by Moderator ★
June 5, 2023 in LINKS
Then Do Something!
Dosomething.org is a great website to show the world what you really care about.
It is a website where young people 13 to 25 can get involved in different activities for social change. Things like improving the environment or decreasing bullying. There are a lot of different activities even if you only have a little time. Better yet, there are plenty of chances to win scholarships.
Check it out and let us know what you thought below!
by Moderator ★
May 30, 2023 in Educate Yourself
A few of your comments on previous articles mentioned that some of us feel looking back, we wish we would have opened up more with a therapist.
What are your worries about opening up? Some people may worry about:
Of course these are all valid concerns. Some things that may help is that a therapist’s job is to listen to people’s thoughts and about intimate details of their lives. This means that probably what you are telling them is a version of something they have heard before or at least something they have training in.
A therapist’s role includes:
If you are getting therapy and you feel like you are not there yet and cannot open up enough with them, be honest. Let them know that you are having a hard time opening up and sharing. This is something they can help you work on! Also if it’s not a right fit, its ok to tell them that too.
Have you had trouble opening up to a therapist? Are there ways you overcame this?
by Moderator ★
May 23, 2023 in Educate Yourself
If you really needed help, who could you count on? You might think first of a friend your own age, and while they may be good at listening and empathizing with you, they might not know what kind of advice to give you. Not because they don’t want to help, but they just haven’t had enough experience. Sometimes going to a supportive adult can help a lot. With time, you get experience, and experience helps you to learn what things work well – and what things do not. A supportive adult can be your parent, relative, teacher, priest, therapist, nurse, doctor. But how do you know they are someone you can depend on?
Ask yourself:
These questions might help you figure it out. If you don’t have a supportive adult, spend some time sharing that with a teacher or healthcare provider who works with young people. These adults spend a lot of time caring for and giving advice to young people and are often willing to listen and lend a helping hand.
How has a supportive adult helped you in the past? Are there any questions you would add to our list?
by Moderator ★
May 16, 2023 in Be Positive
Thoughts about how you approach a situation.
Do you have any advice for others going through struggles in life?
by Moderator ★
May 9, 2023 in Educate Yourself
Are you feeling especially anxious or sad today but can’t get away from a screen? Try going to www.calm.com and taking a minute for yourself.
What do you do when you’re feeling especially anxious? Let us know in the comments
by Moderator ★
May 5, 2023 in Social Media Guide
It’s difficult not to feel even a little jealous when scrolling through our numerous feeds, seeing people we know participating in adventurous activities and hanging out with other people, wishing we could do the same instead of viewing someone else doing so on a screen. FOMO is an all too familiar term, but recently, the fear of missing out has only intensified with the increased use of social media, particularly when it comes to the endless material from YouTube, one of the most popular sites for adolescents.
When watching our favorite television shows and movies, we find ourselves drawn to certain characters and form an attachment to them. These characters are usually a huge contributor to why we like what we consume so much; we develop somewhat of a one-sided relationship to them, wanting to see them succeed, viewing them as a role model, or perhaps seeing them in a romantic light. These parasocial relationships – a one-sided relationship with the media we consume – are taken to the next level when it comes to actual people. However, while this was pretty much limited to glitzy Hollywood celebrities, YouTube culture and influencers have taken these relationships to an entirely new level.
Unlike fictional characters, who don’t exist, or celebrities, who are unattainable, there’s something about watching someone who’s just like us living a luxurious, yet attainable life. Even though we aren’t capturing our lives on film and uploading them in easily consumable 20 minute vlogs, we can relate to their easy senses of humor, their mundane tasks and chores, their get-togethers with their friends who we also watch. It’s like we’re being invited into their lives, almost as if we’re their friends as well.
Some say that these YouTube parasocial relationships can have its benefits, giving adolescents with low self-esteem find their ideal selves, using YouTubers to find traits that they too could have and adapting them. By seeing these YouTubers as an ideal, adolescents can be more motivated to set goals for themselves to accomplish something akin to what these relatable creators do. However, it’s important to remember that these relationships aren’t even that, as they are one-sided and there is no reciprocity from the YouTuber’s side, simply because they don’t know the viewer beyond a statistic. These imagined relationships with the creator can play a large role in how adolescents socially develop and how they view relationships away from the screen with those they physically interact with.
Of course, YouTube is still a source of entertainment at the end of the day. We enjoy watching people, whether fictional, celebrities, or creator, because there’s something about them that appeals to us. Though at the end of the day, the screen and reality are two different worlds.
Do you watch YouTubers? If so, why do you watch them? Do you think watching vlogs can affect your view on relationships?
by Moderator ★
May 4, 2023 in Social Media Guide
You may think of two different things when you think about social media. You may think that social media makes everyone an open book, spilling all their secrets and sharing too much information so you know where they are, what they’re eating, and who they’re with at any given moment. You may alternatively think that social media is fake and controlled, and that people on social media only share what they think will get them the most attention.
Regardless, social media is a place where we know that almost any and everyone can see the content we create and share, and with that may come a need to make sure that they think what we put up is valid. It can be stressful to always think about pleasing everyone, and the fear that someone you don’t know as well (or don’t even know at all!) can find your content and respond with a negative comment can be anxiety-inducing.
Fortunately, most, if not nearly every social media platform comes with an option to go private, or at the very least, control who sees your profile and your accounts. Twitter and Instagram give you the ability to lock your account completely and limit who follows you, because you have to approve those who request to follow you. Snapchat has the option for you to only allow friends you add to see your content, and Facebook lets you decide how much anyone can see on your account – friends included.
