In our world, mental health is and has been one of the top 5 struggles for teenagers and even some young adults. I’m sure that you yourself have struggled with mental health at least once in your life. Mental health is a very big topic to cover, it has many different ways of impacting people and their everyday life. 

We’re going to run through two of the if you will “more important”  disorders/issues related to mental health and what the definition of them are. The first issue I am gonna talk about is anxiety, symptoms of anxiety vary widely. You may have realized that you sometimes get irregular breathing patterns or some really deep feeling in your stomach, that’s your anxiety. It’s basically saying you’re jumping to conclusions, but there is a fair 50/50% chance that your conclusions are right. 

Now the second thing I’m gonna talk about is depression, this one is a fragile topic for many, many people. Depression can cause you to be sleep deprived, it can cause you to even stop eating or sadly self harm yourself. None of these are good, but as sad as it is it’s a thing. Lots of depression comes from how you feel about what other people’s opinions are of you, but some of it is your own self-doubt. It’s always a good idea to go to a trusted friend or even a therapist to talk about your feelings, even if you don’t think your struggles are important enough for a trusted one’s ears or a professional’s time. Whether it’s self-doubt or other people’s opinions that are getting to you, you shouldn’t take either as a valid answer. Whether your brain knows it or not, there is always one or more people out there who care about you and your mental state.  

That leads me directly to the interviews. We’re gonna pause and take a second to recognize some other students’ views on mental health and how important it is. We interviewed 3 students and one teacher, the students we interviewed were Samantha Robertson, Brandon Claussen, and Crayton Boger. The teacher we interviewed was Mr. Palleria.

First, Crayton Boger and Brandon claussen:

They say.

“ The topic “mental health” is for sure a difficult topic for most people.

The definition of mental health varies between the people you come 

upon. There are so many different types of problems people have such as

Depression, anxiety, bipolar, and really just your everyday well-being. ”

 Next up, Samantha:

She says… 

“Mental health is a very sensitive and important topic to talk about.

Mental health is challenging for everyone, having bad mental health

can bring someone’s whole life down. There are many examples of how

someone’s mental health can affect that person and everyone around

them. It can affect your daily schedule, how you act, how you react to

situations or words, your mood, your motivation levels, and even how

you dress. Somebody with depression is not someone you want to play

pathetic jokes on, family issue jokes on, past relationships,

self-esteem comments, body shaming, bullying anything of the sort. You

NEVER know what will trigger someone, no matter how mad you are

breath, think of what you were about to say and decide if it’s REALLY

worth making that comment to someone. Being diagnosed with depression

isn’t always something you need to make known to others, for instance,

your school, untrusted people, teachers, and friends.”

Now lastly, Mr. Palleria:

He says…

“Mental health should be valued for many reasons. Stronger mental health for students means they can learn better and really realize the full potential of their abilities. Students’ mental health in school is a crucial part of the education system. Ultimately, students with positive mental health can build relationships more effectively, make decisions, and work together. These positive effects support the individual student and their larger community as they enter adulthood.”

That concludes this article, the main idea of this article was to let you know that people understand how you feel and what you are going through. It was also to express to you how important your mental health is and why you should find a trusted one to talk to about your issues. You should never wait until it’s too late, always reach out to a person as soon as you notice changes in you and your everyday life. We’re going to provide you with a few hotlines that you can reach out to if you ever start to notice that things are changing. Now, these are not numbers to play around with. If you’re going to call any of these numbers, we’re begging you to be serious. It’s never a good idea to waste a hotline’s time, there are people in need.

DRUG ADDICTION HOTLINE: 1-800-662-4357

SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE: 1-800-273-8255

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE: 1-800-799-7233