Internalizing Mental Illness Among Students

Mental illness is becoming an increasingly recognized community health issue in Canada. It must be considered equally as significant as physical health and appropriate methods of care and programs must be implemented to address it. Specifically, mental health among students in Canada is on the rise. With regard to addressing mental health in this population, schools are perfectly situated to confront these issues and provide assistance. However, over two thirds of students are reluctant to seek help regarding their mental health (Curtin et al., 2016). Internalizing mental health can have many effects on not only the student’s performance in school but their overall well-being. Thus, it is vital to analyze the factors that influence a student’s

The backpack represents the individual with mental illness whereas the contents within it reflect the illness’ effects. Students tend to internalize their mental illness in situations of limited support systems and in fear of their peers’ reactions (Wynaden et al., 2014). Thus, this photo symbolizes what it is like for students to retain the effects of their mental illness as a result of these two factors. The overflowing contents in the backpack represent what the students carry around on a daily basis as effects of their illness. They are unable to let it out by means of reaching out to mental health services and so they keep it to themselves - in their backpack - and it continues to pile up. These items include many crumpled pages of school work, a water bottle that represents the internalized tears, a knife to represent possible self-harm, and papers with expressed thoughts - one saying “I need help,” another one saying “I wish I could tell someone” and the last one saying “I have no where to go.” Those who disclose their mental health feel a sense of control (Buchholz et al., 2015) yet many students remain hesitant to do so. The contents in the bag are of vibrant colours but they are never seen by anyone other than the sufferer. This represents how impactful the illness is on the student; the effects of the illness are very noticeable to them as the thoughts occupy their minds on a daily basis. As for the backpack itself - the individual with mental illness - it is black, dull and unnoticeable. The backpack is what everyone at school is able to see. What this signifies is that to everyone at school, including students and staff, those suffering from mental illness may not stand out. One cannot always visibly make out an illness, and in this case most of mental illness is internal. Their illnesses are not noticed by other people in the same way that its effects are noticeable to