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Staying Cool to Help Your Mood

June 28, 2021 in Be Positive

Summer is officially in full swing, though, it may feel like it’s been that way for a while now if you’ve recently finished the school year or noticed just how hot and muggy it’s been.

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You may have noticed that these temperature changes have affected how you’ve been feeling. Summer is often associated with positivity because of the longer hours in the day and sunlight, but it can also be a crankier time as the temperatures continue to rise.

Heat can have a negative impact on your mood: high temperatures can lead to dehydration and heatstroke, which are extremely unpleasant situations to be in. The nausea, headaches, and exhaustion that come with them hardly ever puts anyone in a good mood, and these can contribute to crankiness. In general, intensive heat can make us uncomfortable and make us feel restricted in what we can do, such as needing to stay inside all day to avoid said heat. Between these and feeling like we have no control over what we can do and having no control over the heat can all contribute to shortened fuses, and at its worst, signs of aggression and violence.

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That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the warmth though. If you want your summer to be as pleasant as it can be and you want to have some control over your mood, there are tons of ways to keep cool beyond feeling like you need to stay cooped inside all day with air conditioning. It’s important to stay hydrated – not just by drinking water, but through things like misting sprays (there are even some that are combined with fans to help keep you extra cool!). Cooling towels are usually associated with sports, but you can also keep them with you when you’re outside, especially if it’s so hot that you sweat the second you’re exposed to the sun.

Summer is a double-edged sword, providing freedom yet restrictions because of the warmth and heat. While it can feel like the humidity and heat are the ones controlling your mood, you have ways of fighting back and enjoying your time off as much as you can.

How do you feel when it’s really hot outside? Do you think your mood has a tendency to drop when it gets too hot? What recommendations do you have to stay cool?

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Using Your Watch to Practice Deep Breathing

June 25, 2021 in LINKS

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There are tons of breathing and meditation apps available online (we’ve covered a few of them before if you want some suggestions!). If you’re running out of space, unsure which one is best for you, or just want something that’s convenient, finding a tool to help guide you with your breathing to help you get or stay calm may be easier to find than you think.

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If you have any type of smartwatch, chances are, there’s some sort of app or guide you can use that’s already on there to help you. The Apple Watch has an animation you can follow and a section on the Apple Watch app on the iPhone that you can use to set reminders, goals, and durations. Those with Android watches (or any watch that has Google software like Fossil watches) can use the Fit Breathe app on their device – there’s a corresponding Google Fit app you can also get to help keep track of it. With it, you can keep your eyes closed, and your watch will vibrate to tell you when to inhale, hold, or exhale. Fitbits have a Relax app with two or five minute long sessions to help you practice deep breathing too.

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You don’t need a smartwatch to be able to practice deep breathing at anytime though. You can use any kind of watch to time yourself taking breaths (make sure you can see the second hand though – holding your breath for minutes at a time isn’t really relaxing). One such way is through the 4-7-8 breathing method. It’s pretty simple: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, then slowly release for 8 seconds.

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Watches have become so much more than simply telling time. Ironically, having watches and always knowing what time it is can have us spending time thinking about how little time we have to do things and may make us stress and worry about how we need to be on top of things and meet deadlines. It doesn’t help that smartwatches can constantly buzz with notifications and overwhelm us with not answering and responding to things right away. But even though time can feel daunting and nerve-wracking, using some of those minutes to try deep breathing can make the biggest difference.

Do you own a smartwatch? What suggestions do you have to practice deep breathing? Do they require technology?

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Multiple Selves, LGBTQ+ Youths, and Social Media

June 24, 2021 in Social Media Guide

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The variety of social media platforms, the kind of content they show, and who uses them allows people to wear different “masks” depending on what site or app they go on. Facebook has become more family-dominated, so many teenagers feel like they need to filter themselves so their parents, grandparents, and other extended family don’t see everything. Meanwhile, teens may use Instagram to present a seemingly perfect and aesthetic lifestyle to their peers (finstas, on the other hand, make teens feel like they can show their “true selves”).

There have been a lot of reports and articles about filtering and the different “selves” that people present online. Usually, it’s about the conflict between our “real selves” and who we want to be (A.K.A., the type of person we try to be online). However, LGBTQ+ youth can use social media and the presentation of different “selves” as a positive thing. Because they already feel like they have to filter their true selves offline and with the people they know in real life, going online gives them the opportunity to be as authentic as possible. Of course, this can still depend on the social media outlet: some can be out on Facebook, but may not talk about it as much and their experiences compared to other sites like Twitter or Snapchat.

A survey of LGBTQ+ youths looked at how they chose to present themselves, specifically on Facebook. Their results were clustered into categories that measured how out LGBTQ+ people were on the site, and how out they were within certain groups. Just like the various types of social media outlets, LGBTQ+ youths can be out in different circles even within Facebook itself.

