their friends or family members with a mental illness because nobody really knows what to do unless they are an expert. Yes, this is a lot of information to take in, but I hope you will consider adding mental illnesses to all school curriculums to help everyone learn about this subject.

Sincerely,

Kaleigh Lucas

Websites:

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-suicide

https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/recognizing-warning-signs

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness