There are just certain things that St. Louis U. High students tend to avoid in conversation: a low test grade, a break-up, family issues. The list goes on, but school administrators believe that there is an even more essential conversation that should be made regular within friend groups: mental health.

It is a well-known fact that mental health is important. In recent years, a greater emphasis has been placed on raising awareness about mental health, a topic that was often considered unspeakable in previous decades.

“Part of being human is that we struggle and go through difficult things,” said school counselor Walter Kempf. “There are people struggling and they need somebody to guide them and somebody to talk to.”

Mental health issues take on many different forms within the world today. Whether it be stress and anxiety or depression and eating disorders, all mental health issues are serious issues that need attention. 

“Anxiety, stress, distractions and depression, technology and intrusions throughout our lives, all the complexities of decision making that can lead to stress becoming something that can become more permanent in the form of mental illness,” said principal Ian Gibbons S.J. “These struggles can lead to some very dangerous dysfunctions that can intrude upon our lives.”

Mental health has not left SLUH and its students unscathed. Students face mental health struggles on a daily basis, most often in the form of stress and anxiety, but in some cases depression and more severe forms of mental health issues. 

Part of being human is that we struggle and go through difficult things.

- School Counselor Walter Kempf

“There is a lot of homework which leaves me feeling like I am going to school for way too long and then not being able to do things that I want to do when I am at home,” said senior Joey Weinbauer. “I feel that I am just always doing school no matter what. This just often leads to a lot of stress and anxiety which I sometimes feel is unnecessary.”

“My mental health freshman and sophomore year was definitely better because it felt like the workload was more manageable and there was less anxiety because everybody had to be understanding due to Covid,” said junior Brendan Schroeder. “But this year it feels like we are just jumping right back into things and it is kind of exhausting. It has led to me having more anxiety about tests and anxiety about grades in general.”

Stress—in a healthy amount—is a good thing, it allows one to stay on task, to stay motivated and to do work in a timely fashion. However, it is when students embrace the stress and develop an extensive amount of stress, that it can become unhealthy. 

“There is what's called healthy stress, which is like the desirable difficulty that one encounters anytime one is learning anything new,” said Director of the Learning Center Tim Curdt. “Without that kind of stress, that kind of healthy stress, you're never going to learn and achieve.” 

However, within SLUH, many students feel that they are taking on an excessive amount of stress. An amount of stress that is unhealthy, which could lead to greater mental health issues down the road. 

“Then there is the other type of stress, toxic stress where they're not able to adapt and function at the same levels,” said Curdt. “It's getting in the way of normal healthy productivity, I think it obviously  impacts students at school here when they're facing a situation that is maximized.” 

While students have always struggled with their mental health, whether through stress, anxiety or some other issue, many see that the recent Covid-19 pandemic only heightened the mental health crisis amongst all people, but especially teenagers. The pandemic caused two major concerns in regards to mental health: social isolation and a lack of stability. 

Human beings are social animals, made for human interaction. Yet when the pandemic struck and people were forced to be physically separated from each other, it created a strain on the mental health of many individuals. 

“I think as teenagers it was especially hard because the social connections that you guys just love were dissipated,” said Kempf.  “You guys were asked to not be in connection with each other. So I guess the way I would describe it was when you guys were able to come back into the building, you could just see the joy that students had to be back, showing the desire for social connections.”

A lesser realized, but equally prevalent issue, influenced by the pandemic was a lack of stability in many students’ lives. When the pandemic struck, it forced institutions and people to be flexible at a moment's notice. It caused many activities that were once thought to be unchangeable to change. This instability is most evident in the three renditions of the academic schedule that SLUH has adopted since March of 2020. 

“The change from last year to this year was literally so hard,” said sophomore Jack Janson. “I feel like it’s just really exhausting and it takes a toll on mental health, physical health, everything. It’s a constant cycle of work and getting through that is really difficult, but everyone is going through it together.”

SLUH is all boys and I feel like the expectation is that “boys don’t cry.” The toxic masculinity, emotions are not really a part of that. We are taught not to feel.

- Sophomore Jack Janson

While some see the various changes in schedules as a detriment to their mental health, faculty believe that the new schedule helps students deal with mental health issues. The new schedule has designated times for students to seek assistance from faculty and time to relax and socialize. 

“The schedule actually may be a help in the social, emotional and mental health world that we're talking about, because there's more freedom in this schedule,” said Dean of Students Brock Kesterson. “Think about Studium and Activity Period. Some may say ‘oh, man, these kids have a lot of free time,’  but maybe the kids need this free time now more than ever before.” 

