Teenagers’ Mental Health: High School Students Learn How To Cope With Anxiety Through REACH Summer Program

High school students suffering from anxiety have a chance to cope better and manage their condition through a special summer class. A program called REACH, which stands for Reward, Educate, Accept, Change, Help, is offered by the Canadian Ecology Centre to help teenagers comprehend what triggers their anxiety.0

The Canadian Ecology Centre is located near Mattawa, a town in Ontario, Canada. Bill Steer, the head of the institution, said they aim to prevent teenagers from descending further into their anxious thoughts, CBC reported.

Steer said the center helps teenagers "develop coping skills" and guides them to be "part of that solution, because they are going to be self-advocates," the news outlet added. Canadore College in North Bay, Ontario is one of the schools currently offering the two-week REACH program, which provides students with two full high school credits.

The REACH program is a combination of academic, theoretical, and outside learning. Students begin their day at 8:30 AM and ends by 10 PM. Their activities all cater to anxiousness and dealing with anxiety.

Participants of the REACH program learned how to enjoy meeting new people, form friendships, and support each other. Steer said teenagers achieved "breakthroughs" in just two weeks, adding that the youngsters began their time at the program barely talking and now they're comfortable in discussing their mental health.

According to the 2015 Child Mind Institute Children's Mental Health Report, 22.2 percent (17.1 million) of American youth will have a diagnosable mental illness with "serious impairment" before they turn 18 years old. Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety or excessive worrying, panic attacks, social phobia or social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD, and post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, KidsHealth listed.

In Queensland, Australia, an online program called The Brave Program is also helping young people manage their anxiety. The 10-session program offers self-directed tool used games, real-life scenarios, and quizzes designed to identify, describe, and cure anxiety, ABC Online reported.

The program is split into two versions: for children aged eight to ten and teenagers aged 13 to 17. Sessions can be done with a parent or teacher, or they can do it alone. In two years, more than 12,000 youngsters participated in the program.

Teenagers' stress and anxiety levels are getting worse in recent years, especially among young people in the middle class, the Daily Mail reported. Experts said this anxiety stems from teenagers' increased reliance on smartphones and tablets, as well as feeling that they have no control over their own destinies.