SOVA Blog

by Moderator ★

Giving Back

November 23, 2018 in LINKS

donations-1041971_1920There are going to be a lot of chances to reflect and give back now that the holiday season is in full swing. This doesn’t only include Thanksgiving during November, but other holidays such as Veterans’ Day here and Remembrance Day in places like Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. While reflecting and giving back can be done on a very personal level, such as evaluating how the past year has gone and what can change in the upcoming new year, or participating in local food and gift drives at school or work.

There are going to be plenty of options and organizations to donate to (some more popular and available than others), and it can get pretty overwhelming to decide which ones to choose (of course, if being able to donate is something you can do). Each organization is different, and everyone has issues that are more personal to them and have respective charities that they’re drawn to, but if you still want some options to consider, we’ve listed a few mental health organizations below. You can directly donate, buy merchandise where the proceeds go to the group, find volunteer opportunities, or even just share the resources on social media to get the word out.

What are you doing for the holiday season? What issues and matters are meaningful to you? How do you think you can help give back besides donating?

Tags: , , , , , Comments Off on Giving Back

by Moderator ★

A Minority in Mental Health: Asian Americans

November 20, 2018 in Educate Yourself

portrait-787522_1920The “model minority stereotype” of Asian Americans perceives them to be hardworking, and academically, economically, and socially successful when compared to all other racial minority groups. Because of this, Asian Americans are assumed to be at less risk of mental health problems. Then how do we explain that Asian American college students are 1.6 times more likely to seriously consider suicide than white students? And why is suicide the number one cause of death in Asian American teens?

Asian Americans are three times less likely to disclose mental health problems and utilize mental health resources when compared to white people, which gives us the false impression that they suffer less from mental health issues. The reality is that Asian Americans have factors that make them especially prone to mental health problems, especially when it comes to family.

Because the Asian culture emphasizes family cohesion and interdependence, family conflict is a factor in causing high levels of distress, and conflict becomes more common as one attempts to adjust to an American society. The Asian family dynamic also often exposes Asian Americans to negative parenting, and their desire to satisfy parental expectations yet rebel against this culture creates a “fractured identity” that leads to unsafe coping mechanisms such as self-harm. Family dynamic also instills a higher sense of perfectionism, which has been associated with higher concerns of parental criticism and hopelessness. In addition to these, Asian Americans are prone to perceived discrimination, a problem thought to only affect African Americans and Latinos. Perceived discrimination has been found to be associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among Asian Americans.

So, what can we do about this? Connor Maxwell and Lisa Kwon at the Center for American Progress propose four steps that lawmakers should take to increase access to mental health services for Asian Americans.

  1. Conduct research on disaggregated Asian Americans. All Asian Americans are not alike, but research often lumps Koreans, Japanese, Filipinos, Chinese, etc. together. Some studies of disaggregated Asians show that Korean Americans are twice as likely as Chinese Americans to experience depressive symptoms, and Japanese and Korean American men are at higher risk of suicide than other Asian American men. Separating these groups out helps us to understand the needs of this population better so we can better address them.
  2. Make mental health services more affordable. Many Asian Americans suffer from poverty, especially considering that the top several countries that immigrate to the US are from Asia. In 2017, one-third of Asian Americans with depression could not get care due to cost.chairs-325709_1920
  3. Reduce language barriers and stigma toward mental health services. More than one-third of Asian Americans have limited English proficiency. Lawmakers can increase the number of interpreters in health care settings to make mental health services accessible to patients regardless of language proficiency.
  4. Promote cultural competency and diversity among mental health professionals. 13% of Asian Americans report experiencing discrimination at a health clinic. The lack of Asian American knowledge and representation in the mental health workforce likely contributes to the disparate environment. Having more training in cultural competency and increasing cultural diversity among mental health professionals are some steps toward making the mental health care setting friendlier to Asian Americans.

What are your thoughts about the prevalence of mental health among Asian Americans? Do you know of any Asian Americans with mental illness, or for whom you are concerned for their mental health? What other steps can we take, big or small, to increase access to mental health services for Asian Americans? Share any of your experiences or thoughts below!

Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment »

by Moderator ★

Positivity During Thanksgiving

November 19, 2018 in Be Positive

thanksgiving-3719249_1920You’ve probably seen a lot of posts and ads about giving thanks, especially now that the Thanksgiving holiday week has started. In general, this time of year is one meant to be filled with joy and positivity, sharing events with loved ones and making memories.

