Oklahoma: "Anxiety and depression in teens are on the rise nationally"

Dec 21, 2017, Oklahoma NPR: As Students’ Mental Health Needs Grow, Schools Find Counselors Have Little Time For Counseling https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2017/12/21/as-students-mental-health-needs-grow-schools-find-counselors-have-little-time-for-counseling/ The executive director of the Oklahoma School Counselor Association, Mary Waters, says it’s good that some districts are paying more attention to student mental health, but she still thinks school counselors spend too much time doing things they shouldn’t be asked to do. “A big part of what counselors are saddled with, frankly, is this testing monster,” she says “And at the high school it really can be an onerous burden.” Walter says counselors overloaded with administrative duties are often ineffective at other responsibilities that should be prioritized, like students’ mental health. Consequently, some kids don’t get the help they need. Oklahoma County data show only one in four kids with a mental health disorder received services. National data shows a similar trend: A 2015 report from the Child Mind Institute found that only about 20 percent of young people with a diagnosable anxiety disorder get help. … Anxiety and depression in teens are on the rise nationally, but mental illness has long been a problem in Oklahoma. Mental Health America ranks Oklahoma as one of the states where youth mental illness is the most prevalent. In Tulsa, Union Public School’s Executive Director of Secondary Education Lisa Witcher says she’s noticed this growth in her district. “We deal with students who’ve been affected by trauma on a more regular basis than we ever have in my 26 years of education,” she says. “Additionally, we deal with more incidents of self-harm.” She says an increasing number of students are living in poverty, and a life of poverty often accompanies trauma. But she doesn’t think that’s the only reason for the uptick in mental illness. “The loads that pre-teens and teenagers are carrying seem to be quite stifling for some of them at times.”