Teachers’ Views on Functioning as Valuable Agents to Enhance Mental Health among Adolescents in Schools

Abstract

Teenagers are more prone to develop mental health problems. The existing mental health services and professionals cannot meet the evolving mental health needs of adolescents. Since teachers interact with students, they have enough opportunities to augment their mental health. The researcher used a qualitative research design to gather inputs from twenty-four teachers teaching students of the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades in private schools and pre-university colleges across Bangalore using case vignettes and interview schedules. Overall, the teachers had a moderate understanding of common mental health problems among students but had doubts about the disorders’ scientific terms. Two broader global themes emerged, “Teachers’ inputs on observed patterns of problems among adolescents and influential factors on adolescent mental health” and “Aspects related to teachers’ part in enhancing mental health among adolescents”. Though teachers have a reasonable awareness of common mental health problems, they need training on mental health problems to prevent them from labeling students and offer more efficient support. They can find issues among students by monitoring their behavioral patterns and knowing their requirements. Teachers recognized the need to build awareness of mental health concerns among adolescents using participative methods such as role-plays, movies, drama, and powerpoint presentations.