Harrison College students Weiyang Sue and Rashauna Clarke have won an inaugural national secondary school essay contest, with the Psychiatric Hospital saying it is now considering implementing several of their proposals to improve mental health services.
Weiyang Sue won the junior category, while Rashauna Clarke took first place in the senior category of the competition, hosted by the Psychiatric Hospital Suicide Prevention Action Plan Committee in partnership with the Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited’sThrift Club, and held under the theme Change the Narrative: Start the Conversation.
Junior Category First Place winner Weiyang Sue and Senior Category First Place winner Rashauna Clarke. (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)
Students were asked to explore what they would do to improve mental health in Barbados ahead of Mental Health Month in October.
Psychiatric Hospital Director Andrea Wharton-Boyce told Monday’s prize-giving ceremony, held at the BPWCCUL Belmont Road headquarters that mental health care extends beyond the hospital and highlighted the importance of making services more accessible within communities.
She said Barbados has adopted a community-based approach, with mental health services available through polyclinics and satellite clinics.
Sue’s essay addressed social attitudes surrounding mental health, including the pressure on boys to “man up” and the belief that crying is a sign of weakness.
Among his proposals were trained student volunteers who could listen to their peers and connect them with professional support, programmes allowing students to spend time with elderly people experiencing loneliness, and training for religious leaders to identify when members of their congregations may need professional mental health assistance.
Clarke’s essay took a research-based approach, proposing a three-part strategy focused on dismantling cultural stigma, reforming institutional infrastructure and expanding community-level access to mental health services.
Clake said she used research to examine stigma surrounding mental health, including the belief that young people should not express their feelings or seek counselling.
She said she hoped to see some of the ideas from her essay implemented.
Wharton-Boyce also encouraged young people to challenge the stigma surrounding mental illness and to make conversations about anxiety, depression, grief, bullying and loneliness more normal.
“Check the bias before we judge, before we label, before we dismiss,” she said, referring to the Psychiatric Hospital’s “Check My Bias” anti-stigma campaign.
She also highlighted the importance of suicide prevention and encouraged students to listen to friends who may be struggling and connect them with trusted adults or mental health professionals.
Dr Joy Sue, one of the programme leads, said the competition was introduced as part of the implementation strategy for the Suicide Prevention Action Plan, recognising young people as an important vulnerable group.
Some 36 entries were received from secondary schools across Barbados and were judged in two rounds, with judges looking for knowledge of the mental health landscape as well as feasible and innovative ideas for improving mental health services, she said.
Every entry called for greater integration of mental health education in schools and a nationwide public education or anti-stigma campaign.
Many students also called for greater integration of mental health into primary care to improve access to services, she added.
“Due to the success of this initiative, we are giving serious thought to making this an annual event,” Dr Sue said and later revealed that implementation of the students’ suggestions will occur next year with the help of the Ministry of Education Transformation.
Chairman of the National Mental Health Commission Maisha Emmanuel said young people needed to be directly involved in conversations about mental health.
Chairman of the National Mental Health Commission Maisha Emmanuel. (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)
She said young people were often more receptive to hearing from their peers and invited the winners to consider participating in the commission’s communication plan through radio, television and social media.
The junior second-place winner was Karya Greaves of Queen’s College, while Joshua Franklin of Harrison College placed third.
In the senior category, Melanie Phillips, a former student of St Michael School, placed second, while Trishad Whitehall of Daryll Jordan Secondary School placed third.
A special recognition award was also presented to Olivia Dean for sharing aspects of her personal mental health journey in her submission.
Senior Nursing Officer and Mental Health Coordinator Ryan Lewis said Dean’s openness reflected the purpose of the Psychiatric Hospital’s Stories of Stigma initiative, which encourages people to share their experiences and help break down barriers surrounding mental health.
He said her contribution demonstrated that “one courageous conversation” could become the beginning of change.
(LE)
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