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.
Expressing your thoughts and feelings can be difficult. It is sometimes hard to find the right words that really say what we’re experiencing. Even more difficult, though, can be finding the right person to say them to.
One of the greatest causes of stress in adolescents is feeling like that they have to do well in school. A significant contributor to this, and what determines a good portion of grades, are tests. This also includes larger tests like AP exams and standardized tests like the ACTs and SATs.
If your child finds themselves having anxiety attacks or feel that anxiety symptoms heighten as exams approach, they’re not alone.
We recently talked about how mental health treatment can be extremely inaccessible for adolescents both here in the United States and across the pond in England. We also talked last week about World Mental Health Day and how it’s theme centered around young people’s mental health in the changing world. Even so, the Earth is large, and these are just glimpses at how much (but mostly how little) treatment adolescents receive worldwide, not just with mental health, but as a whole.
Continue reading Global Funding and Adolescent Mental Health
We’ve heard it before (in fact, we’ve even discussed it here): tips to help de-stress and relax often include getting organized. Whether that be through cleaning out the closet, getting a planner, or buying color-coordinated folders and binders, people feel some sort of satisfaction when things are put in their place, even if it isn’t relevant to what may be causing anxiety.
But why is that the case?
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.
Teens today are busier than ever before. Between school, activities, sports, work, and social events, it seems like we’re always on the go! While it’s good to have a few enjoyable events on your calendar throughout the week, there often comes a point where it’s too much. Overscheduling can contribute to many compounding physical and mental health problems, and it’s important to take a step back and see how you can modify your schedule to meet your health needs.
Social media has made it well known that today is World Mental Health Day. First established in 1992, October 10th helps gives people around the world the opportunity to spread awareness about mental illness, whether it be through their own personal stories or making resources more readily available. There have been themes since 1996, including “Depression: A Global Crisis,” “Mental Health in the Workplace,” and “Mental Health and Human Rights.”
It can be difficult not to get overwhelmed with a heavy workload, whether it be for school, a job, or even being tasked with chores and errands. Sometimes, the stress associated with work and a large amount of things to do, no matter if one enjoys it or not, can lead to burnout, or an extended period of time that involves a decline in job performance. This is due to exhaustion and a lack of interest in things, particularly because of overworking.
At a first glance, it can be difficult to tell the difference between wanting to be alone versus loneliness. When people spend a long time in the company of others, they may need some time by ourselves to recharge (this is a defining trait for introverts, but isn’t just limited to them). By being alone, people can do whatever they want without judgment, nor do they have to feel compelled to encourage and continue a conversation.
Loneliness, however, has a darker definition. Continue reading Exploring the Causes of Loneliness
Trigger warning: suicide
When the first season of the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” came out last year, it spurred more than half a million media stories, including coverage that attributed to the series a rise in suicides and suicidal ideation. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that internet searches about suicide increased after the first series’s release. JAMA also published a call for social responsibility and risk screening, prevention, and early intervention for suicide, which is now the second leading cause of death among young Americans.
Continue reading How to be Safe While Watching “13 Reasons Why”
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.
Want to find a therapist, and you’re not sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve tried a few therapists, and haven’t found the dynamic that you want? I have gone through the trial of finding a therapist that works well for me, and here are a few tips on how to decide if you’ve found the right one.