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An App to Consider: Stop, Breathe & Think

June 28, 2019 in LINKS

Stop, Breathe and Think, like other mindfulness apps, helps those take a few minutes out of their day to check in with themselves, and as the title suggests, stop, breathe, and think. Unlike most apps is that it’s incredibly customizable, taking in how you’re feeling and building activities that they think is best for you.

The app lets you determine how you’re feeling at that moment both physically

and mentally, then has you choose five feelings that you’re currently experiencing (each have their own emoji representing them too!). From there, they give a recommended list of activities for you to try for a bit, but you can always explore all the activities if the ones they suggest aren’t right for you. You aren’t limited to this list forever either; every time you check-in to see how you’re doing, SBT will give you a new list if how you’re feeling is different than before.

What also truly makes SBT stand out is its corresponding app made for kids between the ages of 5-10. If you have a younger sibling, cousin, or family friend, just to name a few, SBT for Kids may help them gain mindfulness and social-emotional learning (SEL skills). SEL skills are a part of understanding and being strong in emotional intelligence, that is, having more SEL skills helps people understand and process their emotions in a healthy way, and it also helps those understand how others are feeling and makes them more empathetic. The kids’ version includes games and activities that are developmentally appropriate – some of the games require movement, for example, to build up their motor skills.

Because of this, SBT for Kids works as a kind of early intervention (an intervention made to help protect those from issues they may be vulnerable to from happening, such as mental illness). That doesn’t mean that if you’re not under 10 years old that you’re doomed for life because you didn’t develop SEL skills like this when you were younger. Those even in adolescence can practice and learn about mindfulness and SEL, and it’d still be early enough for them to reduce the severity of certain things, like the more dangerous effects of mental illness and the snowball effects that can result.

Do you use mindfulness apps? What do you think about the customizable experience? What do you think about the idea of a mindfulness app for children?

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Using Trigger and Content Warnings Online

June 27, 2019 in Social Media Guide

Mentioning the terms “trigger warnings” and “content warnings” can have very different reactions attention-303861_960_720depending on who you ask. Some feel that having these warnings are necessary and a way for those who are vulnerable or sensitive to specific items to feel comfortable in common spaces. Some, on the other hand, feel that providing these warnings are a way of coddling and sheltering people – specifically students on college campuses. They may argue that having people encounter the material they want to avoid can work as exposure therapy, thus, seeing this information will reduce their negative reactions.

Trigger and content warnings are disclaimers displayed or said before a post, photo, or discussion if the content about to be presented may contain material that could upset someone or cause a person to remember traumatic events. These events could vary from discussions or depictions of assault and gun shootings to phobias. While trigger warnings is the more common term, some have adapted using content warnings since the items that don’t want to see are upsetting to them instead of something that could cause a reaction similar to trauma.

tumblr saviorAlthough trigger warnings have started to find a place in classrooms, the workplace, and in colleges, trigger warnings as we know them today have roots on social media sites. During its peak, those using Tumblr could install an extension called Tumblr Savior, which allowed users to create a “blacklist” of items that they don’t want to see or wanted to block content that could trigger them. Therefore, whenever they were scrolling on their feed, anything that included the word, whether it be in the post or as a tag, would already be blocked (users had the choice to view that specific post if they wanted, however).

Social media nowadays provides little to no extensions like Tumblr Savior, which gave users control over what web-3482970_1920they wanted to see on the site. Through Tumblr Savior, users didn’t have to ask or rely on other users to provide the trigger warnings for them to avoid and quickly scroll past, but instead, they had their own private list of things they didn’t want to see. Sites like Instagram or Snapchat don’t have these options – some users may post a warning beforehand in the body of the text or post an image before the images with this warning, but they determine these warnings themselves, and most don’t do this at all.

Of course, Tumblr Savior itself isn’t perfect. Users would have to trust other people to use the words they want blocked, or if it was an image, hope that they tagged the image appropriately, which doesn’t always happen. The extension at the very least gave users some sort of comfort that any upsetting or triggering content was less likely to appear for them.

How do you feel about trigger and content warnings online? Did you ever use Tumblr, and if so, did you use Tumblr Savior? Do you think something like Tumblr savior would be useful on today’s social media sites?

