Twenty years ago, people didn’t think about social and emotional care the way that they do now. Mental health awareness has improved progressively over the last 150 years in the US. Not so long ago, mental health was taboo. Impolite conversation for the general population. 

Now employers bake it into their company policies. They use mental health policies as a way to improve retention, boost their public image, and even entice new hires – people want to work for companies that prioritise their mental health. That desire alone is a symptom of progress. 

In school, children are taught to recognise and address their feelings. In elder care, patients are encouraged to do the exact same thing. Why is this important? What does it mean for mental health services and the people who make a career out of this field?

Mental health awareness in schools

Hannah is eight years old and loves bugs. She’s the sort of child who can’t help but stop in every patch of grass to look for interesting insects and study wildlife all around her.

In a television show, she might be the sort of child who spends recess alone, maybe with a magnifying glass and a small patch of grass while the rest of her classmates play soccer. “Where did she even get that magnifying glass?” the astute viewer might wonder. 

But that isn’t really the point, and anyway, this isn’t the case. Children, as a general rule, are kinder in real life than they are on TV. Hannah has many friends. She is happy and generally well-adjusted. And yet every day when she gets to school, her teacher pulls up a series of images on the SmartBoard. The theme changes every day but the essence of the images remains the same. Visual representations of emotions. Sad might be a storm cloud or a droopy flower. Happy might be a sunrise or a frolicking bird.

During these emotional check-ins, Hannah is tasked with taking a moment to look inward. Consider her feelings. Label them.

Nearly every day she reports feeling tired, but happy. Every once in a while, however, emotional check-in reveals feelings she hadn’t been actively aware of. Stress over a spelling test. Sadness because of a little trouble she got in at home.

By regularly reviewing her feelings, Hannah is able to deal with him constructively. Sometimes simply acknowledging that they exist is enough. Other times she decides to speak to adults about them. 

Why this matters 

For the hypothetical Hannah, these types of check-ins are a good way to stay in touch with her feelings and also prioritise her mental well-being. Every day, a grown-up tells her that paying attention to her feelings is worthwhile and important. That is a valuable lesson that no other generation of school-aged children has been given at such a systemic level.

It also creates a whole ecosystem of professional support operating within the school system. Modern school districts have psychologists and social workers on hand to help provide support to students like Hannah.

Teachers and nurses are also trained to recognise signs of stress or depression in their students and deal with them appropriately. The goal is always to provide as much support as possible.

In elder care

If you thought Hannah had a lot of feelings to deal with, wait till you get a load of Mary Lou. Mary Lou is 88 years old and widowed. She is lucky. Though her mobility has declined considerably, she still gets to live at home, thanks largely to the help of her daughter, Laurie. 

Mary Lou also has good insurance and consequently benefits from the help of a home healthcare professional. Every day, physical therapists and nurses come into the home to help her with mobility issues and go through memory exercises that are supposed to strengthen her cognitive function.

In the grand scheme of things, these are what Mary Lou would call blessings. Beyond question, she is more fortunate than many people her age and yet she doesn’t always feel grateful. It is hard to when you need help going to the bathroom. 

Many of her friends and family members – including Jim, her husband of 50 years – have gone on to whatever is next. Even if she were completely healthy, which she is not, she could at best expect no more than another few years here. It is a lot to handle.

Mary Lou, like so many other elderly people, is experiencing a vast array of emotions that she simply isn’t prepared for. It is hard to get old. However, modern geriatric patients like her are lucky in that they have access to a broader support system than has previously been seen in Western culture.

The home healthcare professionals who come to her house every day are specially trained to recognise symptoms of stress or depression and deal with them accordingly. There are therapists and other mental healthcare professionals who specialise specifically in the stresses that come with ageing.

Mary Lou is also a deeply religious woman and so appreciates the ability to interact with the faith-based nurse who comes to her home, providing medical care while also contextualising their relationship in Catholic teaching. They pray together. Discuss life and death in gospel terms and even reflect on the possibilities created by the afterlife.

Individual care

Not all children are happy and tired like Hannah. Not all elderly adults are religious like Mary Lou. That’s kind of the point. 

Modern healthcare is becoming increasingly focused on the individual. In the context of mental health services, this means helping people to fully acknowledge what is on their mind and deal with it in a way that is active and productive.

It takes the stigma out of mental health and allows people to fully engage with their issues. Consequently, there is an expanding network of mental health professionals who are able to provide specialised care. The faith-based nurses we referenced in the last heading are not precisely an extension of mental healthcare, but they also aren’t unrelated. The idea is to give people the help that they want and require.

Many of these policies are the consequence of “evidence-based practice“. Basically, a healthcare perspective that prioritises implementing research-based solutions that are honed towards the needs of the individual. 

As people are given the resources to explore their mental health at every stage of life, they can work on improving their overall well-being, and possibly experience benefits that extend beyond the merely psychological.

Ellen Diamond, a psychology graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, has a keen interest in the fields of mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.