Truthfully, the chances that your child’s sleep schedule aren’t the best are quite high. Adolescents in high school and college, despite needing a sufficient amount of sleep, do not get the recommended eight hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. There are tons of reasons for this: technology, caffeine, and just being too busy are just a few factors, to name a few. Continue reading Catching Up on Sleep
Sometimes, we need a physical, tangible option to help us accomplish our goals and put the things that we want to work on into words instead of having them just floating around our heads. One way to visually organize our minds is through checklists. You may associate checklists with to-do lists and things that you want to accomplish, but they can also be used as a tool to see your progress about something or help you understand how you’re feeling. Continue reading Mental Health Checklists
One of the most popular meditation apps, by far, is Headspace. We’ve talked about it before (several times, in fact), and it’s usually one of the first options on lists about apps to download and try for wellness and meditation. However, in order to get the full experience and benefits of the app, you have to pay for it, which may not be a plausible option for young people. Continue reading Headspace on Netflix
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. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.
The amount of sleep I’ve had in any given night is the single most important determinant in how my day is going to go. This is because sleep correlates with emotional well-being, physical health and ability to concentrate and function properly throughout the day. I find myself especially cranky and kind of insufferable to be around on days that I haven’t had enough sleep – I’m one of those “don’t talk to me until I’ve had coffee” kind of people. Continue reading Sleep Hygiene
With seasonal affective disorder rearing its ugly, depressing head this time of year, we’ve gathered a few resources for you and your child to check out (outside the blog posts blogging ambassadors have written about their experiences, of course!). Continue reading Is Your Child Feeling SAD?
The majority of these resources apply to transportation in the Pittsburgh area. We hope that the other resources listed help those who live outside of Pittsburgh, or that you are able to find similar resources in your area too.
Transportation to and from appointments can be a big challenge to overcome while getting treatment. Availability, cost, and convenience can be major factors, and finding resources is not always easy. Fortunately, we have put together a list of possible solutions to help ease the burden of transportation. Continue reading Transportation Barrier Resources
This week, we wanted to share a few resources from professional mental health websites and practitioners to learn some coping mechanisms and suggestions specifically for the holiday season. We feel an obligation to be happy and cheery this time of year, but the reality is, it’s just as easy to feel depressed during the holidays as happy. No matter the reason for whatever may be making this holiday season difficult, we hope some of the following links may be of some help: Continue reading Mental Health Support this Holiday Season
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. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.
‘Tis the season. Even though a lot of us have been spending so much “quality time” at home with our families, there is a special something about the holidays (mostly Thanksgiving and Christmas, but all the holidays in this season) that brings out traits in people that may lay dormant during the rest of the year. Continue reading Getting Through the Holidays with Difficult Family Dynamics
Thanksgiving is a tricky holiday to navigate. Although it’s meant to be, well, a thankful time of year, it can still be painful for many. The history behind the holiday, the emphasis of being around family, and the potential of being around all kinds of triggers can make the upcoming week mentally taxing. Others might be anxious about the expectation of cooking for hours, while many might be grieving this year due to losses of those close to them or not being able to hold a “traditional” Thanksgiving due to the pandemic. Continue reading Weekend Reads: Support for Your and Your Child’s Mental Health this Thanksgiving
More often than not, people have a negative view of video games and its relationship with mental health. Video games are often associated with addiction and seen as a poor coping mechanism. Those who play violent video games tend to be more likely to show depressive symptoms too. Continue reading Video Games about Mental Health