 

 

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Walk-and-Talk Therapy

June 26, 2019 in Educate Yourself

icon-steps-1991839_1920Given the benefits of walking outside on mental health, it seems like the natural next step (no pun intended) to take the self-care practice to a more professional level. Walk-and-talk therapy has professionals literally take their sessions outside, where they have the same conversations with their patients as they would regularly, but with the added benefit of (ideally) fresh air, movement, and a more relaxed environment.

jon-tyson-oVCB8hJjDHU-unsplashWalk-and-talk therapy is just that: walking and talking. After an initial consultation that’s done more traditionally indoors, walk-and-talk therapy sessions occur, of course, outside, going on trails, sidewalks, and are just like your regular walks you would have with your friends, but the conversations are focused on your well-being and mental health and completed with your therapist. 

Those who incorporate walk-and-talk therapy into their work feel that it’s particularly useful for teenagers. Starting therapy in general can be a nerve-wracking, even awkward process, but it seems like these feelings are on another level for adolescents (think about teenagers’ thoughts on mental health and their fears associated with seeking help, for example). Walking around can lift some of that initial discomfort; teens specifically can have trouble keeping still when sitting down, and moving around by walking can help them process their feelings more clearly. 

mason-b-S0UHYSnXtH8-unsplashYou may also feel like you have to have something to say during sessions, which can lead to an awkward silence as you collect your thoughts or even try to come up with something to talk about, but walking around removes that, because both you and your therapist are doing something else by walking and taking in what’s going on outside. Walking outside also includes visuals that can help inspire ideas for you to talk about.

There is still a while to go in terms of the legitimacy of walk-and-talk therapy. No one can specialize in walk-and-talk therapy and it’s more so a type of practice that’s included in at least traditional cognitive behavioral therapy. There is little to no formal research on the combination of talk therapy and nature’s effect on mental health either, but at the very least, professionals have noticed a difference with their patients, and their is an increased interest in researching it. At the very least however, going outside during therapy sessions is another way to include mindfulness during the sessions itself.

If you want to see it in practice, check out an example here!

Do you attend therapy? What’s the environment like during your sessions, and how do you think it affects you? What do you think about walk-and-talk therapy?

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Celebrities With Mental Illnesses

June 25, 2019 in Educate Yourself

Many teenagers with mental illnesses feel like they aren’t “normal” and that they are alone in their men-311308_1280struggle. There are so many YouTubers and singers that have spoke a lot about their struggles with mental health, and I feel as though knowing of celebrities that talk openly about their own personal struggles can help teenagers suffering with similar things.

Daniel Howell and Markiplier are just two examples of YouTubers who have talked very openly on their channels about issues they have faced with their mental health. Sometimes when Markiplier is struggling, he just makes a video talking about it and posts it at 2 A.M.

I feel that is very helpful, especially for people having a hard time sleeping because of their mental health, because it gives the opportunity to feel you aren’t the only one going through this, which can make it easier to talk to someone about it as well. I really relate to Daniel Howell’s struggles in particular. I recommend watching his video titled “Daniel and Depression” where he speaks on how exactly depression has affected him and how he gained the courage to speak about it.

Other celebrities, like Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Britney Spears have talked openly about their mental

illnesses. Demi Lovato spoke openly about her struggles with bulimia, self-harm, and bipolar depression. Selena Gomez spoke openly about her panic attacks, anxiety, and depression after being diagnosed with lupus. Britney Spears has also spoken openly about her bipolar depression. All three of these women have received help in mental health facilities and have spoke of how their experiences have improved. I feel this is important for teenagers to hear because it helps them see that even celebrities have similar problems to them so it can’t be that “weird.” It also provides hope that they can get better and their struggles won’t always be so hard.

Are there any celebrities you relate to or feel have helped you in their openness in talking about their mental health? Why do you think more and more celebrities are opening up?

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Staying Cool to Help Your Mood

June 24, 2019 in Be Positive

adeolu-eletu-ohh8ROaQSJg-unsplashSummer is officially in full swing. Even though the season formally started on Friday, 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.

You may have noticed that these temperature changes have affected how you’ve been feeling. Summer cat-1378203_1920is 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.

fan-1241685_1920That 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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We R Native

June 21, 2019 in LINKS

indians-2637405_1920Native Americans and Alaskan Natives (shortened to AIAN) make up nearly 3 million people in the United States today. The proportion of AIAN youth in the community is higher than that of the total American population: while 24% of the total population is under 18, 32% of AIAN are under 18, with the average age being 26 compared to the total average of 37. More than 40% of AIAN are under 24, too.

Considering these larger youth proportions in the AIAN community, it’s important to note that the mental health disparities are also higher than average. This specifically affects Native adolescent girls, who have death rates at nearly four times the rate of white female adolescents. This includes suicide, which is the second leading cause of death in AIAN youth, and is 3.5  times more than the national average.

