High school is commonly known as a stressful time for students, especially seniors who are transitioning into college. Because of this, educators are seeing more and more students suffering from mental health issues such as, depression, anxiety, or social phobia during school. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 8% of today’s U.S teens suffer from some form of diagnosed anxiety disorder and, according to teenmentalhealth.org, 20% percent, 1 in 5 students, deal with some form of mental health disorder. Those who are untreated are at high risk performing poorly in school, missing out on important social experiences, and becoming more likely to engage in substance abuse.

Anxiety can stem from various factors such as high performance expectations in school, college selectivity, and over commitment in balancing school, extracurricular activities, social life, and family obligations.

My own anxiety has kept me from attending school and by being absent so often, an overwhelming amount of stress was placed upon myself to do perfectly in school.  I learned quickly that balancing the many responsibilities of being a teenager while struggling with mental illness was not an easy thing to do. A school environment often involves a lot of social interaction, and individuals who suffer from social anxiety can find that being in school is often debilitating and scary, especially when those individuals don’t have an outlet in case of panic attack.

Most schools provide a guidance counselor to help students have a place in school where they can talk to someone they can trust and rely on to give support and advice. Millennium Brooklyn’s guidance counselor, Ms. Schwarzkopf, receives many students in her office on a daily basis who talk about experiencing anxiety, being anxious, or having panic attacks. “Many students come to me because they are experiencing anxiety in school. It really depends on the individual – but sometimes students come to me because they experienced their first panic attack during school and are scared because it hasn’t happened in school before. Other times, students experience school related anxiety and day to day is a serious struggle, especially with crowded hallways and few quiet places to go during the school day.” A senior at Millennium Brooklyn, Rosie Dunphy, voiced her own experiences in dealing with anxiety in school, “I suffer from anxiety and intense seasonal depression. The best thing for me personally is to have at least two people I can reach out to for mental and emotional support; someone to cry to, someone to vent to. It’s important to go into an overwhelming place with a solidified support force.”

When asked about the opportunities given for students at Millennium Brooklyn who struggle with anxiety during school, Rosie went on to comment, “the school has pretty minimal support forces regarding mental health. It’s not really spoken about, there aren’t any “support clubs” that speak about the affects of mental health. Ms. Schwarzkopf is a great person to speak to and spend time with when life gets hard. I think the school could definitely benefit from a mental health and productivity workshop.”

As for the future of anxiety problems, Schwarzkopf emphasized the growing importance of communication, “My advice for students struggling with mental health issues is to not be afraid to talk about it with a counselor. People are often scared to get help or embarrassed to get help, but it is so important to be open to help because it’s too much to take on on your own. It’s also important to remember that everyone struggles sometimes and to accept yourself and to not label yourself as having something wrong with you.”