(UK) Schools need to have mental health curriculum; there is "ever growing demand"

Sept 5, 2018, Conversation: Schools need to teach pupils skills to maintain good mental health – here’s how http://theconversation.com/schools-need-to-teach-pupils-skills-to-maintain-good-mental-health-heres-how-95885 Schools are often where children’s and adolescents’ mental health problems are identified. While there is ever growing demand for mental health support for pupils, such as in-school counselling and mentoring, the focus now – just like for any health problem – should be more on prevention than intervention. Prevention makes sense financially, given that specialist mental health services for children and adolescents are currently overloaded, with long waiting lists. In short, mental health prevention in schools makes a lot of sense. But according to a recent report, it is largely insufficient in UK schools. This is despite well-being being high on education policy agendas…. So how could schools effectively contribute to mental health prevention? To answer this question, we first need to be clear on what mental health prevention should focus on. In recent years, “resilience” has been frequently emphasised as central to mental health. But there are disagreements about what resilience means and how to measure it…. The first determinant, “metacognitive self-regulation”, is linked to reflective self-control– the ability to notice what is happening in our mind and body, and effectively manage our attention and emotions. … The second determinant of mental health is a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Research shows that adolescents who have a better sense of meaning and purpose are less likely to suffer from depression…. Teaching such a curriculum will require somewhat radical changes to teacher education, however. It will also mean greater emphasis on teacher well-being – chronically stressed teachers who are unwell themselves are unlikely to be able to effectively deliver such lessons. Policy guidelines and school curricula will need changing, too….