This year, Mental Health Awareness Month overlaps with the Islamic month of Ramadan. The simplest association with Ramadan is fasting: from sunrise to sunset everyday, Muslims who are able to do not eat or drink anything (even water). Continue reading Weekend Reads: Ramadan and Mental Health
The Influence of Influencers
This past week has shown the power of YouTube influencers. The 43-minute “takedown” video by Tati (a notable beauty YouTuber) of former mentee and friend James Charles (also a notable beauty YouTuber) not only broke into the mainstream media, but had drastic effects for both channels. Both videos have at least 40 million views each, and as Tati has largely increased her following, James has lost at least 2 million subscribers on YouTube, and his response video is already one of the most disliked videos in the nearly 15 years of YouTube’s history. Continue reading The Influence of Influencers
The Power in a Name
The mental health statistics for transgender people are unfortunately bleak. Nearly half of trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming (GNC) youth between the ages of 3-17 are likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness. Statistics show that at least half of them have received a depression diagnosis, with increased rates of attention deficit and anxiety diagnoses as well. These statistics increase in trans, nonbinary, and GNC youth of color, and overall, rates of suicide and suicide attempts are alarmingly high. There are many reasons for this, including but not limited to stigma, prejudice and discrimination, and the fear of being unaccepted. Continue reading The Power in a Name
You Taught Me
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.
You taught me that life is precious.
It’s fragile and slippery
and if I stop paying attention
it might slip right out of my grasp.
Gmorning, Gnight!
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.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is one of my biggest role models – he’s such an uplifting and inspiring person! As an actor, musician, writer, producer, and activist, some of his accomplishments include writing and starring in In the Heights and Hamilton, composing the music for Moana, acting in Mary Poppins Returns, producing Fosse/Verdon, and raising money for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico. He also runs one of my favorite Twitter accounts, largely because he tweets motivational phrases at the beginning and end of each day, starting with “Gmorning!” or “Gnight!” These tweets have gained a lot of traction over time, and last year Miranda compiled some of them into a book called Gmorning, Gnight! Little Pep Talks for Me & You. Continue reading Gmorning, Gnight!
Getting Involved
There are a number of nonprofits, organization, and campaigns that focus on mental health. Some talk about mental health as a whole, some focus on specific demographic and minority groups, and many are centered on helping youth and adolescents. Continue reading Getting Involved
Helping Online Friends
Although social media as an effect on how we don’t communicate as frequently face-to-face and in real life, this doesn’t mean that friendships are dwindling. The Internet has made the world feel smaller, and in just seconds, you can meet peers around the world who share interests or have the same concerns that you do, and the more you talk, the more you realize that you may have more in common and that they can be a great means of support. Continue reading Helping Online Friends
How to Embrace Change
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.
Change is tricky. It is an inevitable part of life and can be immensely positive or quite negative based on where you are in your life at the time. The spring is a time for transition – for students, it is the end of another school year or perhaps the end of their academic journey all together. Continue reading How to Embrace Change
Spreading Awareness on Children’s Mental Health
As a part of Mental Health Awareness Month, organizations and campaigns are using specific days to talk about specific issues. One example will be on Thursday, May 9th, which is dedicated to spreading awareness on children’s mental health. Continue reading Spreading Awareness on Children’s Mental Health
Healthy Ways of Dealing With Depression
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.
I am a teenager who lives with depression, and I have struggled for a long time to find healthy ways of dealing with it. Continue reading Healthy Ways of Dealing With Depression