In short, the survey found the results to be complex. While the largest groups that people interacted with were with school peers and LGBTQ+ groups – where people were more likely to be out and personal – people were still relatively out to their family members. Results also varied depending on how they used Facebook. For example, some had different pages (one person had a separate Facebook page for their drag persona), and these separate accounts allowed them to choose what information they wanted to reveal went where.

Ultimately, especially for those who identify as LGBTQ+, safety comes first when talking about personal matters online. Social media gives people the chance to connect with others who are like them, especially when it can be difficult to find that offline, but sites that are also used by those they are not comfortable may make filtering necessary.

Do you think you put on different masks depending on the types of social media that you use? Do you have separate accounts for the same social media site? If you are LGBTQ+, how do you think social media affects how out you want to be online?

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Boys’ Mental Health

June 23, 2021 in Uncategorized

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With the recent rising rates of depression in the US, mental health is being recognized as a crisis in American youth. While mental illness is commonly thought to be associated with girls, statistics tell us that boys are just as vulnerable.

Teen girls attempt suicide more than teen boys do, but boys are more likely to die from their attempts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,537 boys 15-19 years old died because of suicide in 2015, versus 524 girls. Boys are also found to be less likely to seek treatment. According to Dennis Barbour, president of the Partnership for Male Youth, some boys see doing so as a sign of weakness. Even if they don’t see it this way, boys are less likely to be spotted by a physician. Unlike girls, who may regularly see a gynecologist as they grow out of their pediatrician, boys tend to see their doctors less frequently, especially if they don’t see their pediatrician anymore.

Societal pressures also play a significant factor. A national poll in 2018 showed that one-third of boys between the ages of 10-19 years old felt that society expects them to “be a man” and “suck it up” when they feel sad or scared. Another third felt they need to suppress their feelings, and half wanted to know more about having the right to feel the way they feel, despite pressures from society.

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Major protective factors against depression and other mental health issues are friendships and relationships with others. 6 in 10 American teens say that most of their daily interactions with friends are online rather than in-person, and their reason for the lack of face-to-face time is having “too many other obligations,” according to the Pew Research Center. Some experts blame this increasing use of social media for the rising rate of depression among teens, which in 2016 increased by 63% from the previous year. Niobe Way, an NYU professor of applied psychology, found that while 85% of teen boys wanted close friendships with other boys, they stop forming these relationships because valuing relationships is to “not be a man.”

Little has been done toward addressing mental health issues in boys and men. The Partnership for Male Youth is working towards educating clinicians, parents, and other educators by creating a toolkit for adolescent and young adult males that informs health providers of their unique needs around mental health. Way has developed “The Listening Project,” a program in New York City that trains seventh-graders to connect with their peers and form relationships.

While these programs are a start, much more needs to be done to remove both the stigma of mental health as something that only affects girls and the concept that “being a man” means not showing emotions or asking for help. Both men and women have the right to express our feelings and reach out for support, and to recognize our need to be real to the core of who we are.

Are you or do you know of a boy struggling with mental health issues? Do you have any thoughts on mental health stigma among boys? Share your thoughts and experiences below!

This SOVA blog post was based off of Julie Compton’s article from NBC News, “Boys need better access to mental health care. Why aren’t they getting it?” To access the original post, check it out here.

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Anger’s Role in Depression and Anxiety

June 22, 2021 in Educate Yourself

Some of the more common symptoms associated with depression include fatigue, a loss of interest in things one usually enjoys, and hopelessness. Anxiety symptoms are usually thought to be restlessness, nervousness, and a rapid heart rate. Another symptom that can come with both, however, is anger.

At first, it doesn’t seem like anger should be a part of anxiety or depression. We often think that depression looks like emptiness, and if an emotion is ever felt, it’s likely going to be sadness. With anxiety, where the body is high-strung, we think that people on-edge are more likely going to be on-edge on a breakdown. That being said, irritability (and the anger associated with it) are core symptoms of mental illness. 

No one likes being angry, though. It can suck feeling like that’s the only emotion you have in that moment, and with mental illness, that anger can feel that much stronger even if it’s over the smallest thing. Experiencing anger during depressive and/or anxiety episodes feel like they’re coming out of nowhere, but there’s been some research that shows that it can come from those extremely critical voices that put down everything the person is doing.

If we believe these voices, we may think that others – especially those that we are close to – are saying these same, hurtful things about us, and therefore lash out as a result. The extreme feelings of stress and worry that come with anxiety that puts us on edge may also make us activate our “fight” response (instead of “flight”) if we think we’re being provoked and if something doesn’t go the way we don’t want it to.

