Mental Health Persuasive Letter

Imagine living with a mental illness that affects everyday life but has no physical aspects to it. Waging a war within ones own head and not being able to control ones own thoughts or feelings. Millions of adolescence throughout the United States are currently sick, living with a mental illness with no idea how to treat it, or even the idea they are sick. Mental Health services on campus may be the answer to treating the diseases many children are suffering from.

In her composition, “The C Word in the Hallways”, Anna Quidlen implores parents, educators, and politicians to not perceive mental health issues and mental healthcare as preposterously inessential to the vitality of the modern social landscape, but to actively enhance the attention given to mental health issues. Her use of tone, diction, allusion, and a myriad of other rhetorical devices adds sustenance to her vilification of the attitudes surrounding mental health and her endeavor to illuminate this pertinent issue.

I'm emailing you on behalf of the Voyager Team. We understand that Seth is diagnosed with ADD and taking medications at home, but we are concerned as a term with his behavior in class and in the hall. We are hoping that you can help us by talking to Seth about his behavior.

The American mentally ill population faces numerous barriers to acquiring basic services that those without mental illness receive daily. Advocating for the mentally ill population gives a voice to those who cannot voice their problems or may not know how. Mental illness is often misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed. Individuals who are not properly diagnosed cannot receive necessary medical treatment which can help them live normal lives. When needed medical treatment is not made available, those who suffer often end up homeless, and frequently cycle in, and out of the judicial system because their

“Helping Students with Mental-Health Issues Return to School” opens by describing the importance of educator sensitivity and awareness of students returning to school after a long period absence due to mental illness. Murray next details the problem of recovery plans being available and abundant for students in similar situations with physical illnesses, and therefore, the problematic deficit of literature on the mental side of the spectrum. From her personal experience investigating the problem, Murray tells an account of a student experiencing difficulties making academic recovery after an absence from school with mental illness, and the struggle of her teachers to assist the student with her adjustment. Murray states that teacher training

Mental illness has similar and equally detrimental symptoms to physical illness. It touches the lives of everyone, whether you are affected by it personally, or have a friend and/or family member suffering from one. Approximately one in five adults suffers from a mental disorder each year (NAMI, 2016). Unfortunately, no matter how real mental illness is, it has not shaken the stigma or gained the proper attention from the health care system and insurance companies it needs to be able to treat and prevent psychotic episodes. Often times, the communities idea of helping the issue is by removing the affected from society, or ignoring the problem altogether. For those afflicted with mental disorders, it has lead to discrimination, homelessness, and even suicide. As the United States seeks reform in the healthcare system, it is the perfect time to request more resources for mental health.

“One in five young people in the United States suffer from a mental illness, that’s twenty percent of our population.” Mental illnesses are disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behavior. The problem of mental illnesses among teenagers needs awareness because so many young people are affected by emotional disorders. If we allow ourselves to remain ignorant about this topic, we are hurting the youths in our community and creating stigmas; we are causing irreparable damage to the ones we are supposed to be looking after. Stigmas surrounding mental illness should neither be accepted nor prevail as they make life harder for the mentally ill. The points at issue of mental illness stigmatization contain unique dimensions: it takes away people’s

The author, Liza Long, offers personal testimonies as well as ways to be involved in the change for better education in regard to mental illness, which would not be necessary if full education in regard to mental illness had been achieved. Long also provides facts about the stigma and brings up controversial points such as why children and families blamed for mental illness.

It echoes the fact that it is ok to seek medical help when things don’t feel right your head or body. It emphasizes that we aim to improve the lives of the people we serve by providing exceptional health and human service to meet all their needs. Also, they seek to improve the community’s understanding of mental illness; provide education and opportunities for individuals on how they can identify the early signs of mental illness and the necessary steps they can take to get the right treatment they

Educating the public on mental health is necessary be teach community members the importance of mental health and to remove the stigma and stereotypical image of weakness or extreme violent behavior as the only manifestation of mental illness. Respectively it is necessary for health care providers to become more knowledgeable in the assessment and management of psychiatric conditions to meet the needs of the community and deliver appropriate early identification of concerns and provide referrals for continuing care. This need for training and additional education does not stop short at the medical field, but extends in to the area of educational field, more directly schools. The mental health status of children in the school setting has also been overlooked. In spite of the understanding that student illness can result in difficulty learning in class, mental health symptoms go unaddressed. Failing to address mental health issues in children may result in impairments that will extend beyond academic struggles and continue well into adulthood. School personnel need additional training in making appropriate referrals for mental health evaluations to avoid a continuous cycle of identifying concerns without seeking

Another issue that has arisen is the difficulty of bringing mental health education in schools. Many are curious how this subject will be implemented in school’s curriculum. Lauren Porosoff and Jonathan Weinstein are writers of an article posted on pbs.org that was about mental health education in schools. The article was named “To prevent school shootings can mental health be taught” and was about how teachers could help bring awareness to the topic. The authors doubted that it would be possible to have mental health education as a requirement in American schools any time soon. The op-ed piece states that “meeting that need will involve cumbersome debates, rebudgeting, and hiring. All of that takes time...Our efforts to address mental health in school have limitations” (pbs.org). The authors may not be aware of the law that is now in place in New York to mandate mental health education. The U.S. may be closer to the change than they believe. Other states need to focus on how New York has resolved

Prior to beginning of my college career I helped co-found an organization, MYLIFE, which helped encourage youth to reach their potential. By speaking to local communities and schools I served as an advocate for youth who believed they had no voice or recognition in their communities. The small group of community leaders that joined together at that time to start the organization—subsidized by Magellan Behavioral Health in Arizona— shared the passion to educate local public schools and communities in disadvantaged urban areas about the stigma attached to mental illness. This allowed parents and students to become aware of the complexities of mental health and a reduction of

The author Susan Rogers states that “all around the world children lack treatment for mental behaviors.’’(pg1) Children do not receive the right professional treatments to help them with their disorders.They are told to “get over it” or simply ignored. One issue in our society pertaining to health care is, is it possible for mental health clinics to be attached to American high schools. That means if mental health clinics were attached to high schools how would it benefit anyone. One huge benefit is the impact on the idea of mental health and the negative connotation of the word.

The stigma against mental health issues is one that has roots in both our political atmosphere and our daily social interactions. A person struggling with depression or schizophrenia is viewed as defective or undesirable by the uninformed, seemingly ignorant public. Mental health issues are very real and more common than most people care to believe and if these illnesses are going to continue to be dismissed then issues such as suicide will continue to become more and more prominent in society. For years those with mental health issues tend to stay quiet about their conditions in order to veer from society’s stigma against mental health conditions and this stigma then leads to those who face illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, and many more serious mental health problems from seeking treatment. The first step to battling this social stigma is through awareness and educating the masses and a college education in the field of psychology will be a most helpful tool.

I just wanted to send you an email to follow up on an invitation that we sent to you last week. Please join us on Thursday, October 13th as we host MARGARET TRUDEAU here at Liuna Station for a fundraising evening where 'Mind Matters'.