It can be difficult to have these feelings however, especially with mental illness. This in addition to the stressors that can pop up during the season, particularly if your relationship with family members can be tense, finances can be an issue, or social anxiety spikes with the increase of shopping crowds and relatives (and not to mention feeling conflicted about the history of the holiday too). While it’s meant to be celebrated, it’s hard for some to be positive during this time of year, especially if they feel like they need to meet these exciting, celebratory expectations.

Positivity is an individual feeling, and can still be experienced, but just in different ways. If you find yourself having a hard time experiencing Thanksgiving the way it’s “meant” to be celebrated, you can still find ways to enjoy the break for yourself. The Huffington Post, for example, has a few simple strategies specifically for staying positive for Thanksgiving. These include thinking about personal things that you’re grateful for, using “Let It Go” meditation, and incorporating positive thinking in your daily routine.

There are other ways to find ways to cope with mental illness and negativity during the week too. Sometimes all you need is those few days off to recharge, whether it be meeting up with old friends or catching up on a show. If you’re able to, now’s the perfect time for some retail therapy, or maybe you find cooking and baking to be therapeutic (whether it’s to help with Thanksgiving dinner or to have it just for yourself).

If you’re still looking and want to seek for more advice about dealing with these feelings over the week, PsychCentral has a page specifically about the topic, with different linked articles relating to different issues. Ultimately, you can enjoy Thanksgiving and celebrate it – you get some days off from school and there’s a chance of good food in some way – but there are other ways to find enjoyment in your own way too.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Do you think it can be difficult to be happy during the season? What do you to to relax over the break?

Tags: , , , 4 Comments »

by Moderator ★

Ways to Stay Focused

November 16, 2018 in LINKS

StockSnap_JPZDGEMDH3

It can be incredibly difficult to concentrate on something for a long period of time, especially when it comes to the more mundane and boring things, like chores, homework, or cleaning out your closet like you swear you were going to do when the weather started to change but has only become an even bigger pile of clothes.

Having a mental illness doesn’t help either, as it can play a factor in disrupting your work performance. This doesn’t just include ADHD, but anxiety and depression also have a relationship with difficulty concentrating on tasks. There are a variety of reasons, since mental illnesses all affect people differently, but things such as worrying about doing a good job and your mind struggling to even think about the assignment at hand when it’s hard to function in general are a couple of examples.

The Internet, as usual, can try to help with its endless resources. At the very least, there are apps and websites that can help block electronic distractions so you can focus on what needs to be done. While these aren’t the only ways to help with concentrating, especially since they are limited to blocking out websites and other apps, these are still options that can maybe make finishing that essay a little bit easier.

dictionary-1149723_1920

SelfControl While it can seem a little intimidating at first (the icon is a skull, for example), SelfControl has you make a list of specific websites that you want to blacklist, such as social media websites, and once you set a time limit, you can’t access any of them until the timer runs out. It doesn’t block other websites, however, so if you need to do research or Google something, you can still access them. Don’t try and restart your computer to access the blocked sites though, because you still won’t be able to access them.

FocusWriter FocusWriter are for those who don’t need to use anything else on their computer, and just need to write. Here, you also set a timer, and your screen becomes nothing but the document (with a customizable background), so you’re forced to look at it and nothing else on your computer.

Flippd Flippd takes things to more of an extreme, as it was created to help people break any bad habits that they have with their phone. It can still be helpful on a lower level, however, since it also gives you the ability to control how much time you need to spend away from your phone and its distractions. Just like SelfControl, the main catch is that the apps you choose to block will absolutely stay blocked, even if you try to restart your phone.

Do you have any tips on how to concentrate on important tasks? What do you do to stay focused? Let us know below!

Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment »

by Moderator ★

Monitoring Time on Instagram

November 15, 2018 in Social Media Guide

StockSnap_R0OCZIJAEFThere’s no doubt about it, Instagram is incredibly popular. As one of the most frequently used sites among adolescents, it’s easy to get sucked into the endless photos and videos, as well as the various accounts of friends, peers, celebrities, and influencers. This isn’t even considering the Instagram Stories, IGTV, and direct messaging. Basically, Instagram can waste a lot of time.

Just like Apple rolling out their Screen Time and Google’s Digital Wellbeing features that they have included in their most recent updates, you may have noticed that Instagram has their own timing feature that is exclusively just for the app. Simply go to your profile page, click the top right button, and go to the first tab titled “Your Activity.” It can feel a little overwhelming, where the app will tell you your daily average over the past week, and you can specifically see how much time you’ve spent on Instagram each day over the last seven days.

