What does the “average” teenager know about mental health?

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I’m planning a week-long mental health awareness event at my high school as well as an assembly on the first day. I know more about mental health than most people at my school, so I’d like to figure out what exactly they DO know. Is it more than I would expect or is their understanding pretty much non-existent? Somewhere in between?

Category: Tags: asked January 1, 2014

5 Answers

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At least on the subject of Bipolar Disorder. Young people are clueless. Definitely have some focus on that. It's being used as an adjective now and really hurts some people who actually live with it.
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You'd be hard pressed to find the "average" teenager, let alone what the majority of them know about mental health. I believe the best way to go about a general presentation on mental illness (or any subject for that matter) is to assume they know next to nothing. Start with the basics, and then work your way up. You have no way of knowing who knows what without surveying the general population, which is time consuming and ineffective. It never hurts to start off simple, and then delve in to some heavier and/or more complex topics once that foundation's built. A suggestion is to maybe open the assembly asking them that. Maybe something like, "Who here knows what a mental illness is?" or "Who can define the term "mental illness?" These are interactive questions that will give you some idea about how much your audience knows. Kudos to you for taking the initiative to do this! I think it's an incredibly awesome thing to do, and if you'd like any clarification, feel free to PM me.
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I'm a teenager and I know quite a lot because I am mentally ill.
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In my experience, it depends greatly on what area of mental health, the area, and their own experiences. But generally, I haven't met too many teenagers that do know too much, and even less that know as much as I do (myself being 18). Generally, the young tend to make assumptions and be under-educated on this subject. I can recall at least 3 teenagers off the top of my head that say they are depressed, and they are some of the happiest, most energetic people I know.
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Anywhere you start, as long as you build it on a base on empathy, I can only see doing good. I myself am just starting to get acquainted with a lot of these important ideas and topics. I think I used to be scared off by the "diagnostic/clinical" (read: sorta frightening) side of mental health, and definitely helped me delude myself about a lot of unhealthy activity. But when I realized that mental health and all that it concerns is so inherently human...I woke up and saw a lot of beauty in life again. It's great what you're doing either way, good luck!