A New School Year, Mental Health, and COVID
For most adolescents and young adults, school has been well in session. Whether it’s a few weeks or over a month, you’re probably adjusting – or trying your best to – adjust to new...
For most adolescents and young adults, school has been well in session. Whether it’s a few weeks or over a month, you’re probably adjusting – or trying your best to – adjust to new...
Recently, I have been STRESSED. I am getting ready to graduate in a couple weeks and with that comes multiple tests and assignments as well as working on preparation for me to move across the country and to start a new adult job.
This has been a topic I’ve wanted to write about for a very long time if I can be honest. The main reason that this topic is so important to me is because this is the root of all the stress, anxiety, and mental health issues…myself. Now everyone has their own culprits or reasons as to what triggers their own mental health issues, although in my case, and maybe even yours, is that I cause myself such extreme amounts of unneeded and unnecessary stress that it sparks my mental health issues I face and experience.
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.
I am struggling with work at the moment. I have started a new position and I am about 2 weeks in. I have been working 12 hour midnight shifts and have been working between 50-60 hours a week. The job has been physically, mentally and emotionally draining and I am having a difficult time dealing with the stress.
I remember being complimented once by a therapist for being so “self-aware” and “in tune” with my emotions. This is true. I tend to be a person who can recognize a feeling and communicate how this feeling affects me to other people. But recently I’ve been having a more difficult time unpacking my physical and emotional feelings.
Stress and anxiety are terms we hear a lot in our daily lives, especially while living through such extreme circumstances, like the current pandemic, but how often do we see these topics broken down in a helpful way? In a 30-minute talk presented by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dr. Krystal Lewis, a licensed clinical psychologist, explains where stress and anxiety come from and some coping strategies.
Being a student in the midst of a global pandemic has thrown the unexpected directly at us. It has repeatedly heightened the worry and fear of “am I on the right path?” “is this all worth it?” and of course, “am I good enough?”
Listen. We know today is incredibly stressful. Even in a year of local and world events that not just lean, but completely skew on the negative side, the election today feels like the season finale of what many consider to be the worst year ever.
Now more than ever, I notice that many people, regardless of age and background run into stress – more so financial stress. Even before the pandemic, financial hardships can be found everywhere, and this is showing more than ever how we can change our ways to not have financial worries.
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