How Mental Illness Impacts the American Dream

Mental illness and the stigma surrounding it makes it more difficult for people to achieve

the American Dream. Mental illness often makes it more challenging to do well in school, get

into a preferred college and have a successful career.

Education is a big piece of the American Dream. In order to have a successful career,

education is often very important. Mental illness impacts education for students. According to

the Suicide Prevention Center “Mental health problems can affect a student’s energy level,

concentration, dependability, mental ability, and optimism, hindering performance. Research

suggests that depression is associated with lower grade point averages, and that co-occurring

depression and anxiety can increase this association. Depression has also been linked to dropping

out of school” (Suicide Prevention Center). Mental illness affects students' learning abilities.

This means that students struggling with mental illness have different needs than other students

in order to best facilitate their learning. Schools are trying to give these students the help and

support that they need. However, according to the National Center for Education Statistics “88

percent of public schools did not strongly agree that they could effectively provide mental health

services to all students in need. The three most prevalent limitations identified by these schools

that limit their ability to serve their students' mental health needs were an insufficient number of

mental health professionals to manage their school's caseload, inadequate access to licensed

mental health professionals, and inadequate funding.”(National Center for Education Statistics).

Schools are struggling to provide students with the support that they need. This makes it more

difficult for students with mental illnesses to get the most out of their education. The stigma that

surrounds mental health is another factor that impacts young people’s education. In a poem by

Tyler G he writes “I'm tired of feeling numb./I'm tired of being sick,/I'm tired of kids calling
me dumb,/Just to get a kick.”(6-9 , All Poetry). The Suicide Prevention Center states how

mental illnesses impact the lives of those who live with them. This highlights how important the

support mentioned by the National Center for Education Statistics is, and why the lack of support

in schools is cause for concern. The poem furthers this point by offering a first hand perspective

of facing the stigma surrounding mental health, which in this case, results in bullying. It is

another responsibility of the schools to eliminate bullying.

Mental illness and the stigma surrounding it also impacts college students and their ability to

get into the university of their choice. In a personal story the author writes “For college, I had

planned to live in the dorms, but within less than a week I lost it when I realized my mental

health was not in the right place for me to thrive away from home. I moved back in and instead

took a few classes at a community college and another online” (National Alliance on Mental

Health). Mental illness can cause young people to miss out on education opportunities which can

affect them in the long run. The author also stated that “my poor health bound me close to

home and I felt forced to give up my #1 choice school. I instead chose to attend a

university close to my hometown, where I was close enough to home for comfort.”

(National Alliance on Mental Health). This is another example of how mental health can

cause opportunities to be sacrificed. Another way that mental health can affect a college

education is discrimination by the schools. Yale has been accused of discriminating against

students with mental illnesses. According to CNN “The lawsuit alleges the university

discriminated against students with mental health disabilities and forced students to withdraw

from the school after showing severe mental health disability symptoms”(Del Valle). Yale

allegedly made students unenroll from the university because of their mental illnesses. This type

of stigma causes students to be unsure whether or not to disclose their mental illnesses while
applying to college. In an opinion essay, by Emi Nietfield, she writes “Should applicants play it

safe and conceal their emotional troubles — even when it means leaving low grades and gaps in

transcripts unexplained? Or should they tell the truth and risk getting flagged as a

liability?”(Nietfield). Disclosure about mental illness or lack thereof can have an impact on

whether or not someone is accepted into college. This presents an important question for those

living with mental illness when they are applying to college. However, some people do not feel

comfortable disclosing their mental health in their applications because they are worried about

being discriminated against. The CNN article demonstrates that this is a legitimate concern by

giving an example of how opportunities can be revoked because of mental illness. Meanwhile,

the personal story demonstrates the firsthand experience of being someone who has lost

opportunities because of mental illness. The lack of education opportunities makes it more

difficult to achieve the American Dream because education is often important in order to have a

successful career.

Another important part of achieving the American dream is having a successful career.

Having a mental illness can make this more difficult. According to Next Level Solutions “your

mental health can have a significant impact on your job satisfaction. Mental health conditions,

such as depression and anxiety, can make it difficult to perform well at work, and in some cases

can even lead to job loss”(Next Level Solutions). People struggling with mental illness

sometimes choose not to disclose this to their employer. This can lead to them not getting the

support they need at work. It can be very difficult for someone struggling with depression or

anxiety to go to work and do their job. This lack of support makes it even more difficult and can

cause job loss.

Mental illness and the stigma surrounding it makes it more difficult for people to achieve the
American Dream. This is because it can limit the amount of quality education a person can

receive as well as making it more difficult for someone to have a successful career by

introducing challenges such as discrimination and the challenge of living and working with

mental illness.