On the heels of May being Mental Health Awareness month and seeing how our country seems to be having its own collective moment right now, has reminded me of a few mental health incidents I have witnessed. For instance, I observed an unusually high number of teachers at my high school having “breakdown” moments of their own.

I’m not sure if these “mental moments” of my teachers were the fault of their own personal issues, or a direct result of the general makeup of my high school’s annoyingly entitled and self-assured student body, because it wasn’t just contained to teachers. I’ve seen one too many roadside breakdowns by bus drivers as well. Now granted one of these incidents involved a whoopie cushion, pig entrails, and a note out the back of the bus imploring drivers to call 911, but how much could any of that have really had to do with anything?

One day, our drama teacher inexplicably began running up and down the aisles of the theater while screaming like a banshee, her performance culminating in a round of banging her head against the wall. I don’t remember much about the aftermath from that day, however, the next day, we got a dubious thank you note announcing she quit and suggesting we try one of the brownies she made and left wrapped up for us on a tinfoil covered platter. Now because I’m not a fool, I did not touch one of those brownies and I wisely counseled everyone else not too as well. As a rule, it is my practice not to consume anything prepared by someone whom I may or may not have assisted in driving insane the day prior.

Another mental breakdown by a teacher that I reflect upon often was that of one of my math teachers, Mr. Plane. I personally loved Mr. Plane, and I usually hate all math teachers. He found my smart mouth amusing and I am 110% confident I had nothing to do with his professional demise, though I am eternally grateful for it as it benefited me hugely in the end.

I had math during lunch and our class was in one of those trailers located at the very back of the school. All morning, I had been warned by other students my teacher had gone “crazy” earlier in the day- complete with kicking a trash can theatrically out his trailer door.

I waited with anticipation all day, well, half the day, to determine if he would be in class and if we would be treated to the same energy as his previous students. And I was not disappointed.

I used to have his diatribe mostly memorized and the parts I didn’t, I graciously filled in for him, but there is one direct quote from his speech I have never forgotten as it came to haunt me while living in Redbud, N.Y.

Mr. Plane started out by assuring us the students in N.Y. were understandably mainly responsible for his duress, though he said he had mistakenly come to our school for a fresh start, and we drove the final nail into the coffin. Mr. Plane said, “The students in New York were so vile every day was like being put through the meat grinder until all that was left was a pile of pulpy, bloody meat,” followed by him kicking the trashcan out the trailer door for extra emphasis. Only during our class, it got stuck so he had to really work at sending it rolling down the trailer ramp. Honestly, I applauded his whole performance.

These stories highlight a fact that no one is too young to learn, and one made by both Heather Edwards and Toni Rorie- take the time to be kind because you never know the level of mental anguish someone could be suffering with a smile on their face. Mental health is not a laughing matter and should never get to the point where it explodes all over the place or becomes the subject of public ridicule.