The Struggle in Finding Treatment for POC

Stigma towards mental health and mental illness has always been present, but the way that stigma is expressed and the level of stigma can depend on a variety of things. One of those ways is how stigma can differ among different races: posts here have covered how stigma acts as one of the barriers for people of color to seek treatment, including African-Americans, Asians, and Native Americans, for example. Continue reading The Struggle in Finding Treatment for POC

How Rural Adolescents can Benefit from Social Media

Technology has helped make the world feel more connected, making resources, stories, and information much more accessible. This impact is significant for those who are physically isolated and may feel like they’re in the middle of nowhere. In the past, news and entertainment was extremely limited to things such as televisions, magazines and newspapers, and going out to explore was difficult because there were very few things close by. Continue reading How Rural Adolescents can Benefit from Social Media

Caffeine’s Effect on Adolescents

Sometimes, it feels like caffeine is a necessity. It may be that cup of coffee before your class starts at 8AM or that energy drink to help you get through that last leg of your assignment at 2 in the morning. Given the hectic work and school schedules for teenagers and young adults, every source of energy is welcomed to get as many things done in the day as possible. Continue reading Caffeine’s Effect on Adolescents

“People like to be around people who are happy”

Today’s post is a featured guest entry from a medical student recalling her experiences with introversion, mental health, and sadness and how she has coped with her situation.

“People like to be around people who are happy.”

For months, I had been experiencing periods of intense sadness. Changes in my environment had surrounded me with people who I began compulsively comparing myself to – people who were smarter, funnier, more sociable, more thoughtful, more confident, more knowledgeable about the world than I was. It was regularly triggering flashbacks of my failures in life, pushing me deeper and deeper into despair until thoughts of my worthlessness became my obsession. During these episodes, I stare into space, stone-cold expression, puffy panda eyes balancing precariously on the verge of tears. My responses to people were in as few words as I could possibly make it. Someone told me I looked “REALLY tired.” Continue reading “People like to be around people who are happy”