It can be hard to push back heightened emotions as you’re experiencing them, especially with anger. However, if you can feel your temper start to rise, taking just a second to take a step back, breathe, and asking yourself why you’re feeling this way can help calm you down. Keeping items like a stress ball or something small and accessible to squeeze down on can harmlessly transfer your anger onto another object. And in cases that you do lash out, you don’t have to explain why you did or that it’s because of depression and/or anxiety, but simply acknowledging that you didn’t mean to and apologizing can make a huge difference.

Have you ever experienced anger during a depressive or anxious episode? Did you ever take it out on someone as a result? Why did you feel the way you did, and if you did lash out, how did you handle it?

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Using Books to Learn and Cope with Mental Illness

June 18, 2021 in LINKS

Maybe you’re a bookworm. Maybe you have “reading more” as one of your plans for the summer. Maybe you read as a hobby and use it as a form of stress relief when you need a break from school and/or work. Whatever the reason, you may be on the lookout for something new to read.

Everyone reads for their own personal reasons – some use it as a complete distraction from the world while others use it as a way to learn more about the world. Some use it as a way to learn more about themselves, like through self-help books and other nonfiction works. Fictional novels can also serve the same purpose, where reading and finding characters that you relate to can help you understand yourself better. You may even find characters that you want to be more like.

The practice of finding, reading, and using books with content that can relate to you and help you understand yourself better, grow, and cope without having to focus just on yourself is known as bibliotherapy. If you’re not ready to specifically talk about your own experiences in issues that may be taking their toll on you, reading books about characters who look like you and/or go through similar experiences can help you use their thoughts, actions, and stories as a way to untangle your own thoughts a little more. It can even help you open up more to others because the characters may have given you a way to put words to what you’re going through.

As discussions about mental health and mental illness has increased, the amount of content about it has increased as well, including in novels about the topic. Everyone’s tastes are different, but we wanted to highlight a few lists highlighting YA books that have mental illness involved in some way, whether minimal or as part of the core plot. Although there is some overlap between the lists, all of them feature a variety of topics involved in mental health, including suicide, depression, phobias, anxiety, PTSD, and grief.

We hope that you can find one that either interests you or relates to you in some way. If you decide to read any of them, we invite you to write a review about how you felt about the book, if you related to it, and how you think the story depicted mental illness.

What’s your favorite book? Have you ever read a book that involved mental illness in some way? How do you think the author did in depicting it? What topics do you want to see covered more in books, especially those targeted for young adults?

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Mental Health Experts on Social Media

June 17, 2021 in Social Media Guide

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When people talk about social media and its effect on people, it’s almost always negative. Many have mentioned and researched about the effect of social media on mental health: feeling unproductive, worrying about what we said or did online, and experiencing FOMO are just a few of the things that affect us from using social media.

Social media knows this though. Even though those feelings can still be present, many are also using the platforms to spread awareness about their own experiences, and social media sites themselves are promoting content to spread awareness about mental health.

These can be sporadic though. No one has an obligation to constantly and only post about mental health awareness – whether it be specifically about their own or as a whole – and social media platforms may only promote mental well-being when it may feel necessary (think of this month as Mental Health Awareness Month wraps up).

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Most organizations today have social media handles so they can help promote their causes to as many people as possible: those focusing on mental health are no exception. However, experts and doctors are also creating their own social media accounts so they can give direct advice and help about mental health, stigma, and overall spreading awareness and educating about mental health.

One such example is Dr. Jessica Clemons, who has an Instagram account giving tips about tackling stigma and taking care of one’s self, especially in the black community (she even has Beyonce’s approval!). Similar accounts from psychiatrists and doctors educating about mental health include Dr. Vania Manipod and Dr. Lisa Long.

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While it could be easy to assume that medical and professional information can be dry, all of these accounts know how to use social media, engaging it in a way that feels like any other fashion, food, or friend’s account. They can seamlessly fit in into your feed, but can have the opposite, more fulfilling effect than the FOMO, self-consciousness, and unproductivity you might feel from other posts.

Do you follow any doctors or medical professionals on social media? Why do you think following professionals can be helpful, especially those focusing on mental health?

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Practicing Affirmations

June 14, 2021 in Be Positive

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While they may seem cheesy at first, affirmations can be pretty powerful. Self-affirmations are sayings that people say aloud with confidence about things that they are trying to believe in. By saying these frequently, out loud, and with assurance and confidence, it can help people believe in the very things that there are saying, making it come true.

It’s simple: find a phrase that you think is something you either need to hear or would feel really happy hearing from a loved one. From there, say it aloud whenever. It can be as a part of your morning routine while fixing up your hair, or something you quietly say out loud to yourself before doing an activity that may stress you out.

