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Brandi Keyes

Professor Kirk

ENC 1011

Persuasive essay

28 July, 2023

Analogizing Awareness

"50% of chronic mental illness begin before the age of 14" (Avenaim p1). The process of

becoming aware of one's emotions should begin as soon as one becomes aware of them. It is

critical to recognize that early in the development process, steps can be taken to improve a

person's well-being. These steps can then be maintained or improved over time. A person who is

aware will benefit not only themselves, but also those around them, as they will be able to

recognize warning signs and provide support and a bridge for those who care about them. Mental

illness awareness should be implemented in schools as a class, either at the end of elementary

school or at the beginning of secondary school, to ensure that we can live longer and be able to

cope with whatever problems they face throughout their lives.

Above all, many people do not prioritize mental health until they experience something

or a mental illness arrives at their door, whether for themselves or for someone else. However,

everyone will face a problem or a situation at some point in their lives, and knowing how to

handle these situations will help with whatever is going on at the time. Nevertheless, some

people may find it difficult to cope with the mental strain placed on them due to their lack of

fortitude The foundation of mental health that is provided to youth at a young age can be used as

a foundation for them to recognize their stress levels as they grow older and plan how they will

cope with stressful situations with themselves or others. People must be aware of their mental
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state, whether they are stressed at school or depressed. from having a lot of heartaches or the will

to push through knowing they have already built from Foundation that can be approved as they

get older, and they realize what program or mental breathing or people that they have can support

them.. I agree with the statement from the article Mental health awareness — time to re-focus.

By Foulkes, Lucy “The first is that it situates the solution to mental health problems entirely

within the individual. It implies that a person just needs to tell someone what's going on, and

then change something about themselves: exercise more, reframe their thoughts, and take

medication. Of course, for some people, this advice is invaluable. Indeed, it can still be

invaluable even when the difficulties are triggered or exacerbated by a person's external

circumstances: domestic abuse, unstable housing, chronic illness, or thousands of other

possibilities, many of which have been fueled or exacerbated by a two-year pandemic. But the

brevity of these messages can imply that the sole cause and solution of mental health problems

lies within the individual, in their biology and their behavior, and for many this is not a helpful or

accurate way of framing their suffering” (Foulkes, Lucy p38-41). This quote gives an excellent

example of all the different types of situations that can cause unhealthy mental stability in a

person Age is just the number it can happen to the youngest of people I'm telling a young person

who is being abused at home or at school to try harder on their self-get some medication to try to

fix it might not be the solution for them but. That's why having a class, or an elective could be

beneficial for the groundwork of knowing what to do and bad situations do not lead to healthy

coping mechanisms that could cause of their unhealthy mental problems. If we can have a class

on PPE which is physical health, and we have a class on how to take care of babies why don't we

have a class that talks about what's going on in our minds or how to cope with the loss of a loved

one the right way and not just talking to a school counselor that might not even care.
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In the article Mental Health Literacy: Strengthening Community Mental Health Through

Awareness. By Özer, Duygu explains that “Due to the increasing mental problems today,

protecting and strengthening the mental health of the society has become an even more important

issue. The lack of knowledge and stigmatizing attitudes of the societies about mental disorders

led to the inability to treat mental disorders effectively in the early period. In this context,

increasing the mental health literacy of the society within the scope of preventive mental health

services will be an important step” (Duygu p284-289). When it comes to mental illness, most

people do not take it seriously or most people go through life not worrying about their mental

health because they believe they are in a go-to situation or healthy lifestyle without realizing that

we all develop healthy tendencies or mindsets that may isolate people who do have or go through

situations that are another control and we do nothing to improve the situation because it is not

happening to us, which is a simple fact of how the world works. I believe society should take

steps to improve ourselves to live long and fulfilling lives, and we are taking steps to be more

aware of what is going on inside and outside of us.

However, I can understand why most people believe that such things should be taught by

parents rather than by this school. Or there is nothing wrong with their loved one, and if there is,

it is up to the family to seek help from that person. These are some of the thoughts that go

through people's heads.

To summarize, people should begin developing mental awareness at a young age to be

more conscious of their mental health but developing mental awareness at any time is important .

This is critical because there are so many tragic accidents or misunderstandings in the world, and

more knowledge and awareness of how our minds and the minds of others work may lead to new

situations and less tragic accidents in both our older society and our generations. Foulkes, Lucy
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zer, and Duygu provided excellent examples and perspectives on what is currently happening

with society's mental health, and inclusion people should take mental awareness just as seriously

as physical health because you can be mentally fat while still being under the press or going

through something that is distressing.

Works Cited page

Kang, Yukun, et al. “A Brief Web‐based Screening plus Emotional‐disorder Health

Education Was Associated with Improvement of Mental Health Awareness and Service‐seeking

Attitudes among Patients Seeking Nonpsychiatric Clinical Services in China.” Depression &

Anxiety (1091-4269), vol. 38, no. 5, May 2021, pp. 571–87. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23118. Accessed 7 July 28, 2023

Foulkes, Lucy. “Mental Health Awareness — Time to Re-Focus.” Psychologist, Sept.

2022, pp. 38–41. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=a9h&AN=160105941&site=eds-live. Accessed 7 July 28,

2023

Jerry Avenaim “Mental Health Statistics 2021” Mental Health Foundation 2023 May 31st, 2023

Site by Startup Creatives https://mentalhealthfoundation.org/mental-health-statistics-2021/ Accessed 7

July 28, 2023