
Importance of Mental Health Did you know that, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, 20% of youth between the ages 13-18 live with a mental health condition and 8% of youth have an anxiety disorder? What is even scarier to me is that according to the same data reports, nearly 50% of youth between ages 8 – 15 didn’t receive any mental health services in the last year. If you stop to really reflect on that, it would be unheard of for people to be ill with a physical illness and not receive any health care. So that brings us to the question of why people aren’t getting the help they need. “Many people feel embarrassed or ashamed of symptoms because our society places illogical taboos on mental health issues over physical conditions,” said clinical psychologist Nikki Massey-Hastings, PsyD. This can be seen even in the school setting. When someone walks back into school with a cast or brace after breaking a bone or having ACL reconstructive surg...