Mental Health or Mental Illness?

Today I am going to digress slightly from the career prepartion avenue that is such familiar territory for my blog and comment on our fascination with viewing the self-destruction of others. Don’t pretend that you cannot call up mental pictures and the names of the most recent victims of poor life choices presented to us daily by the media!

One night this week, I saw Dr. Phil discussing his interactions with Britney Spears. I don’t know too much about his credentials, but in my profession, confidentiality is vital. So who is presenting mental health treatment’s dark side? Is Dr. Phil’s approach ethical or has he been caught up in his own perception of celebrity? Is Britney spinning out due in part to the lack of ethical treatment that includes establishing trust? I am sure these are the unanswerable questions that hover around any human tragedy where poor mental health is present.

These mental health conditions and addictions that are currently getting so much media attention are viewed and lived by educators every day. The grand play of the incidents may not be there because most of us do not work with the rich and the famous, but the individual acts of caring by you and your colleagues make a huge difference in the lives of our students. I applaud the efforts of school personnel who deal with the varied stages of mental health and mental illness in our schools every minute of the day. Your efforts to encourage students to move along the path to good mental health, although usually unspoken, are greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all of our efforts towards encouraging postive mental health, I am thinking the glass is half full!