April 18th 2023 is the anniversary of death by suicide of Berkeley High Student.

Have Mental Health Services Improved?

April 18th 2023 is the anniversary of death by suicide of Berkeley High Student.

$350K – City of Berkeley allocated for additional Mental Health services sits unspent. The reason given by BHS and City of Berkeley states that it is very difficult to hire people in the mental health professions and finding qualified staff who make it to the top of the list do not want the job. This staffing was to have been available last fall. It is believed but not confirmed that a city staff person/or consultant has been hired. These funds are to resource BHS to have more capacity to serve students facing mental health crises.

Berkeley High School students grieved, protested, organized and then went into action by creating a Berkeley Mental Health Resource Guide for Berkeley youth. This guide is overflowing with accurate and useful links to services.

BHS is at the beginning of visioning a sustainable Wellness Center with input from students, parents, city and other stakeholders.

Current Need

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, one in five teenagers struggle or will struggle with a serious mental illness. For many youth, the isolation of the pandemic severely exasperated feelings of anxiety and thoughts of suicide.

From a Berkeleyside article: A Berkeley High School survey of 242 students, which Spies and Steckel conducted with then-classmate Athena Chin, revealed that 60% of the students identify as having a need for mental health care. But of that group, 58% said they had not accessed care. According to the findings, male students are at particular risk, with 75% of the black, white, and Asian American boys who reported having needs not having accessed care.

 Berkeley High School Health Center

“Mental health service access is fundamentally an equity issue,” said Steckel, 17. “If you’re struggling with mental health and not getting support, that’s one more barrier to getting an education” for students who are already at risk, Steckel said.

 The Berkeley High School Health Center provides first aid, mental health services, and sexual health education. Long wait times and minimal hours make it difficult to access these services. Teachers are required to give students passes to go to the Health Center upon request, but for some, they walk away without receiving help because of the long wait time.  The Health Center is closed for lunch on most days, and all day on Monday

If a student experiences a severe mental health issue, like a panic attack, receiving the help they need from counselors can be very difficult, given the time sensitivity of the problem and lack of flexibility in wait times. Mental health issues can be just as urgent as physical health, but because of their nature, they are more easily ignored.

BHS is full of teenagers struggling in a post-pandemic, modern age of mental health burdens. The only way to reliably meet with a counselor is by making an appointment, which can take several days to set up. On top of this, closed doors at crucial times makes it almost impossible to seek help in an emergency. 

There are several counselors, but they are almost always on call, or flooded with the weight of an entire student population or overbooked with appointments. Students head to the Health Center for snacks or water, filling up seats and resources. There isn’t as much focus on this resource as there should be. Staggering lunches would be  one solution that will help being able to respond to more students. 

A tool offered in other schools in the Bay Area, referred to as a “wellness center,” typically consists of a designated room, with soft lighting and a relaxing environment that is used as a place of refuge for anxious students or anyone that needs a break. BHS would benefit from the incorporation of creating a small area to provide safety or a calmer place away from the bustling school environment. It would be a refuge for non-emergency mental health issues and could also serve as a place to go for the students utilizing the health center for breaks from the stress of school. It would be near impossible for students to abuse the resource, as the idea is based around not needing a reason to be there. 

BHS can prioritize the Health Center, and focus on minimizing wait times and having counselors and the resources available to respond to student mental and physical health emergencies. Being a teenager is rough, and we need to serve our community and target adolescent issues the best way we can.

Berkeley Youth Alternatives has adopted the website for the guide and paid the students. The students meet with BYA on a regular basis Kevin Williams Executive Director of BYA and everyone who participated in this venture is to be applauded.

This guide is an incredible resource yet to be printed (lack of funds or no designated funds available. The guide is laid out in an extremely accessible format. The various sections are:

East Bay Community Law Center, Berkeley CA
  • Crisis Lines

 National Mental health Crisis and Suicide Prevention, Teen Line, Crisis Text Line, Trans Lifeline, Racial Equity Support Line, Panic Attack Hotline, Crisis Support Services of Alameda County and more.

  • Mental Health Information

In the Section called Mental Health Information one can find descriptions of definitions and terms, types of therapy, signs of emotional distress, facts and statistics, advice for patients, health insurance, substance use and a section on care for your mental health.

  • Know Your Rights Section

Is critical for young people to know their rights in California, covers mandated reporting?