'The whole purpose of mental health days is to recognize and to acknowledge the fact that these symptoms from these mental health related conditions can interfere with a young person's ability to be fully present in school.' Christine Crawford, associate medical director at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told the outlet. 'When it comes to mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, those are also medical conditions that can interfere with anyone's ability to function at work and at school,' Dr. 'I think it's important to take care of yourself.' 'I was going through my own mental health struggles and I knew that testifying for mental health days and being vulnerable was opening myself and my struggles to criticism,' Riddle told TODAY Parents. Lori Riddle, a 21-year-old college student, is one of several then-high schoolers who testified before Oregon's state legislature in support of the bill to allow excused absences for mental health.

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Additionally, there are five states where bills for mental health days have been proposed, including Florida, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. There are currently 12 states where students are legally allowed to take mental health days: Washington, California, Illinois, Maine, Virginia, Colorado, Oregon, Connecticut, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Kentucky. Students are able to take a number of excused absences from school - varying among states and their respective laws - due to mental or behavioral problems, similar to a sick day. According to the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit specializing in kids' mental health, a mental health day is a day off from school to rest and recharge. Hundreds of schools nationwide are now allowing students to take 'mental health days' during the year. Some schools are making strides in addressing youth mental health as issues like anxiety and depression become a growing issue among children and teens.Ībout one in five teenagers in the United States have experienced a major depressive episode, or persistent feeling of sadness or hopelessness, at some point, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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