Concealing my 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 first encountered depression symptoms when I was 11. As a kid who was bullied coming from a broken home with emotionally unavailable parents, these feelings were almost inevitable. We never talked about our feelings in my household, and it hurts me to say to this day to say we still do not. I learned very quickly that in my house my feelings did not matter and were not valid.

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Can Schools Influence Stigma?

Our environments can have a powerful impact on how we view things, especially in how we view the things about ourselves. Because adolescents spent a lot of time in school, their teachers, their classmates, and the content that they learn can influence how they interpret information. This also includes mental health: conversations with peers and the ways that teachers talk about their expectations on students can have subtle, but lasting effects.

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There’s No Shame in Taking Antidepressants

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 was about four years into my battle with depression when I began taking Lexapro. I had been in and out of therapy in the preceding years, and each therapist I visited asked if I’d be interested in taking medication if my condition warranted it. I always said yes, but my mother was less enthusiastic about the prospect of me taking antidepressants. Continue reading There’s No Shame in Taking Antidepressants

A Minority in Mental Health: Asian Americans

The “model minority stereotype” of Asian Americans perceives them to be hardworking, and academically, economically, and socially successful when compared to all other racial minority groups. Because of this, Asian Americans are assumed to be at less risk of mental health problems. Then how do we explain that Asian American college students are 1.6 times more likely to seriously consider suicide than white students? And why is suicide the number one cause of death in Asian American teens?

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Can a Poor Diet Predict Mental Illness?

Food is so much more than gaining energy to get through the day. Many see food as an experience: some see cooking as therapeutic, eating with others as a way to deepen relationships, and taking photos of their food and posting them as a hobby. This doesn’t even account for how good food can taste, given the variety in cuisine and combinations.

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Can You be Extroverted and Have Social Anxiety?

Our minds often give us images of certain types of people when we think about certain things. For example, we tend to think of those with anxiety to be by themselves, preferring to be alone and in the quiet. It can be easy and even confusing to separate introversion and social anxiety, since both include a preference of being alone and away from crowds. Even though there are significant differences, the assumption is that most people with social anxiety are also introverts, and that the two go hand in hand.

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The Mental Effects of Family Separations

There have been a lot of stories lately, particularly in the last couple of years, regarding immigration. They have a more depressing tone to them, often discussing how there have been more attempts to put rules in place to make it more difficult to enter the United States. The most common of these stories involve deportation cases that take place at the United States and Mexico border.

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Little Things You Can Do to Help Through a Depressive Episode

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 have been in a depressive episode for a few weeks now. If you’re unsure on what constitutes a depressive episode, this definition by Bridges to Recovery offers a great start: “A major depressive episode is a period of two weeks or longer in which a person experiences certain symptoms of major depression: feelings of sadness and hopelessness, fatigue, weight gain or weight loss, changes in sleeping habits, loss of interest in activities, or thoughts of suicide.”

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Why Do People Like Getting Scared?

Whether it’s celebrating on the first day of Autumn, the entire month of October, or just today on Halloween, now’s not just the time for posting photos of changing leaf colors and apple picking, but for pumpkin carving, costumes, and yes, spooky activities. Everyone has different feelings about whether they like to get frightened or not, and all are completely justified. While some refuse to watch a show with just the slightest hint of a jump scare, others will jump at the opportunity to enter a pitch black maze, excited to see what the unknown has in store for them.

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