Mental health at school

An article of Aug. 24 (“Spokane child docs offer adult care, too”) points out in the first paragraph the changes that young adults face upon entering college, followed by a discussion of services offered by pediatricians, including some to patients dealing with anxiety, depression and other issues more commonly associated with mental health. It not only raises the question of problems better addressed by mental health professionals (psychological services are already available in the public schools at all levels), it brought to mind the students in an Oregon school system who lobbied for mental health days as excused absences.

All well and good, I suppose, but what happens when a student has too many “bad hair days”? A diagnosis of a serious mental disorder and a need for counseling and psychotropic medications rather than a visit by the school attendance investigator? That’s a mighty expensive solution (literally as well as figuratively) for a student who would just rather be playing miniature golf with a friend or seeing a movie.

Judith Maibie

Spokane