Petition to Create a State-Mandated Basic Psychopathology Course in Florida High Schools

A study by the American Psychological Association in 2009 concluded that 68% of Americans were unwilling to have someone who is mentally ill marry into their family, and 38% of Americans were even unwilling to have a mentally ill neighbor. In recent years, we
as a society have attempted to separate ourselves from such statistics, but it stigma still remains an unfortunate reality. A study by MentalHelp.net concluded that 18% of participants still agree that mentally ill people are just as dangerous as they are made out to be, and 26% of participants on top of that remained neutral on the subject. Given the fact that, as of 2019, 51.5 million adults in the US were living with a mental illness (National Alliance on Mental Illness), it is safe to say that stigma towards mentally ill people is not a harmless phenomenon. Children often misuse mental-illness-related terms ("psychotic," "bipolar," "OCD," "depressed," etc.) and unknowingly perpetuate a dangerous stigma, primarily due to a lack of education. It is pertinent that the conflation between mental illness and danger is reduced, for this idea simply discourages people who are struggling from seeking the help they need. By requiring a basic understanding of psychopathology at a high school level, the population's aversion towards mental illness is reduced, and students are provided with insight into the struggles that peers may go through, promoting greater empathy and positivity as a
whole.
I urge you to sign this petition, which will promptly be sent to the Florida State Commissioner for Education, Richard Corcoran, upon reaching our goal of 10,000 signatures.