Helping Your Child Improve Sleep

While it’s important that adolescents are getting a good night’s sleep, sleeping patterns and the amount of sleep adolescents get can get jumbled because of mental illness (for example, we’ve talked about depression naps and their effects). Overall, it’s difficult for adolescents to get the recommended amount of sleep they should be getting, and with higher rates of mental illness within this age group today, it can be even more difficult because of the ways that it can affect your sleep, such as depression napping and insomnia. Continue reading Helping Your Child Improve Sleep

Rewriting Nightmares

Nightmares are never fun. They can feel like horror movies come to life, often times created specifically for you and the things that terrify and worry you the most. We all experience nightmares, but between 2-8% of adults are affected by them to the point that their sleeping patterns are drastically disrupted. Children between the ages of 3-6 are more likely to be affected by nightmares and have trouble getting rest as well, which can be especially damaging considering that they need between 10-13 hours of sleep. Continue reading Rewriting Nightmares

Using Social Media at Night

It may be hard for some to remember the last time that they got a proper, full night’s sleep. Schoolwork, jobs, and extracurricular activities are just a few things that can contribute to an adolescent’s hectic and busy schedule. Simply put, there aren’t enough hours in the day for people to do everything that they want, and they often sacrifice the time they should be using sleeping to get everything else done.

Continue reading Using Social Media at Night

The Benefit of Naps

Yesterday, we talked about the danger of depression naps. However, this isn’t to imply that all naps are bad for you – in fact, they’re incredibly beneficial!

At first, naps can seem like a waste of time if you’re incredibly busy and are seen as a sign of laziness. They may also seem like the only thing your body and mind can do if you’re experiencing a depressive episode and don’t have the strength or motivation to do anything else. Naps are usually seen in a negative light for these reasons if you aren’t a child, despite the fact that they can help you become more alert, improves memory and creative thinking, and can improve your moodContinue reading The Benefit of Naps

Get Your ZZZZ’s!

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.


You have heard this before and I know, getting enough sleep is easier said than done…you only have 3 more episodes of that show on Netflix or you’re busy scrolling through Facebook or Twitter. I am unfortunately also guilty of staying up way later than I should because…just one more episode then I’ll go to bed. I have a bad habit of doing this despite knowing how I will feel the next morning. I just find it hard to put my phone down sometimes or turn off the show. But, you need your sleep! Continue reading Get Your ZZZZ’s!

5 Ways to Keep a Level Head for the Start of School

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.


With the splendor of summer coming to an end and the stress of the school year following shortly behind, it’s important we maintain our sanity and stability through these busy transitions.  One way we can help keep our anxiety levels low during this time is by creating and consistently maintaining self-care routines before our schedules get crazy.  Then, when things do start to pick up, our self-care is already built into our daily lives.

Here are five tips to help you keep a level-head this fall: Continue reading 5 Ways to Keep a Level Head for the Start of School

Sitting in (Not So Complete) Silence

For some, the quiet can be peaceful. There are no distractions and a place for them to focus on their thoughts without any outside intrusions.

For others however, the quiet can be deafening and can cause them to feel incredibly anxious. The best way to describe this feeling is when you’re taking a test in a large room. It’s the feeling that something, anything, can happen at any second that can throw you off completely, and that uncertainty is stressful. Your mind can start to wander to places you don’t want it to and distract you if you have something you have to focus on.

This is where white noise comes in. Continue reading Sitting in (Not So Complete) Silence

Caffeine’s Effect on Adolescents

Sometimes, it feels like caffeine is a necessity. It may be that cup of coffee before your class starts at 8AM or that energy drink to help you get through that last leg of your assignment at 2 in the morning. Given the hectic work and school schedules for teenagers and young adults, every source of energy is welcomed to get as many things done in the day as possible. Continue reading Caffeine’s Effect on Adolescents