While not as strict as the operating systems, Instagram also gives you the opportunity to remind you how much time you’re spending on the app. If you think you waste a lot of time on it, Instagram gives you the option to send you reminders if you’ve reached a certain limit, but won’t completely lock you out of the app. reminder-23771_1280

Unlike iPhones and Androids, which measure how much time you’re spending on all social media apps, Instagram measuring your activity specifically for the app can feel more relevant, because it is so popular and frequently used. This is opposed to other apps that qualify as “social media” but may not be used as often, or may not even be considered by some as social media, like Facetime. This is also important considering that Instagram is not just one of, but thought to be the worst social media network for mental health. By being able to see how much time you spend on it, you can start to take control and make a conscious effort to reduce that number and make it a challenge for yourself. However, monitoring your app usage can also have the opposite effect, because not meeting those goals can make you feel guilty and even worse about yourself.

Then again, activity monitoring is always optional. It’s ultimately up to you to determine how you want to use social media and how often you want to be on them. Lately though, there has been an increase in ways to control and monitor your usage in case you feel the need to start.

(Ironically, whether the amount of time you spend examining how much time you’ve spent on the app contributes to your daily activity that measures your time on the app is still unclear. The whole thing is kind of a headscratcher, really.)

Do you think that it’s a good idea for social media apps to tell you how much time you’re spending on them? Do you think that there could be negative effects with timed activity?

Tags: , , 1 Comment »

by Moderator ★

Can a Poor Diet Predict Mental Illness?

November 14, 2018 in Educate Yourself

Food is so much more than gaining energy to get through the day. Many see food as an experience: some see cooking as therapeutic, eating with others as a way to deepen relationships, and taking photos of their food and posting them as a hobby. This doesn’t even account for how good food can taste, given the variety in cuisine and combinations.

Because of its importance and presence, especially for adolescents as they enter a rapidly developing stage in their lives, food can also be a huge influence in other parts of our lives. Studies are starting to look at the relationship between food and mental health, seeing how one’s diet and what they eat can affect or even influence the presence of mental illnesses.

One recent article explored this, focusing on a poor diet, and particularly how sugar can impact a teenager’s mental health. In it, they explained the results of a study that showed that men who consumed 67 grams of sugar a day were 23% more likely to be diagnosed with depression than those who ate under 40 grams, as well as how teenage girls who consumed fast and processed food were associated with a higher risk of depression. These sorts of results can have a huge impact on adolescents in general, not just because they’re more at risk for mental illnesses, but youths are often the key demographic when it comes to marketing. The bright colors and cartoonish imagery in advertisements for sodas, sugary cereals, and processed snacks are meant to target those who are younger.

brain-1787622_1920Another study back in 2014 also looked into previous research to see if there was any overlap between a poor diet and mental health in children and adolescents. While not as strong, the results were still similar, the relationship was still there. This study went into more detail as to why this relationship exists, giving one example that the nutrients found in healthier food, such as magnesium and zinc was inversely associated with depressive disorders. This means that those nutrients were less likely to be consumed by those who have depressive disorders. Another explanation says that high-fat and high-sugar diets can negatively affect proteins that play a huge role in brain development. This sort of impact can affect how our brain processes things, and therefore can make people more susceptible to mental illnesses.

With this information, we must also keep in mind that some don’t have a choice in their diets. Eating healthy can be a privilege given the costs of organic products and food alternatives, as well as the accessibility and location of certain grocery stores and restaurants. Depression can influence how much and when we want to eat, and some may eat more as a coping mechanism when they’re anxious. Though studies have shown a link between mental health and a poor diet, there are still so many factors to consider as to why there is such a connection.

How do you think what you eat affects your mental health? Do you think your mental health affects what you eat? How do you think that changing one’s diet can impact their mental health? Let us know below!

Tags: , , , 3 Comments »

by Moderator ★

Can You be Extroverted and Have Social Anxiety?

November 13, 2018 in Educate Yourself

concert-2527495_1280

Our minds often give us images of certain types of people when we think about certain things. For example, we tend to think of those with anxiety to be by themselves, preferring to be alone and in the quiet. It can be easy and even confusing to separate introversion and social anxiety, since both include a preference of being alone and away from crowds. Even though there are significant differences, the assumption is that most people with social anxiety are also introverts, and that the two go hand in hand.

