SUMMARY:
In Washington state about 57,000 adolescents in 2013 had at
least one major depressive episode. Only 41 percent of these
teens got the proper treatment they needed (The Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014)
Leaving a mental disorder untreated with teens can have
deadly effects. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in
Washington teens (North Kitsap Herald, 2015). Children and
adolescents that are depressed often do not show noticeable
signs and rarely talk to someone about their depression,
leading it to be harder to indicate.
Currently in the United States there is also a huge shortage
of qualified health professionals to treat the youth under
eighteen years of age, increasing the rates of depression
(Scholes, 2007). With the participation of every Washington
school district, I know we can decrease these rates of
depression and suicides through in school meditation
programs.
If my proposal is approved, I will begin by meeting with the
director of “Peace in Schools,” a program that informs teachers
how to begin guiding students in to mindfulness. I will then
meet with a non-profit organization, such as Cascadia Now to