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A “Self-Evaluator” Site Designed Especially For College Students

May 4, 2018 in LINKS

Anxiety is skyrocketing among college students, but they often don’t know how to figure out how much the anxiety is interfering with their lives, or where to go on campus for help.

The Self Evaluator website is designed to help you solve these problems. The Duke University School of Medicine developed the Self-Evaluator for Jed’s college-student-support site, ULifeline.

It screens for thirteen of the most common mental health conditions that college students face. This screening does not give you a diagnosis, but it asks detailed questions that can identify mental health challenges that might be interfering with your thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

The site is also tailored to give you specific information about exactly when and where on your campus you can go to reach out for help.

This tool was created for college students and we think it is super useful!

In it you will answer survey questions with answers of Yes, No, or Unsure.

Then …

  • It will briefly give a simple screening of a problem that you MAY have
  • Then a link that gives more information on that potential problem

There is also an Ask the Experts tab with FAQs about certain topics—simply use the drop-down menu to choose a topic area.

Have you ever used screening tools? What do you think about this one? How was the FAQ/Ask the Experts information? What kinds of resources does your school have for times when you might need extra mental health support? 

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“Call-Out Cards” For Online Boundary-Pushers

May 3, 2018 in Social Media Guide

Screen Shot 2018-05-03 at 8.47.42 AMHave you ever seen a social media post that you thought was offensive, mean, or just not cool?

Have you ever been bombarded with text messages and felt pressured to text back in split-seconds?

Have you ever been stumped about how to respond to these and other online boundary violations?—It’s hard to respond to someone who is abusing your online space, or someone else’s!

ThatsNotCool.com is a public-service organization that is designed to educate people using online spaces about how to respect boundaries.

Screen Shot 2018-05-03 at 8.47.33 AMThey’ve put together a collection of “call-out cards” that you can post as replies. There are images that you can send if someone is calling you, texting you, or emailing you too much, and if someone is violating your social-media boundaries—for example, posting private or false information about you on your timeline or others’.

Which of these “call out cards” might you use, and which might you not? And why? Let us know in the comments! 

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What Is CBT? A Comic Example

May 2, 2018 in Educate Yourself

When you feel depressed or anxious, it can feel like you are just lost in your thoughts. A type of therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps to teach you how to change your thoughts. The idea is that by changing your thoughts, you can change your mood and how you deal with day-to-day events. CBT is one of the most effective therapies for depression and anxiety in young people.

  • CBT describes a cycle starting with an Event.
  • A person responds to the Event with a Thought.
  • This Thought leads to an Emotion.
  • Then that Emotion leads to further Action.

Out of all of these responses, the easiest to change in the cycle are the Thoughts, because they can come from an underlying belief system: one example of such an underlying belief system is, “I’m not good at anything.” This belief system is overly negative. CBT helps train you to think more rationally by using evidence, rather than feelings or beliefs.

Like in this comic strip:

comic01

comic02

comic03

After reading this, imagine that Jude talks to his doctor and realizes he has been feeling depressed. He starts seeing a therapist who teaches him about CBT. Jude realizes there is evidence that some people do like him and there are some people he doesn’t get along with as well.

After CBT, the same scenario might happen a little like this:

comic04

comic05

comic06

How did Jude manage to change his thinking? What are the differences between the two comic strips? Let us know your thoughts below!

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True Friendship

May 1, 2018 in Educate Yourself

friends01As we go through life, people move in and out of our social interactions. Particularly in adolescence and young adulthood, in settings such as school or extracurricular activities, we constantly meet people and create relationships. But how do we learn whether someone is a true and genuine friend? While you might hang around pretty often with some people, such as people in your classes or dorm, not everyone fulfills the role of a true friend.

Here are five signs that someone is interested in and capable of being your genuine friend.

1. They want you to accept yourself as you are.

A true friend will love you exactly as you are, and wants you to love yourself the same way. They are the people who will help to boost your self-esteem when you’re feeling down, and they’ll help you gather courage when you’re nervous about taking on a new challenge.

2. They’re honest with you if they think you’re making a poor choice.

True friends won’t blow smoke in your face if they think you’re wrong about a situation or if they see that you could benefit from some guidance. If someone is too afraid to step in or sits back and watches while you make a bad decision, they don’t have your best interest at heart—so they’re not a true friend.

friendship023. They’re present with you. 

Being fully present is difficult for most people to achieve, but a true friend will try their best to give you their undivided attention when they’re with you. They won’t ignore you or keep checking their phones, but will listen and respond attentively. And they can focus on you without turning everything you say around to make it be about them.

4. They help you laugh at life—and sometimes at yourself.

Have you ever noticed how good you can feel when you smile, and better yet when you can laugh? Humor has that superpower. And true friends have the gift not not taking themselves overly seriously—and they can help you do that when you’re in a tough spot.

5. They give you support when you need it the most.

While true friends celebrate your successes, they also are capable of supporting you when you are faced with hardships. A true friend steps in more like a family member when you are at your lowest and does anything they can to help you feel loved.

What other qualities of true friendship have you noticed in your life? Share with us in the comments!

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How To Use Empathy

April 27, 2018 in LINKS

This video was based on a TED talk by Dr. Brené Brown. She is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent more than a decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame.

Have you been on both sides of the hole? Have you ever climbed down with a friend?

How did this video make you feel? What kinds of changes did it make you want to make in your life? Or did it remind you of something you or someone else went through? Share below.

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What Site Is That?

April 26, 2018 in Social Media Guide

socialmediaDo you ever feel like you can’t keep up with all the new social media websites? The Pew Research Center’s annual report on social media usage might help you make sense of it all.