It’s important to remember though that those with disorders and illnesses do not have to have the same personality traits. While the idea of extroverts – those who thrive off of crowds, enjoy talking to large groups of people, and get their energy when they’re around others – also having social anxiety doesn’t seem to make sense, it’s something that can still happen. Being an extrovert is not a protective factor against anxiety, since anxiety is something that your mind can’t help but think about.

StockSnap_GL2I1BU9Y3Extroverts with social anxiety have two major parts of themselves conflicting, but if you take a step back, you can see how the two can influence each other. Social anxiety often includes fears of having their anxiety be noticeable and facing criticism, and those who have these and are also extroverted can feel these fears to a larger degree. They like to be around people, but they also want to make sure that they are being accepted by them. Because they want to be accepted, their anxiety can make them afraid of the worst case scenarios and that people won’t actually like them, and will actually find their outgoing traits to be annoying.

Those with social anxiety (or other mental illnesses) who are also extroverts can also be afraid of admitting they have these issues, because people don’t think that this combination is possible. Because people expect extroverts to be social, lively, and loud, extroverts can feel that they have to be that way all the time, not just to meet the standards of others, but the image they have of themselves. One 24 year old woman goes into detail about her experience as someone with anxiety and depression, but considers herself to be an extrovert. She explains that her more extroverted traits, such as being loud, can come out because she uses it to try and make up her fears of being judged by others when in public.  

While there are images that we think of when we think about mental illness, they can still be stereotypes and damaging to not just those who meet that image, but those who “conflict” with it.

Are you an introvert or extrovert? How do you think that the stereotypes and stigmas about mental illness can affect those who don’t meet them on the outside, such as outgoing and extroverted people?

Tags: , , , , 2 Comments »

by Moderator ★

New Places to Write

November 9, 2018 in LINKS

Startup Stock PhotosIf you like, or are interested in writing, you’ve probably heard of National Novel Writing Month, also known as Nanowrimo. Here, writers of all kinds attempt the intense challenge of writing 50,000 words over the 30 days of November, which is about 1,667 words a day! 50,000 words is a large amount, and is about as long as a 200 page book. Some authors have even been published with the books they started during Nanowrimo, such as The Night Circus, Fangirl, and some of the books in The Lunar Chronicle series.  

Even if you’re not interested in writing, you have probably written something recently, including at some point during November, even though we’re only 9 days in. The most obvious example are things for school, especially around this time of year now that classes are in full swing and more than halfway done for the marking period or semester, but they can also include jotting quick ideas or to-do lists. For some, writing is therapeutic as well, where you can have a private space to write about how you’re feeling that day or over a certain period of time.

The classic journal is always an option for scribbling down thoughts and ideas, but in the technological age, the convenience and the fact that we spend so much time on our electronic devices already can make computers and cell phones much more ideal options. Another classic is Microsoft Word, which for some, can feel like the only option to get things written down. Unfortunately, while effective, it may not be the best fit for all of us, and the spaces where we work can make a huge difference, whether it be our physical location or where we’re staring for hours on end. If you’re looking for something new, here are a few writing systems you can install, and the best part? All of their main features are free, and are available as phone apps too!

StockSnap_M6XC5T3JY3Google Docs You’ve likely also used Google Docs at some point, since Google Drive is pretty much the Gmail equivalent of Microsoft Office. It can be really convenient, since everything syncs up to your Gmail and you can access it on all your devices. It’s also great for collaborations and group projects, since you can add others to read and edit the same document too.

Evernote Evernote is also a cloud, letting you access anything you’ve written on all your devices with the same login. You can organize similar documents under the same folder to keep things de-cluttered, and Evernote is also connected to Google and Siri so you can update things using your voice.

Bear Like the other two, Bear can be used for a variety of things, from checklists to prose. Te variety of things available from Bear can seem endless too: you can change color schemes, link notes together, and use a markup editor. You can also have the app take over the entire computer screen so you’re not distracted by other things too. Unfortunately, however, it’s only available for Apple products.

Do you like to write? How do you think writing, whether for fiction or nonfiction, can help with mental health? Do you have any other recommendations for writing apps?

Tags: , , , , , , Comments Off on New Places to Write

by Moderator ★

A Smartphone-Less Week

November 8, 2018 in Social Media Guide

no-phone-2533390_1280Have you ever wanted to try going off the grid for a while, or even just wanted to see what happens if you didn’t have your phone on you, period? We’ve talked in the past about these kinds of situations before, and how they can benefit you. The effects aren’t always positive though: regardless of the situation, have you ever found yourself itching to use your phone when it wasn’t on you? Maybe you felt more impatient, or even nervous that something was going to happen if you didn’t access your phone ASAP.