Having this kind of control and privacy can give you a peace of mind: the people you approve to follow your account are those you trust, and you don’t have to feel like you’re trying to get their approval all of the time. There’s also the safety aspect too: only having a few people have access to your information means that it’s less likely to get out and receive unwanted attention. Overall, there’s been an increase in demand from adolescents to make accounts automatically private for these reasons, alongside others.
Take finstas. While often regarded as a sillier private space, adolescents say that they feel more like their genuine selves and don’t hesitate to hit the “share” button because they’re comfortable with those following them. And while silly, they’re still a safe place. Queer adolescents have commented that having this separate account takes the weight off of their shoulders about receiving hateful comments or those they’re not close with speculating about their sexuality.
While getting likes and comments may be validating, they can also be damaging to your mental health and in comparing yourself to others. Private accounts can give you a space to fully be yourself without worrying about these statistics and may increase your enjoyment on social media as a whole.
Are your accounts locked? Are there some that are unlocked and some that you keep completely private? How do you think limiting the people you have follow you impacts your social media use?
by Moderator ★
April 28, 2023 in LINKS
Choosing a therapist can be confusing, and there are so many different types of therapy. A common practice style is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The goal of CBT is to help you identify thought patterns, examine how they affect behavior, and change the patterns that are not helping you. We’ve featured a comic that visually explains how CBT works before if you want more detail.
CBT tends to be fairly structured and is usually meant to tackle a specific problem for a limited amount of time. That being said, the therapy itself can be used to help with a variety of issues, specifically with anxiety and depression. It allows you to play an active role in your treatment and adopt new ways of thinking that you can use throughout your lifetime. CBT also tends to be worthwhile for people of all ages and can be adapted to fit different needs well.
Of course, the best way to start this type of therapy would be to see a therapist who specializes in CBT, but there are other great options for people who are looking to get some of the same benefits!
The MindShift CBT app allows you to find helpful techniques to relieve anxiety through guided practices and exercises. The app provides tips for quick, short-term relief from panic or worry, as well as mindfulness activities that range from guided meditation to journaling and goal setting. The link to download the app and learn more about the features it offers can be found here.
If you are interested in learning more about the different approaches to therapy that are particularly helpful for adolescents, you can learn more on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry website.
Have you ever considered therapy? Are there any other types of therapy you would like to learn more about? What is your experience with CBT?
by Moderator ★
April 27, 2023 in Educate Yourself
Feeling unheard is an experience that affects a lot of teens and young adults. A new report from Mental Health America surveyed over 1,900 people aged 14 to 24, asking them about mental health and the support they want.
Young people consistently reported using their hobbies as a way to improve their mental health. When asked what they wanted, teens said that access to mental health professionals and more breaks at school would improve their mental health. The survey also showed that young people want to learn more skills to support their mental health.
There are many things that can make young people feel like they can’t speak up about their needs. For example, some do not want to feel like a burden or a source of stress for their families. While parents can be stressed, they likely want to make sure their child is okay and help them feel better. Communicating about emotions is a good way to learn more mental health skills and could give the chance to connect to mental health professionals.
Not everyone has a family member they feel comfortable talking with about their feelings. Fortunately, there are more and more outside programs available to help teens with mental health. Some options include Mental Health Kingdom, which offers peer support through Discord, and Mindful Minute, which focuses on mind-body practices.
How do you want to be heard if you want to talk about your mental health? What stops you from opening up? Have you ever talked to your parents, or another supportive adult, about your mental health?
by Moderator ★
April 21, 2023 in Educate Yourself
You’ve likely heard that being a “morning person” can benefit one’s mental health significantly. You’ve probably seen a bunch of stories about how waking up with the and even before the sun helps people feel more accomplished, gets more done in the day, and feels healthier both mentally and physically.
You may have tried becoming a morning person yourself, trying to squeeze in a workout, a full balanced breakfast, a time to journal, and meditation. You also probably have to wake up early to go to school, and maybe even earlier if you’re in a club or sport that requires you to be there before classes begin.
However, similar to the now debunked idea that less sleep = more time to be successfully productive, you actually don’t need to be a morning person to be productive and feel like you have everything together. What it really comes down to is understanding what’s best for your body and when your mind feels that it functions best. There are some people who do benefit from waking up early; for them, being a morning person means having control over what they want before their day officially begins and gives them a sense of accomplishment of having items on their to-do list already checked. Meanwhile, others may be at their peak in the middle of the day, or even in the middle of the night.
Unfortunately, because of the 9-5 work life and 7-2 school day, our culture favors those who wake up and function early, especially because those who function at other times are likely too exhausted because their body’s naturally preferred sleep cycle is so disrupted. But if you look around your coworkers and peers, most of them are likely too groggy, cranky, or about to go right back to sleep first thing in the morning.
So no, you don’t have to become a morning person if you want to have a well-rounded, productive, and healthy lifestyle. Although we still life in a 9-5 and 7-2 culture, those who benefit from being productive later in the day can still do so, but they just might have to do a little more work adapting and making sure that they can still get what they want done while still getting enough sleep.
Which brings us to our advice: whether you’re an early bird or night owl, try to do your best to establish a routine for when you want to be and feel your most productive. As long as you’re able to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night (and ideally waking up whenever you want to), you should be in good shape. If you’re in college and are more productive later, try to schedule your classes for later in the day. The pandemic has made it easier for people to work remote, so those who can and live on the east coast, remote west coast jobs will allow you to have a schedule that starts later in the day too.
For more advice, click here!
Are you a morning person? Have you ever wanted to be a morning person, or have you trained yourself to be one? When do you find yourself to be the most productive?
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