With 20 percent of teenagers ages 13-18 being affected by a mental illness, and suicide being the third leading cause of death in youth aged 10-24, it is extremely important for all teenagers to have someone to go to in order to seek medical help, therapy or counseling.

However, for students who feel as if they have no reliable adult to turn to, the weight of mental illness can become unbearable.

In today’s society, there is a huge stigma placed on mental illness, especially among young people and adolescents. Since so many high school-aged students suffer mental illness, the added stress of academics, extra-curricular activities and college applications can create even more severe issues for many teens.

So, it is extremely important for high schoolers to have someone to go to at all times and to talk to, such as guidance counselors. However, it seems like at many schools, guidance counselors are always so busy with scheduling, college counseling and sponsoring clubs that they do not really have the time in their schedules to talk to students about mental, social or emotional problems they may be experiencing.

Many schools do have school psychiatrists, but they may not be available for everyone to talk to, coming only once or twice a week, and only talking to students with known family issues or other traumatic experiences that can cause mental disorders. However, just because a student has not suffered a known traumatic experience does not mean that they are not suffering an equally serious mental disorders. Mental disorders can be all-consuming, and it is extremely important that students are provided the resources they need to deal with their illnesses.

Students spend seven hours a day at school, where they can sometimes have problematic relationships with their peers, or suffer severe cases of stress. Without having someone to talk to about problems they face at school, students can have lower grades or deteriorating relationships with peers.

In today’s society, the increasing stress and pressure put on high school students, and the new social stress that can come from social media, makes it is extremely important that students have healthy ways to deal with possible mental illnesses and people to turn to, in and out of the school.