According to the National Institute of Mental Health, "Anxiety disorders affect 25.1% of children between 13 and 18 years old. Research shows that untreated children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, miss out on important social experiences, and engage in substance abuse" (Facts & Statistics).

https://www.nami.org/getattachment/Learn-More/Mental-Health-by-the-Numbers/childrenmhfacts.pdf

Mental illness still has a stigma and very few (relatively) recieve treatment. Those numbers are even less in children. However, mental illnesses can have a huge impact on school-age children; as a trained Mental Health First Aid First Responder (though Mental Health First Aid USA-- the training is wonderful-- please do it!) and as a person afflicted with mental disorders myself since childhood (ADHD, depression, and anxiety) this is greatly important to me. Students need help managing their emotions and struggles.

My new school district has chosen mental well-being as a focus for the coming school year after they have had a difficult couple of years in which many students across elementary, middle, and high school have committed or attempted suicice. I'm glad that they are recognizing that these behaviors are linked to mental health, and are taking an active approach in recognizing and working with students and families. We are realizing:

"Behavior is not the problem, behavior is an expression of the problem" and by understanding the problem we can help alleviate the behaviors. How brain scans are linked to psychiatry, so we can understand it; and mental illness is like that of other disorders that affect the brain.

One approach we are looking into in order to help our students at a school level is the idea of mindfulness in education. Mindfulness is an approach in which we are invited to be fully aware of the moment, and in that can turn of anxious thought. To read more about the basics of what mindfulness is please read: What is Mindfulness?

The practice of mindfulness has been spreading through schools, and seems to be a growing movement.

But why mindfulness and quiet, calm moments in education? Actually, there have been many recent studies regarding mental illnesses in children and how schools can help-- and some are focused on how mindful mediatation can help students with mental illnesses (such as ADHD, depression, social anxiety, aggression, etc.). In fact, it is changing their brains!

Two particular studies focus on mindfulness/meditation in children and how the impacts of their mental illnesses have been positively affected:

• Mindfulness Meditation Training in Adults and Adolescents With ADHD (2007)

• The Effects of Mind Subtraction Meditation on Depression, Social Anxiety, Aggression, and Salivary Cortisol Levels of Elementary School Children in South Korea (2016)

In addition, while this is not focused primarily on children, it does illustrate that meditation can change neural pathways in the brains of those with depression:

• Meditate don't medicate: How medical imaging evidence supports the role of meditation in the treatment of depression (2016)

Through our understanding of the brain and mental disorders like depression, is showing that mindfulness meditation can make real, physical, impactful changes.

Mindfulness can help, and it can have lasting effects:

By building understanding of emotions and emotion management through "reflection, relationships, and resilience." (And the shout out to Mr. Rogers!)

Annells, S., et al. “Meditate Don't Medicate: How Medical Imaging Evidence Supports the Role of Meditation in the Treatment of Depression.” Radiography, vol. 22, no. 1, 2016, doi:10.1016/j.radi.2015.08.002. http://www.radiographyonline.com/article/S1078-8174(15)00094-2/fulltext

“Facts & Statistics.” Anxiety and Depression Association of America, National Institute of Mental Health, Aug. 2017, adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics.

“What Is Mindfulness?” Mindful: Taking Time for What Matters, Foundation For A Mindful Society, 6 July 2017, www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness/

Yoo, Yang-Gyeong, et al. “The Effects of Mind Subtraction Meditation on Depression, Social Anxiety, Aggression, and Salivary Cortisol Levels of Elementary School Children in South Korea.” Journal of Pediatric Nursing, vol. 31, no. 3, 2016, doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2015.12.001. http://www.pediatricnursing.org/article/S0882-5963(15)00372-3/fulltext 

Zylowska, Lidia, et al. “Mindfulness Meditation Training in Adults and Adolescents With ADHD.” Journal of Attention Disorders, vol. 11, no. 6, Oct. 2007, pp. 737–746., doi:10.1177/1087054707308502. http://www.ahc.umn.edu/img/assets/20825/MindfulnessADHD-Zylowska_et_al.pdf