In an effort to provide a thorough resources for all things health, including mental health, We R Native provides content specifically for AIAN youth. Their mental health section covers a variety of issues, from depression to grief to suicide. All of their topics include articles and information that don’t just educate AIAN youth as a whole, but includes stories, videos, and information that affects them directly. They even have sections about issues that could contribute to mental health issues too, such as gangs and life transitions.

We R Native also offers a service where they can text users weekly for health tips and life advice. You can explore more of what the site has here!

Do you identify as AIAN, or do you know anyone who does? How do you think people can spread awareness about AIAN youth and the mental health issues they face?

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Where do LGBT+ Youth Look for Mental Health Help?

June 20, 2019 in Social Media Guide

Although the internet is most likely the preferred method for pretty much anyone trying to learn more information, whether it be news stories, recipes, or advice from those who have gone through similar experiences, it’s particularly important for LGBT+ youths.brain-2789677_1280

The Trevor Project released a new national report recently about LGBT+ youth mental health, and while some of the results they found, while upsetting, may not seem surprising (for example, more than half of LGBT+ youth experienced depressive symptoms in the past year, have faced discrimination, and felt that the recent political climate has impacted their mental health or sense of self), they also included information about how LGBT+ youth use social media.

blog-3602681_1280One of the ways that LGBT+  youth use social media is through a means of support for the above items. They prefer digital means of asking for and accessing help – be it through methods like texting or online chats – from intervention groups during a crisis as one example. Online community is an important aspect for LGBT+ people on social media, since it gives them a place to talk to and be with others who understand what they’re going through and can provide advice, and it gives them a chance to explore their identity before they’re comfortable enough to come out to those they know in real life.

And while major social media sites like Youtube and Facebook have been criticized – especially recently – for how they moderate LGBT+ harassment on their platforms, art-3591844_1280LGBT+ youth prefer using their social media as a means of information as well. This could include Tumblr blogs about gender transition or joining private groups to see how other LGBT+ youth cope with the mental health issues they may be going through and how it ties in with their identity.

There’s a comfort for people to look for information and help online in general, but for LGBT+ youth, this comfort also comes with the feeling of safety, without feeling like they have come out to those they know in real life in order to seek the treatment that they may need, especially if they aren’t sure how those people will react. Of course, it’s equally as important to consider your safety on social media too when looking for a community or for information, but there is also an anonymity tied to it that can make navigating your identity a little bit easier.

What sources have you used online to learn more about mental health? If you identify as queer, are there any that specifically talk about LGBT+ mental health?

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What is Resilience?

June 19, 2019 in Educate Yourself

Trying to combat mental illness and the effects it can have on you can be exhausting, hard, and can even make you feel worse. Nonetheless, resilience, or the process of fighting back and recovering from difficulties, is possible.

aron-van-de-pol-115112-unsplashResilience is a way to include positivity in your life and a way to fight back against the negative thoughts that often come with having a mental illness. It’s a way of like telling your mental illness that it doesn’t have more power than you have over yourself and that you can get back up when it knocks you down. There are tons of ways to practice resilience too, from changing behavior patterns or your environment to practicing healthy coping mechanisms.

Resilience acts as a type of protective factor, which are ways to prevent issues like more severe mental health effects from occurring. It’s different than simply trying to overcome your issues though; while it may sound like it’s the same thing as putting on a smile on your face and acting as if nothing is wrong, resilience is more about trying to find a way to battle your feelings and also means embracing that they’re in the first place.

But how does resilience look for adolescents specifically? One study interviewed five teenage girls who were being treated for various mental illnesses such as addiction, PTSD, and depression. Common patterns appeared in what all of them had to say; for example, embracing resilience for them was challenging, but they described the effects that it had on them to be really rewarding.

These difficulties came in the form of trying to find positivity when combating triggers or experiencing nightmares, or feeling like they were alone in their situation and trying to withstand trauma by themselves, especially because of things like stigma or being shut down when they did open up. They were able to find resilience through becoming more confident in dealing with their mental health issues, which led to an increase in self-worth, and it was something that they were able to work on not just with other’s help, but through their own individual determination. They were also able to find the resources they needed and simply just surviving when things felt like they were at their worst.

While it’s a journey, finding ways to be resilient against your mental illness is possible.

What do you think resilience is? How do you embrace difficulties or challenges that may come because of mental health?

