The context
The district uses a comprehensive approach to monitoring and tracking mental health trends, such as depression and anxiety, across the district.
“We are not necessarily getting brand-new issues that we've never seen before. ... However, there has been some ... intensification of those needs or a higher acuity of those needs in the last couple of years,” said Jennifer Akins, the district’s senior director of guidance and counseling.
Mental health concerns, such as anxiety, are being seen at a younger age, Akins said. Research points to loss of a family member or support system, a lack of sleep, and social media as contributors to this trend, Akins said.
“[We] used technology often to entertain ourselves during the pandemic, and those habits have kind of created a group of students that maybe is even more plugged in than what we've seen in the past,” Akins said. “There's some concerns with how kids use social media and use technology.”
Akins said the effects of inflation and a tightened economy could be an additional stressor for students experiencing worsened mental health.
“When you have economic constraint in a community, kids can sometimes take the brunt of that,” she said. “They are not only just experiencing the effects of the financial times, they also don't have much power to affect it.”
The details
The district has focused on creating resources and promoting resilience to combat the mental health concerns among the student population. Prevention efforts and resources employed at the campus level aid in building resiliency, Akins said.
“We have some amazing and resilient kids,” she said.
One resource available to MISD students is the Harold Murphy Counseling Center. Created through a partnership with Texas A&M University-Commerce, the center offers any MISD student up to eight counseling sessions at no cost, Akins said.
District officials have also created resources for parents as a way to spread education on common mental health concerns found in students. A free online course is available through the district’s website for parents to learn more about mental health. A similar free online resource is available for parents to learn more about substance use prevention.
“We have lots of community partners, and we've brought in people to record videos and write portions for us, so our hope is that it's a really robust resource for our families,” Akins said.
By the numbers
Mental health issues found among MISD students are also affecting residents countywide, according to data from a 2022 profile of Collin County’s behavioral health.
- About 271,500: The number of Collin County residents who have mental health issues
- Nearly 55,000 of those individuals have a serious mental illness.
- About 10,000: The number of Collin County residents annually served by Lifepath Systems, the designated local behavioral health authority, in 2021.
- 8,300: The total number of calls answered by Lifepath System’s Crisis Hotline in 2021 from Collin County residents and visitors
- The hotline is available at 877-422-5939.
