Teachers' Perceptions of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Adolescents: An Emerging Challenge in the School Setting.

Abstract

Teachers' perceptions of anxiety and depression in students are a growing phenomenon in times of information overload and emotional, spiritual, relational, and behavioral crises that adversely affect the identity and autonomy of many students. This essay clarifies the issue by presenting teachers' classroom experiences, supporting the interpretation of the symptoms of these disorders, which are often mistaken for typical behaviors in children and adolescents. Through semi-structured interviews with teachers from public institutions, the findings reveal the challenges, goals, and objectives that contrast between the academic and behavioral performance of the students, which immerses the teacher in his daily work. Thus, they externalize the suffering reality of some students as a contemporary situation in school environments, which compromises students' mental health, affecting their academic, personal, and social lives. Indeed, teachers feel committed upon recognizing that school environments can influence students' moods, whether through direct contact with peers or appropriate guidance from teachers. At the same time, many teachers are confused about their role, their lack of awareness of the symptoms, intervention methods, and appropriate pathways, and the lack of communication from parents or caregivers. In most cases, anxiety and depressive symptoms are discovered through the students' own accounts of their socio-emotional state, rather than through information or support from families who describe such events as something natural.