As a high school teacher

As a high school teacher,I can see why there is so much disagreement on this topic. I side with East of Eden on this one…he is agreeing that there definitely is mental illness out there,but he is also concerned about the fact that many use it as a crutch. I have many students that suffer from anxiety and some that suffer from depression. I am finding that many of today’s youth that suffer from “anxiety”are just the same as people that suffered from nervousness 20-40 years ago. The difference being that we used to have to face our “nerves”and today’s society overprotects our young and don’t let them face their fears. Once they’ve reached me,it is very difficult for a child to try to overcome their anxieties. We need to help our children at a young age and get them out of their comfort zones more often (no,I don’t mean to do anything severe). We need to teach them how to overcome their fears by seeing that things may not be as “scary”as they seem. Over-coddling is a huge problem and EVERY one of my students that suffers from anxiety admits that they have never had to face their fears…in fact,they’ve been taught how to run away.