Mental health affects 1 out of 5 high school students today and stigma is one of the main barriers preventing high school students from getting proper mental health treatment. Access to information and having a space to talk openly about mental health without the fear of being judged will contribute tremendously to a stigma free future. For example, in a Masters of Science in Behavioral Health Capstone by Jeremy Bambery (2016) it says, “Youth led approaches are a way to empower adolescents and help reduce the stigmatizing behaviors that peers display to one another” (p. 12). This shows that when talking openly about people’s experience with mental health and the stigma surrounding it students are able to see they are not alone and become educated about resources.
https://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1417&context=capstone