There school It is the key to reaching that 10-20% of children and young people all over the world who could benefit from a mental health intervention, according to the conclusions of a series of studies on the subject published in The Lancet Psychiatry.
“Childhood and adolescence are important windows for this type of intervention, as 75% of adults who access the psychiatric services had diagnosed disorders before the age of 18,” Mina Fazel, psychiatrist at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and first signatory of both studies, begins.
The researcher explains: “Mental disease often begins, but does not end, in adolescence: it lasts a lifetime. This is why it is essential to find innovative ways to reach the youngest, and schools are the ideal place ».
Among school children the most common disorders are behavioral ones, anxiety or depression. Pathologies that, if not treated, can lead to school failure, in addition to negatively influencing career choices and personal relationships in the long term.
But it Mental health screening in schools It is controversial, for the possible stigmatization of young people who are positive.
But Fazel does not agree: “Schools allow you to access a large number of young people, and the vast majority of identified children would not need complex interventions, but simple and already tested treatments in the school environment”. The researcher resumes: “This is why national policies are needed that push education and mental health services to collaborate more strictly”.
THE dissatisfied mental health needs They are greater in low and medium income countries, where it lives over 80% of the world population of children and teenagers, and in the second article of the series, researchers discuss how to fill the gaps in countries without resources and psychiatrists.
«The Shape program in India shows that screening is feasible with school health consultants trained a Promote physical and mental healththat is, the screening for visual and weight disorders but also for violence and bullying. And the director of The Lancet Psychiatry, Niall Boyce, concludes: “We hope that Fazel’s articles and colleagues are a precious resource to bring the promotion of mental health outside hospitals to schools around the world, improving the education and well -being of young people”.