There are tons of affirmations available online. Some are common phrases too – you may have heard of people saying “I am good enough” or “I can do this.” You don’t have to stick to these though. Affirmations are meant to just for you and the things you want to believe in, and a way to fake it until you make it.

Do you have any affirmations? What are some that you say to yourself?

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How Rural Adolescents can Benefit from Social Media

June 10, 2021 in Social Media Guide

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Technology has helped make the world feel more connected, making resources, stories, and information much more accessible. This impact is significant for those who are physically isolated and may feel like they’re in the middle of nowhere. In the past, news and entertainment was extremely limited to things such as televisions, magazines and newspapers, and going out to explore was difficult because there were very few things close by.

Sometimes, it can feel like living in small towns or rural areas can be kind of lonely. The Internet has changed that.

One way that rural adolescents take advantage of social media is through education and connecting with others like them. A project in Australia wanted to do this with rural adolescents with disabilities, giving them the opportunity to learn not just how to take advantage of the Internet and gain skills, but specifically through the social aspect. One goal of the project, for example, was to set up rural adolescents with disabilities with mentors to help them navigate social spaces online.

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Although rural adolescents say they learn more from print compared to adolescents who live in urban environments, they have also been reported to say that they learn significantly more from social media too. Using social media as a tool for education can be tricky, but having this option for rural adolescents can help them not just learn as a whole, but specifically look up health information. Living in places with a smaller population may make adolescents feel self-conscious or nervous about who to confide in if something is happening to their mental health. One major trait for those with depression is keeping what they’re going through to themselves because they don’t know who to trust, and living in places with a smaller population may make some afraid that once one person knows, then everyone knows. Social media can help adolescents research safely and privately and even help them read stories by or meet peers who are going through similar experiences.

Health services, mental health ones in particular, can also be harder to come by in rural communities. Social media and communicating with experts online make it easier for adolescents to get the treatment that they need if items such as transportation or even having a place to can be impossible to come by.

Social media has already allowed us to connect and learn more, but the benefits and advantages of it can differ greatly; living in rural communities with access to the Internet and social media is just one example of that.

Do you live in a rural community? Where have you gotten information about mental health from? Where do you prefer getting information: in print or online?

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When Everything Seems to be Going Wrong

June 7, 2021 in Be Positive

It can be hard to focus on the good things, especially when it feels like the world is falling apart around you, and because of you. People are more likely to focus and dwell on the negative versus the positive – this is known as having negativity bias, and it’s nowhere near uncommon. Having good things happen to us feels great! But there’s a comfort to them that our brains can become complacent with, and when negative things end up occurring instead, they tend to have significantly stronger impressions on us, because we don’t expect, nor do we not want them to happen.

So when a string of negative events occurs, versus a positive one, they’re likely to have a greater effect on how we’re feeling too. No matter how minor or major, everything just seems terrible. The buildup of things like getting a bad grade, receiving a text that sounds cold from someone you care about, spilling your coffee, and banging your knee against a table can make it feel like everything is hopeless and that you don’t deserve anything good. This is particularly true for those with depression and anxiety, where you’re likely that much more vulnerable of feeling the intense feelings of negative events, which can lead to things like catastrophic thinking and the snowball effect.

It’s easier said than done, but when it does feel like there are only bad things that are happening and that you’re destined to only experience the negative, it’s important to take a step back, whether it be metaphorically or physically. Whether you’re in public and need to close your eyes and/or take a deep breath, or you’re in your room and can quite literally drop all your things, stand up, and take a few steps back, temporarily removing yourself from the negative, even for just a moment, can remind you that there’s more in your life than the terrible things that are going on.

If you can, physically remove yourself from anything that’s contributing to any negative event, such as pushing the coffee cup away from you, locking your phone and putting it away, closing your computer. From there, list as many things that have happened recently that brought you joy, no matter how few or how minor. You can write this if you can or want to, or you can just focus on this mentally. While our brains don’t dwell in the positive things compared to the negative, focus on these good things and ask yourself why they made you so happy. Think of times before when something similar has happened. Think about how it’s likely that these things can happen again, and when they might happen next.

You can also think about something that you’re looking forward to that’s coming up. It could be something significant, like the semester finishing, or even something small that makes you happy, like going to a movie that you’ve been waiting to see. Knowing that something good is coming up is a reminder that not all things are terrible all the time.

There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. The sun is always there, but you may be only awake in the nighttime, where it’s not visible and you can only see the dark sky. Even if things seem awful now, the truth of the matter is, not all the things are, and even though our brains put more weight on the negative, making ourselves believe that the positive is worth our focus can make a difference, no matter how small.

Have you ever had a bad day? Week? What gets you through times when it feels like everything is falling apart? Share your advice below!

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