Why Mental Health Is More Important Than Ever This Back-To-School Season

Calling students, parents and teachers.

POSTED 17.08.20 11:03 BY LIISA CLARK

Whether it’s hopelessness over health complications, fatigue from endless Zoom meetings, disheartenment over closed windows of opportunity, anxiety, depression, or loneliness; We’re all going through something in light of COVID-19. The pandemic has shed light on various underlying beliefs and attitudes towards health, such as individualism over community health or perhaps distrust in health professionals. This highlights a need to find a more holistic approach towards health education to ensure we get through this together and to provide us with valuable tools for similar situations in the future.

Education expert and founder of Lessonbee Reva McCollom tells MindBodyGreen that she considers the increase in domestic violence and the fact that social media has turned into a battlefield, as evidence for the lack of healthy communication in such a rapidly changing world. Finding resources for students, parents, and teachers to better their personal ability to manage stress and build resilience in a proactive way rather than as reactionary effort is paramount. McCollom gives examples of building healthy routines during this time by seeking access to professionals who may volunteer their time, enrolling on platforms that facilitate self-directed learning, or by joining community organizations. In terms of online resources, Lessonbee provides lessons that reinforce the mental and emotional health of students. As an increased focus on health education is more important now than ever, this back-to-school season we could all do with a bit of revision on self-care.