Recently, this conversation about mental health has been stepping to the forefront in national discussions. This past summer, renowned gymnast Simone Biles sat out of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, citing concerns about her own mental health. Last week, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley opted out of a game for the same reasons. This thrust the notion about the importance of discussing mental health into the forefront of American conversation, resulting in a renewed interest in the area of mental health and showing just how important it is to talk about it in a relaxed manner. 

“One of the most recognizable athletes in the world is Simone Biles,” said Kesterson. “She removed herself from one of the biggest competitions in the world because she wasn't feeling right. For her to be able to step away from that and to address that was a hard thing to do, and  we're talking about a female athlete.”

It has become evident in society that gender plays a tremendous role in how mental health is discussed. Since SLUH is an all-male institution, mental health carries a greater stigma for students. Discussing mental health involves vulnerability and today’s society encourages men not to be vulnerable, so SLUH students have frequently felt discouraged from bringing up their mental health issues.

“I addressed this in my health class, we talked about mental health issues pretty extensively,” said Kesterson. “One of the issues I bring up is the importance of not labeling people, and the importance of not creating stigmas for people, especially in an all boys school. Again the research backs this up because specifically I remember, there's a study done on depression in boys and girls and the one piece of this study focused on who got helped more and girls were getting helped more.”

While today’s society encourages everyone to think about their mental health, SLUH students still feel the pressure that society has put on men for centuries to avoid thinking about their emotions.

“SLUH is all boys and I feel like the expectation is that ‘boys don’t cry,’” said Janson. “The toxic masculinity, emotions are not really a part of that. We are taught not to feel.”

SLUH has made progress toward improving and destigmatizing mental health on campus through the Learning Center and the Counseling Department, yet many students still feel uncomfortable talking about their own mental health struggles. Because the issue is rarely discussed, students can be led to believe that they are alone in how they feel.

“I think nowadays, it's kind of like a sign of weakness,” said junior Will Blaisdell. “But I think if you show that it's not a bad thing to go through stuff, it's terrible to be struggling. I think there might be a realization that you're not so different from everyone else. It's a good thing to seek counseling and to try and get better and be better.”

“I think once students realize they're not the only ones going through it, like the time of the year when the first tests happen, there’s other people that share those things, and that really helps,” said counselor Nina See.

One approach to coping with mental health that is new to SLUH is mindfulness. Juniors Freddy Laux and Jackson Slusser started a new club, the SLUH Center for Mindfulness, to teach breathing and reflection methods that calm and relax the mind.

“We have empirical evidence now and not just anecdotal evidence that mindfulness can reduce stress,” said Laux. “We actually know the chemicals in the brain that are involved with stress like cortisol and norepinephrine, and a lot of studies now can show that, after someone participates in a mindfulness practice, the levels of those stress neurotransmitters and hormones go down significantly.”

The Center for Mindfulness will hold regular meetings in which club leaders walk students through guided breathing exercises. They hope to introduce these techniques to the school as a method of easing the stress and tension of school life.

The Counseling Department also offers many routes that students can take in addressing these concerns. 

“It's hard to deal with those feelings and a lot of times students don't know what to do with those feelings,” said Mary Michalski, school counselor. “So they either keep those feelings bottled up or, hopefully they would share it with friends or a trusted adult.” 

The best solution for somebody struggling with mental health: to talk about it. Ideally, the person would feel comfortable enough to talk with a parent, teacher or school counselor, but if not the counselors at least hope that the student will find a trusted friend to confide in. 

“Whatever struggles you are going through, you have your parents, you've got your friends and family members who you can really trust and support,” said Curdt. “But then you have your support network at school and beyond, where there are lots of people who love you and want to help you.”

If a friend confides in you, though, that they or somebody else that they know are planning on harming themselves, or others, it is necessary for you to inform a school counselor, teacher, other responsible adult, or contact the suicide hotline so that the person can receive proper help. 

“Anytime a student gets information from a friend, whether a student says something in person or via social media that they are planning on harming themselves or others, they should take it to an adult,” said Michalski. “This is not something that any adolescent feels like he should have to take on their own. Adults are much better equipped to handle these kinds of things.”

If you or a friend are having suicidal thoughts, contact the Provident Behavioral Health Crisis Hotline at 314-647-4357 or the St. Louis Youth Connection Helpline at 314-819-8802. You can also text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.