Although the internet is most likely the preferred method for pretty much anyone trying to learn more information, whether it be news stories, recipes, or advice from those who have gone through similar experiences, it’s particularly important for LGBT+ youths. Continue reading Where do LGBT+ Youth Look for Mental Health Help?
Trying to combat mental illness and the effects it can have on you can be exhausting, hard, and can even make you feel worse. Nonetheless, resilience, or the process of fighting back and recovering from difficulties, is possible.
Resilience is a way to include positivity in your life and a way to fight back against the negative thoughts that often come with having a mental illness. It’s a way of like telling your mental illness that it doesn’t have more power than you have over yourself and that you can get back up when it knocks you down. There are tons of ways to practice resilience too, from changing behavior patterns or your environment to practicing healthy coping mechanisms.
Resilience acts as a type of protective factor, which are ways to prevent issues like more severe mental health effects from occurring. It’s different than simply trying to overcome your issues though; while it may sound like it’s the same thing as putting on a smile on your face and acting as if nothing is wrong, resilience is more about trying to find a way to battle your feelings and also means embracing that they’re in the first place.
But how does resilience look for adolescents specifically? One study interviewed five teenage girls who were being treated for various mental illnesses such as addiction, PTSD, and depression. Common patterns appeared in what all of them had to say; for example, embracing resilience for them was challenging, but they described the effects that it had on them to be really rewarding.
These difficulties came in the form of trying to find positivity when combating triggers or experiencing nightmares, or feeling like they were alone in their situation and trying to withstand trauma by themselves, especially because of things like stigma or being shut down when they did open up. They were able to find resilience through becoming more confident in dealing with their mental health issues, which led to an increase in self-worth, and it was something that they were able to work on not just with other’s help, but through their own individual determination. They were also able to find the resources they needed and simply just surviving when things felt like they were at their worst.
While it’s a journey, finding ways to be resilient against one’s mental illness is possible.
What do you think resilience is? How do you embrace difficulties or challenges that may occur?
Do you enjoy the arts? Have you ever wanted to see how getting creative can help you mentally? This feature is just one in a series of entries exploring the different types of creative arts therapy. You can learn more about other outlets here!
The truth is, reading can be difficult. You may not have the time to settle down with a book to read, or you may get so overwhelmed with all the options that you don’t know where to start. Reading can also sound like a burden and a commitment, and it can be hard to pay attention to what you’re trying to read, especially given all the kinds of distractions surrounding you (see: phones).
Continue reading Creative Arts Therapy Feature: Bibliotherapy
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.
Perfection is a deadly virus
That whispers sweet lies in your ear
It tells you that you’re not good enough
Until hurt is all you can hear Continue reading Just Jump!
Pride Month is pretty self-explanatory. Though pride isn’t limited to just these thirty days, June gives those who identify as queer and/or a member of the LGBT+ community a time to celebrate how far they’ve come with their rights, work towards a better future for themselves, and just have fun being who they are. Continue reading Weekend Reads: Finding Pride
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 Sudan and Hong Kong, 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
The demographics in the United States have shifted significantly. The Pew Research Center reported that there were 44.4 million immigrants living in the country in 2017, making up 13.6% of the total population. The increase in the immigrant population in the United States also means an increase in second-generation Americans – those who are born in the United States to immigrant parents (some people may also refer to these people as first-generation Americans, however). The number of second-generation immigrants was nearly as much back in 2013 at 36 million, making up 12% of the population. Continue reading How Mental Health Affects Second-Generation Adolescents
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 saw my first therapist in ninth grade when my social anxiety and depression really began to intensify. I don’t remember exactly how often I went, but it wasn’t too regularly – at most I went every other week. I only went during the school year, though, since school was the main source of my symptoms. I didn’t go back to therapy until about two years later, when I fell into a heavier depression than I had ever experienced before. But despite the severity of my symptoms, I followed the same schedule as before – I only saw my therapist a couple times each month and ceased treatment when the school year ended. At the time, going to therapy once in a while seemed normal, but now I see that this was nowhere near the level of treatment that I needed. I didn’t even know that weekly therapy sessions were an option! I definitely would have benefited from a higher level of care. Continue reading How Often Should You Go To Therapy?
While they may seem cheesy at first, affirmations can be pretty powerful. Self-affirmations are sayings that people say aloud with confidence about things that they are trying to believe in. By saying these frequently, out loud, and with assurance and confidence, it can help people believe in the very things that there are saying, making it come true. Continue reading Affirmations
Podcasts are everywhere these days. You can find any podcast about any topic imaginable, story retellings, or completely fictional podcasts that are the 21st century versions of the old kinds of radio shows that were popular back in the 50s. You can learn a new skill or find more information about decades-old crime stories, or even just listen to a few people talk about nothing significant and just what’s been going on in their lives. Continue reading Podcasts about Mental Health