By Jessica Nguyen, Staff Writer
According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, mental disorders are not uncommon, especially in students and teens; over 95% of the world has some sort of health issue. A disorder is a physical or mental condition that impacts a person in a way that is not normal or healthy. With 200 different forms of mental illnesses, approximately one in five Americans suffer from one. However, some people go through their whole lives without knowing they even have one.
Although some illnesses are caused by genetics, typical student behaviors can often contribute to the decline in student health. Disorders can impact the student lives in different ways, like constant days of no sleep or struggles with talking to others. Sometimes, they can negatively impact a student in ways that may not be immediately obvious.
“There are some [disorders] where a student might carry the gene, but the gene doesn’t get turned on until something happens to the student, whether it’s trauma, stress, the environment or something like that,” said Nurse Marci McLean-Crawford. “[It] then turns that gene on, and then they start to have mental health issues or cancer. Sleep deprivation, hunger, loss blood sugar and stress, all of those definitely could contribute to mental health or physical health diseases you may have.”
Common illnesses in students, with more than three million cases in the United States alone, include depression, anxiety, anemia and dyslexia. Depression is an illness that results in constant loss of interest and disconsolate moods. Continuous distress and nervousness may be symptoms of anxiety. Anemia deals with low levels of hemoglobin/red blood cells from iron deficiency or not eating enough/starving. Dyslexia is when students struggle with mixing up numbers or letters that can make it more challenging to do homework or read.
Having things like this can affect students mentally and physically in many ways that they might not realize.
“Lots of times, if you’re having a mental health disorder or are just thinking about something a lot, a lot of stress and stuff like that, it can manifest into physical elements like stomach aches, headaches, nausea, things like that,” said McLean-Crawford. “Physical things, if it is a chronic health issue that you have to deal with on a regular basis, may start to weigh on you mentally because you have to take care of it all day, everyday, and sometimes you start to feel like why me, which is totally normal, but then you got to get some support to kind of work through some of that.”
Many diseases can be mistaken for something else or shrugged off as just a teen phase, but recognizing that someone has something is not a bad thing. Several misdiagnosed cases comprise of social anxiety versus shyness or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with being fidgety.
“So a lot of times kids could just tell you, so they can feel the difference inside. So being shy, you still want to be involved, you still want to be around people, you just may not be the first person to talk. [With] social anxiety, you really have a hard time being around people. Just the thought of going into a room with a lot of people just throws you into a full on panic so it’s a completely different feeling,” said McLean-Crawford.
Many students, themselves, sometimes don’t even know that they have something that isn’t their fault. They grow up thinking that there is something wrong with them when there isn’t, emphasizing the importance of learning about the things that may be impacting students’ lives and how to overcome them.
As a child, Spanish teacher Todd Yarnton was not aware he had dyslexia. It wasn’t until he was diagnosed that he realized they matched with the challenges he had while going to school.
“I had a very difficult time reading. I always had to read assignments multiple times and had very little comprehension of what I had read. In order to work around the challenges I faced, I had to come up with different techniques and developed all sorts of mnemonic devices to help me remember new information. One of the easiest ways to do this was to make the learning experiential. Nearly all of my learning had to be kinesthetic so I could remember it,” said Yarnton.
Even if you personally don’t have a disorder, learning about different diseases, their symptoms and how to help someone have it can be very beneficial to not just you but the person who has it.
“You might have a family member that has it, you might have a friend that has something, you might come across somebody whose having an emergency, a crisis, and you might be able to help that person,” said McLean-Crawford.
Disorders, like this, can also help people learn from it to grow and develop. Surprisingly, they can impact a person’s life in meaningful and significant ways.
“My dad always used to tell me that if I did not do well at something, I could avoid it and hope that it didn’t come up again or I could accept the challenge and get good at it. Having dyslexia provided me this opportunity on a regular basis. Since finding out that I have this quirk, I was surprised at just how helpful it was for me in my profession. I developed very unique ways of learning which became very helpful to me and now I share them with my students,” said Yarnton.
Finding out that you or someone you know is diagnosed with a disorder can be hard, but there are numerous people to talk to. Support groups, like PADRE or National Alliance on Mental Illness, provide help to the person and their family. Even on campus here at FVHS, there are several staff members, including the nurse, psychologist, teachers and counselor, to help even if it’s just a rough day.
“Some kids don’t like to let their parents know that they suffer from some of these panic disorders or other mental health issues. It’s really important that if it is severe enough that it is interfering, interrupting your day, and your life then it is necessary to be seen and get support for that,” said McLean-Crawford. “[FVHS staff] will be able to help weed out some things and also help introduce the conservation to parents. And then, there’s also your private physician, so if you are comfortable talking to your parents and asking for a doctor appointment and going in and talking to your own physician and then coming up with solutions that way.”
It is important to remember that having a disorder and asking for help is not a bad thing and neither is it your fault. If you need help, contact Nurse Marci at (714) 962-3301 or immediate help at National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1(800) 273-8255 or Treatment Referral Helpline at 1(800) 662-4357.