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Creative Arts Therapy Feature: Bibliotherapy

June 18, 2019 in Educate Yourself

Do you enjoy the arts? Have you ever wanted to see how getting creative can help you mentally? This feature is just one in a series of entries exploring the different types of creative arts therapy. You can learn more about other outlets here!

The truth is, reading can be difficult. You may not have the time to settle down with a book to read, or you may get so overwhelmed with all the options that you don’t know where to start. jessica-fadel-431249-unsplashReading can also sound like a burden and a commitment, and it can be hard to pay attention to what you’re trying to read, especially given all the kinds of distractions surrounding you (see: your phone).

This is particularly true for adolescents. According to a 2018 survey, 1 in 3 teenagers have admitted to not reading a book for pleasure in a year. It may not seem appealing if you associate reading with the dry assignments you have to do for school, and it can feel so much easier to simply spend your free time on a device – the same survey found a relationship between the decrease of adolescents reading and an increase in technology use, for example.

If you do read leisurely, you may already know that it is a genuinely relaxing activity. There are benefits to reading to support mental health that include relaxation, improved sleep patterns, and increased brain activity. That can be taken a step further though in the form of bibliotherapy.

Bibliotherapy is a method that uses books (both nonfiction and fiction) to help people address issues that they are dealing with. In bibliotherapy, you meet with an expert, explain what difficulties and struggles you’re going through, and they’ll prescribe you some books to read that they think might help that you can read on your own at your convenience.

aziz-acharki-277346-unsplashBibliotherapy doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you have to read books just about mental health in order to understand why you feel the way you do. Most books used are usually novels: fiction gives us the ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and increase our empathy not just towards the character, but with others. A study has also shown that when people read about another’s experience (in this case, with a fictional character), their brains react in a way as if they’re going through the same things themselves. The topics can be about anything, with stories not just about adolescent characters coping with mental health issues, but potential origins of stress, like their identity, homelessness, or chronic illness.milo-milk-1252512-unsplash

You may have experienced this already in the books you’ve read for yourself, or even ones you’ve read for school. We find ourselves connecting with certain characters and stories because of the way we relate to them; bibliotherapy takes that to another level in helping you discover which books can help and using said books as a driving tool to help you communicate with your therapist, your friends, or other loved ones to have them understand how you’re feeling. They don’t even have to be “realistic” stories either – you may relate to the stories and struggles about any kind of character, whether it be in a wizard in a fantasy world, a bounty hunter in space, or a teenager living in historical times.

There still needs to be more research done on bibliotherapy as a practice since it isn’t widely used, but it shows that reading isn’t just a way to unwind, but also a way to help you address what you’re going through via other’s stories.

Would you consider trying bibliotherapy? Have you read any books that have helped you with your mental health? What kinds of characters or stories have you related with?

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Weekend Reads: Finding Pride

June 14, 2019 in LINKS

fireworks-788799_1920Pride Month is pretty self-explanatory. Though pride isn’t limited to just these thirty days, June gives those who identify as queer and/or a member of the LGBT+ community a time to celebrate how far they’ve come with their rights, work towards a better future for themselves, and just have fun being who they are.

More often than not, the discussion surrounding LGBT+ issues, particularly for LGBT+ youth, can be bleak, with higher rates of negative mental health issues specifically. That’s why Pride Month is so important, sending a message that though things can be really difficult, there are others just like you and your identity is something to celebrate.

alexandre-godreau-524782-unsplashTo remind members of the LGBT+ community, allies, and those who are still learning about the significance of pride about the power of the positivity occurring this month, we’ve pulled a couple of lists and articles featuring  queer youth pride:

Several teen-centric online publications such as Seventeen and Teen Vogue have features where they interviewed teenagers and young adults at previous pride festivals and asked them what the word means to them. At a time where figuring out who your are and what your identity is almost always in question (and can potentially put your safety in jeopardy), attending your first Pride can provide both comfort and reassurance, and of course, some fun, as these teens describe in these articles.

open-book-2268948_1920Brightly – an organization that provides resources and lists to make finding children and YA books a bit easier – has a thorough list of fictional LGBT+ YA novels. These are novels that don’t just have queer protagonists, but have their own stories that go beyond just navigating their identity and beyond having their identity define them. Vulture also has a list of LGBT+ YA novels, but includes older novels as well, even ones dating back to the 80s.

It can feel like a cliche, but ultimately, now is the time to remember that it gets better.

Do you identify as queer? How do you feel about Pride Month?

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