By Elizabeth Mercado | Mental health might be the last thing on our unhealthy minds. With so many things to do like studying for that big math test that might determine whether we pass the class or not, worrying how we are going to feed our children, or stressing over how rent is going to be paid this month, there is no time to even think about the well-being of others, let alone our own. But we cannot keep ignoring incidents such as the one that took place on March 3, 2013–only two months ago when an 18 year-old from Cal State Long Beach committed suicide, or the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary back in December.

What could possibly be going wrong in a country with so much hope and opportunity, yet so many catastrophes? 

Even though there is access to mental health services in Long Beach, that’s not the case for everyone. Services are offered in schools and in communities, yet no one has the time, or the money to reach out and get help. Imagine what it is like for those who do not have any access or barely have enough money to eat than to spend $100 an hour for someone to listen to their problems. What are you going to choose, eat or not?

It simply isn’t fair to have to make someone to make these types of decisions. The country has a social responsibility to its citizens, and we have to ensure that part of the responsibility includes providing access to necessities such as mental health services to avoid such horrific tragedies.

Researchers Hussey and Guo (2003) have stated that providing mental health services in schools, there will be a decrease in mental health issues such as depression and ADD. Instead of worrying about the monetary costs, we need to worry about the lives this is going to cost if we choose to keep denying these services. 

Being a school social worker for the past academic year, the importance of mental health in schools became more concrete for me. I witnessed the damage of the cracks our system has left behind, and it has done nothing to clean up the mess. Families and children are left to suffer the consequences and basically are tested to see how much of it they can bear before they break down.

I had to listen to heart breaking stories about children whose parents were deported and could never return, or stories about how children witness their mothers being abused by their step-fathers. It is disheartening to know that our decision makers keep hitting the ‘snooze’ button when it comes to mental health issues, especially since there is a bill known as the Mental Health in Schools Act of 2013 that would basically distribute funds to schools to help provide mental health services and support our country’s children and youth so that they may become productive, healthy citizens. Doesn’t that sound absolutely beautiful?

That means that everyone in the K-12 system would receive mental health services, which will eventually lessen the degree of mental health illnesses and produce happier people. As we know, people living in the United States are not known to be the “dandiest” of individuals, but if we can bring awareness to this issue, maybe we can get something done here. 

But just when we thought that congress had finally dismissed the “snooze,” the Mental Health in Schools Act is only supported by a particular party, and not by the other (the party affiliations cannot be stated out of consideration that it might be inappropriate, but it’s obvious who is who) and unfortunately the bill is unlikely to pass.

We cannot continue letting time pass by. We cannot continue letting those who we love so much and are facing real hardships end their lives because they simply do not find the reasons to live anymore. We cannot just feel sorry for the child who is abandoned by his parents. We have to collaborate collectively and bring awareness to our communities, to our schools, to our parents and children.

We have to reach out to Long Beach because they are the future of this country. They deserve to be supported and they are worth it. With this, I hope I leave you at least thinking about your own health and well-being, and realize that it is worth the attention, and that you know you are worth it too.

Elizabeth Mercado is a Masters in Social Work candidate at the USC School of Social Work. She received her B.A. in Sociology from CSULB in 2012.