Talking with Your Friends about Mental Illness

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

When I was first seeing a therapist and diagnosed with anxiety, it felt like a secret. I didn’t know how to bring up this topic with my friends, it felt like something taboo and embarrassing. I was afraid I would be judged and seen differently if people knew that I went to therapy. When I had to miss class for therapy I didn’t tell people why. I was secretive about it and would hope that my friends wouldn’t ask questions about it. Continue reading Talking with Your Friends about Mental Illness

Keep Pushing Foward!

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

Somewhere along the line you may have changed, you may of stopped being your true self. Maybe you let people stick a finger in your face and tell you that you’re wrong, that you need to change. That you aren’t strong enough, pretty enough, smart enough or even good enough. Even ridiculed you down to the last inch just to make them feel better about themselves. Continue reading Keep Pushing Foward!

How Social Media “Jokes” about Mental Health

There’s still a long way to go in how we talk about mental health. Stigma, a lack of accessible knowledge about mental health, and the media are just a few of the reasons as to why many, regardless of age, can have incorrect information about how people coping with their mental health and show symptoms of mental illness live, behave, and think. This may require some explanation to the person to educate them at best, and can be really harmful to someone at its worst. Continue reading How Social Media “Jokes” about Mental Health

Healing while Dating

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

I was in an off-on again relationship for three years, and the ties were only completely severed seven months ago. During the off-periods, I would turn to dating apps and try to distract myself from thoughts of my ex. As I’m sure you can imagine, it would never go well, and I always found myself crying as soon as it was over and I was home. Continue reading Healing while Dating

Food for Thought

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

We all know about the brain and its complexities, but is this the only organ to blame for mental health concerns? I’ve been studying medicine for awhile, but only recently did I become interested in the “second brain.” This is the enteric nervous system (ENS) – the nerve cells lining the entire gastrointestinal tract. Many people are aware of the link between the gut and mental health, but it’s being studied constantly. New research suggests that irritation in the GI tract can signal the central nervous system (CNS) to trigger mood changes – YIKES! Continue reading Food for Thought

A Fresh Start

Although it’s a time for relaxation, summer can easily feel mundane. For children on summer break, the lack of routine or structure can make the days feel like they’re all blurring together, and for those who work from Monday to Friday, even doing work during this time can feel sluggish and slower because of the heat. This is even more true this summer, where there’s less to do and we’re confined to our homes most of the time.  Continue reading A Fresh Start

The Toll of Online Activism

Participating in causes to help make a difference and support the underprivileged can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Social media has made activism that much easier too – think of the hashtags and fundraisers people post about or how simple it is to repost other people’s posts on your story about important issues and how to get more information about the topic. Social media can also help you learn about issues that you may have not heard of otherwise(think of the current situations in Yemen and the Philippines, for example), and just exposure to campaigns can lead to a significant increase in support of the people being affected. Continue reading The Toll of Online Activism

My First Therapy Session

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

I have been struggling lately and I am now not afraid to admit it.

With school, COVID, family and relationship problems, I have been frustrated and stressed with so many different things. I have been mentally and physically exhausted. I finally decided, I need to do something about how I am feeling. Continue reading My First Therapy Session