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Tackling Stigma

November 30, 2018 in LINKS

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The topic about how stigma affects how we view mental illness is not new. The way that people talk about mental illness can not only impact how we view those with mental illness, but how we can view our own. We’ve talked about stigma several times before, because it’s important to change this mindset and the harmful effects that it can have.

There have been many efforts and attempts to change the conversation, especially online. One such way is through the government: MentalHealth.gov provides content from other government organizations such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and NAMI and uses the site as a resource for information about mental health. One of their primary goals is to tackle the conversation (or lack of) about mental health and create a new one within communities to help normalize it.

One of their pages focuses specifically on stigma, and even more specifically, presents it as a fact sheet. Here, they present a common “myth” about mental health that can contribute to the stigma and a more negative way about how people can handle their mental illnesses. Not only do they cover the myths that people believe in about those who have a mental illness, but they also debunk ones about how to help others. These include how thinking that there’s no use in helping others because they’re a “lost cause” and that it’s impossible to prevent. The site also links to external resources with some of their facts to provide more information.

You can check it out here.

What are other myths you can think of about mental health? How do you think people can change the way they talk about mental health? Let us know below in the comments!

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Current Habits in Social Media

November 29, 2018 in Social Media Guide

rawpixel-771283-unsplashYesterday, the Pew Research Center published a new report about teenagers and how they use social media. It can feel like these sorts of reports and the stories that follow can occur way too often (and they kind of do), but they can cover a variety of topics about adolescents and social media, from popular apps to mental health to what kind of content that people prefer to post. These frequent reports can also make sense when considering just how fast technology and social media are, with trends, memes, and viral content changing all the time.

The data that was published in this report surveyed about 700 teenagers back in May. They surveyed these teens specifically about their experiences and habits on social media, like what kind of content they liked to post, and how they interpreted friendships online. Below are just a few of the results from the survey:

Teens view social media in a more positive light. There are downsides of social media – a quick Google search will give you hundreds of thousands of results on the topic – and teenagers recognize and feel the effects of them. However, the survey found that more teenagers felt included when they use social media and that it made them more confident than insecure. Teenagers also like social media because they think it helps them become more civically minded and gives them access to diversity and diverse content that they may not see otherwise.

jorge-gil-446384-unsplashMost teens aren’t trying to go viral with their content. No two profiles are the same: personalities and how people want to brand themselves play a huge part in what they choose to post. While the need for approval through likes and comments is common (37% feel pressure to share things that will result in a lot of responses), only 29% want the extreme validation and post things that will make them go viral. Most of the time, teens are posting things about their accomplishments or friends and family. They’re less likely to talk about personal issues and their beliefs, and are less likely to post selfies.

Social media helps teens socialize. Given the name, it shouldn’t be surprising that 81% of teens say that social media makes them feel more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives. Roughly 70% also say that social media helps them get more in touch with their friends’ feelings and make them feel like they have people who will support them through tough times. Teenagers are more likely to talk to their friends online than in person daily – but teens explain that it can difficult to meet up with their friends because of how busy they are, or how busy their friends are.

Social media can be dramatic and extreme. Nearly half of teenagers said that they felt overwhelmed by the drama that social media can cause, 78% of teenagers stated that people creating drama was the primary reason for them to unfollow or unfriend someone. Similarly, they will also unfollow people if they think they are being too rude or bullying.

There’s a lot to do online. The internet is overwhelming and infinite with the information it can provide. Teens are most likely to connect with others and use the internet for gaming and humor, but it’s also a space for them to look for health related information and have a place to safely explore their identity. About half spend some amount of time on forums or other online groups to talk with those who have similar interests.

Do you find yourself changing your social media habits often? What makes you want to do things differently or post different things on social media? Do you think you fall under the findings in the report?

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Can Schools Influence Stigma?

November 27, 2018 in Educate Yourself

classroom-2093743_1920Our environments can have a powerful impact on how we view things, especially in how we view the things about ourselves. Because adolescents spent a lot of time in school, their teachers, their classmates, and the content that they learn can influence how they interpret information. This also includes mental health: conversations with peers and the ways that teachers talk about their expectations on students can have subtle, but lasting effects.

Overall, there has been a general movement to include more education about mental health in classrooms. This includes training programs to address youth mental health for school personnel, and states like New York and Virginia now make it mandatory to include mental health instruction in classes (New York in all grades from kindergarten to 12th grade, Virginia in 9th and 10th grade).

There are other ways for students to change their views on mental illness in school, but outside of the classroom where they are directly taught about it. How the school reacts to student stress, how the teacher interacts with the students, overhearing conversations between classes, and even posters in hallways can have an influence. School is so much more than just an education, and everything that goes into the school experience and how students function in schools can be defined as “school climate.”school-1413366_1920

School climate can be categorized into safety, engagement, and environment. Students, parents, and teachers answered questions in a survey about what they thought about their schools and these categories, and also answered questions to assess their knowledge about mental health, specifically with depression. There was a significant relationship between school climate, knowledge about depression, and stigma, showing that the more “positive” the school climate was, the less likely that students held a stigma about mental health and the more educated they were about the topic.

A positive school climate, based on the results, meant things like students feeling that their teachers cared about them and that they felt safe at school. This kind of climate, combined with mental health programs in classes, can help adolescents feel more comfortable talking about mental health and if they have a mental illness, not just because they are learning about the facts, but they know that they are in a space where they feel respected.

How do you think schools can help students learn more about mental health? How can schools adjust their environments to normalize mental health?

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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?

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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!

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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?

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Ways to Stay Focused

November 16, 2018 in LINKS

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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.

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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!

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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?

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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!

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Can You be Extroverted and Have Social Anxiety?

November 13, 2018 in Educate Yourself

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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?

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