One study wanted to look into this in more detail to see if science would back up the idea of how removing yourself from social media on your phone can affect people. The researchers felt that our addiction to our smartphones is similar to other addictions, and wanted to see if removing them would result in similar withdrawal experiences. Instead of completely removing people from their phones, however, they wanted to see if the subjects could control the temptation to use their phones even if it was right there in front of them. They refer to this as nonuse by choice, which is different than involuntary nonuse, which can happen, for example, if you lose your phone or it breaks. Nonuse by choice involves you fully being able to use your phone, but for whatever reason, from needing to study to taking a digital cleanse, you make an effort to not use it. In this case, participants had access to their phones, but information was recorded about how often they used social media sites, and every evening, they were asked to record their feelings on their experience throughout the week.

The study only collected information from adults, ranging from 18 to 80 years old. Once the results were collected, the study found that the strongest results were extreme: 41% of them never plug-1859843_1280relapsed, but 29% relapsed more than twice. The main reason for the relapses seemed to be because of FOMO and people being afraid that they were missing something important if they weren’t on their phones. They also noticed that participants had strong withdrawal symptoms of craving and boredom. This means that that there was temptation to use social media, almost as if it was something that they needed. And because they had to try and not to use something that they were usually constantly on, the participants were experiencing a disruption in their routine, now having all this free time, but didn’t know how to fill it.

In their article, the authors mention how communicating through social media has become an integral part of everyday life. This can be the main reason for these strong withdrawal symptoms in the participants. In today’s society, where most of us have some sort of phones, if not a social media account that we can log into on our computers, communicating online is probably one of the most convenient and effective forms of talking.It’s possible that by now, especially for adolescents, where these forms of communicating have been present for the majority of their lives, social media is a key component of our daily lives, and taking that away can have extreme effects.

What advice do you have for controlling how often you use the phone? How do you think the results would have been different if they used tested this on teenagers and adolescents?

Tags: , , , , , , Comments Off on A Smartphone-Less Week

by Moderator ★

The Mental Effect of Family Separations

November 7, 2018 in Educate Yourself

childThere have been a lot of stories lately, particularly in the last couple of years, regarding immigration. They have a more depressing tone to them, often discussing how there have been more attempts to put rules in place to make it more difficult to enter the United States. The most common of these stories involve deportation cases that take place at the United States and Mexico border.

Unfortunately, other groups are also being affected by the threat of deportation. Southeast Asian American groups are going through a similar situation, with twice as many Vietnamese people being deported in 2017 compared to 2016. In February, a man was deported back to Jordan, a country he had moved from nearly 40 years ago.

The situation itself is already worrying, but as a result of sending people back to their original country, families are being separated. Family separation is a situation that has increased recently, where forceful, unwilling separation of parents from their children can not only impact their relationship, but how the child views future relationships and their current living situation.

Because families are literally being separated from each other, the effects on everyone can be severe. This is especially true for the children in these families – both adolescents and kids. Regardless of the age, seeing their parents taken away from them can drastically impact children in a negative way. For example, in the span of just over a month, nearly 2,000 children were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. These children can also go through extreme situations after the separation, especially those separated at the border. This includes being sent to detention centers with extremely poor living conditions. Even if there are still able to see their parents, it can still be hard on the child. It can cost a lot of money for their family to afford legal fees, and a lot of time devoted for their caregiver to drive them to visit the detention center.

As a whole, these sorts of situations are extremely stressful, and can have lasting effects that can have huge impacts not just immediately, but as they get older. These sorts of effects are the results of something called toxic stress. When a child experiences intense difficulties that are out of their control, such as exposure to violence or neglect, or in this case, family separation, their development can be affected. This doesn’t just include the increased chances of developing mental illnesses, but their physical health can also be affected, such as a poorer development of their organ systems. Overall, development is delayed, which can result in a higher chance of behavioral problems, chronic illnesses, and dropping out of school.

These are in addition to the troubles that come with puberty and adolescence, and as we mentioned, the effects can be extreme. Removing parents from their children impact both groups, especially when it’s something neither of them choose to do. People are noticing though, and the outcry has been strong. The election just occurred, and it may come with action to keep families together, but if there’s anything else you want to do, check out the following articles from Huffington Post and Time.

What other kinds of effects do you think that family separation can have on a child? What do you think can be done to help reduce the mental and physical effects of toxic stress?

Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment »