Mental skills - the "key" to limiting school depression

In recent years, school depression is no longer a strange concept, but has become a painful problem, creeping into the lives of many students. Study pressure, family expectations or communication gaps cause many children to fall into a state of emotional loss. In that context, equipping them with mental skills is considered an important "shield" to help children cope, prevent and overcome psychological crises.

A skit by students of Cam Thach Secondary School at the 2025 student competition on skills to prevent and control school depression.

Warnings from true stories

NTM, a 9th grade student at a middle school in Hoang Hoa district (old), once made his homeroom teacher extremely worried. Originally an excellent student, M. always had high expectations from his family. However, since entering the 10th grade exam preparation period, he often had insomnia, irregular eating habits, and easily burst into tears just because he did not get the desired score on a test. Although teachers advised him to reduce his workload, M. still tried to "cram" knowledge for fear of disappointing his parents. M.'s silence gradually became unusual, he withdrew, avoided his friends, and repeatedly asked to skip school.

One afternoon, a teacher found M. sitting alone in the third-floor hallway in a state of panic, her hands shaking. When reassured, M. burst into tears and shared that she could not bear the pressure, felt “useless” and was afraid that people would disappoint her. After that, her family and school coordinated to take her to see a doctor, and the doctor determined that M. had signs of depression that had gradually increased over many months without being detected early. M.'s story became a warning about the pressure to achieve achievements that is weighing heavily on many students.

At a high school in Nghi Son town (old), 10th grade student LQB once went through a period of depression due to being isolated by his friends. Just because of a small misunderstanding in class, a group of friends created a private chat group to gossip and mock B., negative comments continuously appeared, making B. confused, ashamed and afraid to go to school. With a sensitive personality, B. became more withdrawn, not daring to share with his family for fear of being considered weak.

Every day, B. went to class in silence, always bowing his head to avoid everyone's gaze. His studies declined significantly, he was often tired, and no longer interested in Physics, which he had previously loved. Many nights, B. did not sleep, just staring at his phone and reading the negative comments over and over again.

The homeroom teacher noticed the unusual change in the third week and proactively discussed it with B., after many conversations, B. dared to tell the whole story. The school quickly intervened, organized a reconciliation session, asked the group of friends to apologize and invited the parents to discuss further. Thanks to the timely support, B. gradually stabilized mentally, but the trauma left behind was still a valuable lesson about the need for a safe, non-violent school environment.

From the above stories, it can be seen that school depression does not start suddenly, but silently accumulates from the pressure of achievement, isolation in friendships or lack of family connection. Each child experiences a different situation but they all share the feeling of loneliness, deadlock and not being listened to at the right time. This reality shows that school depression is clearly present, requiring early attention, correct identification and timely support from schools, families and communities to avoid unfortunate consequences.

Equipping children with psychological "shields"

There are currently no exact statistics on the number of children with depression in the whole province, however, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training , about 50% of adolescents have mental health problems.

According to psychological experts, the main causes of this situation are the pressure of studying and the expectation of high achievement, while children lack the ability to self-regulate their emotions. In addition, the rapid changes of social networks make it easy for children to get caught up in comparison, leading to low self-esteem or confusion about their own worth. Many cases also stem from the lack of connection in the family; busy parents with little time to listen make children feel lonely and have no one to share with. In addition, school violence, isolation or prolonged conflicts with friends are also factors that cause children to fall into psychological crisis if not supported promptly.

To limit school depression, we must first recognize student mental health as an important criterion in education , in addition to knowledge and skills goals. Children need to learn to understand themselves, name their emotions, talk about what worries them, and boldly seek support when needed. This must be part of a comprehensive educational strategy, rather than just seeing it as a supplementary activity or implemented according to each movement.

In recent times, many schools have proactively built psychological support models such as “Sharing mailboxes”, “School psychological counseling”, or thematic activities. Although small in scale, these activities have created an environment for students to express their thoughts and promptly detect cases with signs of instability. Just a listening space, however short, can help children reduce their feelings of loneliness and regain balance.

Not only limited to the family - school scope, community activities are contributing to spreading the message of mental health care. Typically, the Social Work Center - Children's Support Fund of Thanh Hoa province in collaboration with the People's Committee of the commune and Cam Thach and Cam Van Secondary Schools organized 7 "Students with skills to prevent and control school depression" competitions in 2025. The competitions aim to raise awareness, equip students with skills to prevent and control depression, contributing to building a healthy, friendly and psychologically safe school environment. Thereby, helping students develop the ability to respond positively to pressures in studying and daily life. At the same time, many localities maintain "Mental Health Festival", "social work - psychological counseling" groups, "Anh Duong House", and train skills for parents and teachers to build a sustainable support network. When children are equipped with mental skills and have solid supports around them, they will be more proactive in overcoming pressure and protecting themselves.

Sad stories from reality show that school depression can happen to any student if they lack mental support. Therefore, equipping mental skills is not only a solution but also a "key" to help children identify emotions, overcome pressure and avoid falling into crisis. When family, school and community work together properly, children will have a solid foundation to develop more safely and confidently.

Article and photos: Tran Hang

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ky-nang-tinh-than-chia-khoa-han-che-tram-cam-hoc-duong-271053.htm