What if you, or someone you know, is in a sticky situation: you need a ride home, you’re scared where you are, you are in need of someone to lend an ear… now what if that person is your child?
Imagine that with a few clicks of your phone your chosen circle of your 6 most trusted people can know where you are and what you need.
It is important to set boundaries with teens around their phones, but we know sexting in particular can be a difficult topic to talk about.
Here’s some advice to help navigate the conversation:
Human beings all crave belonging. We are evolved to want to have friendships that support us and make us feel good. And when we start to feel we’re no longer wanted by others, we experience the weight of loneliness and isolation.
This is especially true with adolescents. A study about bullying behaviors connected these negative behaviors to feelings of not belonging.
Does your teenager or young adult’s significant other seem disrespectful or demeaning? It can be hard to start a conversation about relationships with someone of any age. One way to approach it is to talk to them about what a healthy or good relationship looks like.
Here are eight signs of a positive relationship you can talk about with your teen:
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.
“Coming out” is a decision to tell someone a fact about yourself that they may not know—usually something extremely personal and potentially something with a social stigma to it—so it can be hard to remain positive through the process.
Most people know of the phrase “coming out” in relation to sexual orientation or gender identity—like “coming out of the closet”—but it has also been used to refer to times we reveal secret behaviors, beliefs, affiliations, tastes, identities, and interests. Examples could be “coming out as an atheist” to a religious family member, “coming out as disabled” to one’s community, and so on.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is International Women’s Day?
It is a worldwide event that recognizes women’s achievements – from the political to the social – while also calling for gender equality. Find out more about the background of International Women’s Day by visiting here (it has been observed since the early 1900s)!
When you get diagnosed with depression, or any mental illness, the first thing you might feel is relief. The realization that your feelings, struggles, and symptoms can be described by a diagnosis can make you feel better – you aren’t alone! But the second thing you might feel is embarrassment, shame, or guilt. You aren’t alone in that either. There is a lot of stigma when it comes to mental illness. Most people with mental illness go through a process of understanding, accepting, and figuring out how to manage their illness. When I was diagnosed in high school at first I felt some relief, but soon enough I was really conflicted when it came to defining my identity. Who was I? Was I the same person? Was I “crazy”?
I didn’t want anyone to find out about my mental illness, and honestly the best way to do that was through treating it so I could actually manage my symptoms. But I was really afraid to take medication.
For a long time I denied that I had a mental illness and refused to take any medication because that felt like I was admitting that I was “crazy.” I worried that taking medication would change who I was. Would I act differently? Would I still be fun? Would I still be smart? Who would I be after taking medication? My family and my psychiatrist wanted me to take medication but it seemed scarier to try medication versus living with my symptoms. At least my symptoms were predictable! I understood my depression, I knew how my mental illness felt, but taking medication was a big unknown. However, I really wasn’t able to live happily, I wasn’t able to accomplish my goals, and I wasn’t able to have healthy relationships. I realized that my mental illness wasn’t going to go away and I was so miserable! Maybe the medication would change me, but considering how terrible I felt I realized it might change me in a positive way! I wasn’t enjoying my life and medication seemed like a way to hopefully make it better and make me healthier.
As if their brain wasn’t already cooperating with them enough, sometimes it’s hard for adolescents to verbalize what is happening to them or how they feel.
Depression, anxiety, as well as other mental health symptoms and disorders, can sometimes make it difficult for individuals to express themself.
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.
While this may seem like a daunting task, here are some ways, both large and small, that you can bring more balance and order to your day-to-day activities and improve your overall well-being:
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.
Research on emotional suppression shows that when emotions are pushed aside or ignored,they get stronger. Psychologists call this amplification.
In this talk, Susan David discusses the concept of emotional agility—allowing ourselves to really feel our negative emotions, like sadness and anger, instead of pushing aside those feelings. She argues that brooding, bottling and false positivity always are unsustainable—internal pain always comes out.
Here are some ideas for the next time you are unsure how to label your feelings.
Continue reading Ted Talk: The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage
