Page 29 - CARING and SAFE SCHOOLS in ONTARIO

Mental Health Problems
▪ According to Children’s Mental Health Ontario (2002), one in five children and youths in Ontario will struggle with his or her mental health. More than 500,000 young people in Ontario suffer from a diagnosable mental health problem, such as anxiety, that may manifest itself in behaviour such as bullying or an eating disorder.
According to Statistics Canada (Health Canada, 2002), teenagers and young adults aged fifteen to twenty-four experience the highest incidence of mental disorders of any age group in Canada. Research has shown that:
✦ as many as one in five teenagers have experienced a major mental disorder (McGee, Feehan, Williams, et al., 1990, as cited on Canadian Mental Health Association [CMHA] website);
✦ mental health problems, including serious mental illness, are more likely to emerge between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four than at any other stage of life (Canadian Psychiatric Association, 1993, as cited on CMHA website);
✦ depression, stress, suicide, and eating disorders are issues of concern for teens; and fear, embarrassment, peer pressure, and stigma are barriers to getting help (Canadian Psychiatric Association, 1993, as cited on CMHA website).
It is important to distinguish between mental illness and more common mental health problems.4 The term “mental illness” refers to a diagnosable condition that usually requires medical treatment. It encompasses a range of psychiatric and emotional problems of varying degrees of intensity and duration that may recur from time to time. Major mental illnesses include mood, psychotic, and anxiety disorders. The most common mental illnesses among children and youth (to age seventeen) are anxiety disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity, conduct disorder, depression, and substance abuse (Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 2009, p. 13).
Some challenges students with mental illness may face include the following:
✦ Screening out environmental stimuli – an inability to block out sounds, sights, or odours that interfere with focusing on tasks
✦ Sustaining concentration – restlessness, shortened attention span, distractibility, difficulty remembering oral directions
✦ Maintaining stamina – limited energy, leading to difficulty in putting in a full day in school and/or difficulty in combating drowsiness caused by medications
✦ Handling time pressures and multiple tasks – difficulty managing assignments, meeting deadlines, and prioritizing tasks
✦ Interacting with others – difficulty getting along, fitting in, chatting with fellow students, and reading social cues
Understanding Student Behaviour
27
4. This discussion is adapted from Canadian Mental Health Association (n.d.), “Mental Problems and Mental Illness”, http://www.cmha.ca/highschool/t_intro3.htm.)