S.E.T.ting the importance of mental health

Koushita Gouri Reddy V -

Hi everyone!

In this blog post I would like to talk about the information I am currently collecting for the “worksheet” (I am still thinking of what the actual name would be) which would be for the secondary school kids. The topic for this is mental health.

Mental health is a topic less talked about in India in terms of “mental health” as many don’t see it as an actual problem and if there are physical or visual symptoms (ie schizophrenia which includes hallucinations) people either blame it on drugs (less likely) or ghostly/demonic hauntings. 

Talking about this topic would be very hard, especially in terms of wanting to engage parents to be a part of this conversation, thus the topic wouldn’t be brought up as directly mental health but rather the symptoms, brain effects, and how to help. This would make it less of a controversy (especially since sex education is already controversial). 

I would also like to bring up the importance of mental health conversations at this age as a part of the sex ed curriculum as the sudden changes in hormones leads to so many mental changes as well (especially because your actual brain chemistry is being affected). Mel Robbin’s explains the importance best, “Your mental health is everything – prioritize it. Make the time like your life depends on it, because it does.”

Thank you for reading!

– Koushita

More Posts

Comments:

All viewpoints are welcome but profane, threatening, disrespectful, or harassing comments will not be tolerated and are subject to moderation up to, and including, full deletion.

    Jen Smetanick
    Adding a mental health component to your curriculum is an essential step. Thank you for taking special care in addressing this topic. Are you adding it as a separate class? If so, is it for a full class period? How often do you plan to have the class?
    koushitagourireddy_v
    Hi Ms. Smetanick, thank you! Yes, I plan on adding it into the curriculum as a two day class which lasts 1-2 hours each day. That way it is easier to accommodate into the already set schedules.

Leave a Reply