Denbigh High student starts mental health club

Recognising that some students at the Denbigh High School were self-mutilating, senior prefect Gabrielle Evans decided to be unconventional and formed a club to address the issue.

"I wanted to help those who are challenged by mental health issues - whether it was stress, anxiety, depression, or just the spectrum of it all. We saw that a lot of students were self-mutilating or self-harming or harming others, and when we interviewed those persons, they shared that it was due to something happening around them, like peer pressure, bullying or issues at home, stress with schoolwork," said Evans, who shared her story with THE STAR at the Education Ministry's Youth Forum held in Kingston last Friday.

"It was a whole lot of things that contributed to that one thing. It was evident to us that we needed to do something that would not only tell them 'Do not self-harm', but to work through the issues that they are going through."

Like her peers, Evans struggled with mental health issues.

"As a student, I was going through a lot with school problems, home problem and problems with peers, and at one point, it became a lot. I was having suicidal thoughts and ideation, and in my opinion I was far gone," she admitted.

"But then I met someone who helped me with my problems and helped me to realise that what I was going through was not my mind going crazy, but it was prevalent with a lot of young people and that I can be helped. I just started to help other young people," the grade-13 student shared.

That observation led to the formation of the Mental Health Ambassadors club at the Clarendon-based institution in 2023 and the feedback has been positive.

"The initiatives we have is that when it was World Mental Health Day (October 10), the Mental Health Ambassadors club gave out pamphlets, we gave out ribbons to show that we are standing up for mental health. We encouraged the teachers to wear green to show the students that they are also standing with them in support of the mental health issues they are going through," said Evans. The club members also gave out the numbers of guidance counsellors.

"On a daily [basis] though, when we see someone going though something, we allow them to talk to us and then we go to the guidance counsellors, with their permission, to be that mediator to work with through their issues," she explained.

Evans shared that with the assistance of her school's administrators, she has garnered external intervention, as psychologists recently held a forum at the institution, sharing with students how to "work on your issues and how to deal with them other then self-harming".

Evans highlighted her initiative to address mental health issues affecting children at the Ministry of Education's Youth Forum held last Friday, and opined that the intervention should be adopted into schools across the island.

"I wanted to be here today because I wanted to gain more information about mental health about students, and I wanted to join a wider conversation about mental health - what mental health is about, what mental health can do to someone, the causes, the effects and what we can do about it," she told THE STAR.

"I definitely believe that mental health clubs should be in every school in Jamaica, because it is something that is 100 per cent needed, not wanted. Students are struggling so bad and people often turn a blind eye or stigmatise it. But with mental health clubs, we emphasise that their problems are real and encourage them to stand up and speak out," Evans added.