A journey through the labyrinth of mental illness 

Sara has always had the best laugh, joyful and infectious. She also is one of the bravest people I know. From the time she was an infant, Sara was an eager child who found fun in almost everything. She loved learning and people and took on new challenges and friends with delight. No one anticipated in those early years that sprouting within this happy, charming child were the seeds of the generalized anxiety and panic disorder that would frame much of her childhood and young adult life. Other than Sara, I suppose my husband Glenn and I were least prepared of all.  

Behind every student dealing with a mental health problem is a family trying to grasp what’s happening to their child and struggling to do its best. That effort is often muddled, sometimes inadequate, and occasionally even counterproductive, but it’s almost always driven by a powerful combination of love, uncertainty, worry, and, in some cases, desperation. Educators naturally see a student with mental illness through the lens of learning. However, understanding the child and family perspective is critical to meeting the student’s needs effectively.