This report  provides us with the most popular sites that we often use, with Facebook being the most favored of the social media platforms. Most of the names often come as no surprise and might be ones you use as well!

If you’re interested in the Pew Research Center’s full social media update, you can find it here.

There are also many other apps and websites that aren’t quite as widely used—so you may have never heard of them. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that helps kids and parents by providing reviews of all kinds of media, compiled a list of quite a few apps that teens are using. Their intention was to help adolescent social media users and their parents better understand the pros and cons. Here’s a rundown:

Texting apps: These often allow users to text or video message for free without it appearing on the phone bill or in the messages on their phone.

WhatsApp
Kik Messenger
ooVoo

Micro-blogging apps and sites: These sites provide a platform where users can post anything from how their day was to pictures and videos.

Instagram
Tumblr
Twitter
Vine

Self-Destructing/Secret apps: These sites are often anonymous or are meant to have self-destructive qualities, and often pictures or videos posted can be seen by others in a certain distance from the users current location.

Snapchat
Whisper
YikYak

Chatting, Meeting, Dating apps and sites: These sites have an inherent aspect of flirting or dating.

MeetMe
Omegle
Tinder

Have you heard of any of these apps? Do you use them?  If so, which ones?  Do you know of any other apps or websites that are not included on this list?  We’d love to hear from you!

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Nature’s Beautiful Patterns

April 23, 2018 in Be Positive

Take a look at this video of starlings in a flight pattern called “murmuration.” They do this at certain times of the year.

No one knows why and how the starlings do this murmuration! Which bird is leading them in their flight? How do they know when to turn or to settle onto the ground? No one knows.

There are patterns that occur in nature that, despite all our technology, we really don’t understand. Every snowflake is different.

Bees make honeycombs that have six sides.

Some plants—and animals!—grow in spirals.

But even though these patterns are incomprehensible, they’re beautiful. That beauty can lift our spirits if we look at it with an open mind.

Tell us what patterns you notice in your life that lift your spirits! What did it take for you to see them?

 

 

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National Alliance On Mental Illness

April 20, 2018 in LINKS

NAMI-service-LogoThe National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the United States’ largest grassroots mental health organization. NAMI is dedicated to building better lives for millions of American’s affected by mental illness through education, advocacy, listening, and awareness.

The NAMI website is an excellent resource for information about mental health, with a wide variety of news articles on mental illness, specific conditions, blogs, stories, and more!

Learn More: Learn about the warning signs of mental illness, mental health conditions, statistics, treatments, research, and public policies.

Find Support: This section includes tips for reaching out to support services, advice on living with a mental health condition (such as navigating insurance, finding a therapist, romantic relationships, and more!) and support for:

  • Family members and caregivers
  • Teens and young adults
  • Veterans and active duty personnel
  • LGBTQ
  • Diverse communities

There is also a HelpLine and programs that offer support, education, and training.

Get Involved!  This section shows various ways that you and your family can get involved with NAMI, whether that be through education, peer support, policy advocacy, or promoting public understanding.

NAMI News: Read about mental illness in the news and ways to take action.

NAMI Blogs:  A place to comment on post from people who have lived experience with mental illness and those with expertise in living with mental illness and mental health.

Personal Stories: Read personal stories from the NAMI community.

Find your local NAMI! What are they up to in your community? What is something valuable you learned from the NAMI website? Leave us a comment and let us know! 

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What Does Privacy Mean To You?

April 19, 2018 in Social Media Guide

privacy01What does privacy mean to you when it comes to social media?

What does it mean to you when something is on Facebook or another social media website? Is anything truly private once it’s on the internet?

Have you ever run into someone in person who knew something about you because of what they read on social media? Did it feel strange that they knew about it? Sometimes when you post something, you expect that only certain people will see it, but you don’t know who laid eyes on what you put on the internet.

We work hard to keep our SOVA website secure and anonymous to protect your privacy so that you can share your experiences without worrying about who will see what you wrote. Also we got feedback from young people that they prefer to talk about their mental health in an anonymous way.

There might be other situations where you do want to publicly share your story too. But if you do make that decision, it should be your choice. For those situations when you want to protect your privacy—what have you done on social media to protect your personal information?

What are your experiences with privacy on social media? Are you more private in some places and less in others? How do you make those decisions?

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How To Tell Whether Therapy Is Going Well

April 17, 2018 in Educate Yourself

Talking with a therapist can make anyone feel pretty vulnerable. Think about it—you are telling them your deepest thoughts, and you are not sure what they are thinking! If you’ve never seen a therapist before, you might not know what a therapist is supposed to do or how they might act. So how do you know if things are going well in therapy?

Ask yourself:

  • Do I think therapy will help me?
  • What do I expect out of my therapist?

Ask your parent:

  • Are you willing to participate in therapy together or alone for you if needed?
  • What do you expect out of me for therapy?
  • What do you expect out of my therapist?

Discuss your answers to the above questions with your therapist and your parent so you can have a clear idea if what you think will happen is what will happen.

As you get to know your therapist, ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I feel accepted?
  • Is my therapist caring?
  • Does my therapist explain things clearly?
  • If my therapist and I disagree, can we have a productive conversation about it?
  • Does my therapist recognize if there is a problem and addresses it instead of avoiding it?

After you’ve gotten to know your therapist, ask yourself:

  • Does my therapist have a good relationship with me?
  • Do we get along?
  • Do we agree on the goals of what I am going to get from my treatment?
  • Does my therapist get along with my parent?
  • Does my therapist agree with my parent on the goals of my treatment?

These questions have been shown in research to influence how well therapy can work for kids and adolescents which is why we think it is important to think about them.

If the answers are no to any of these questions, talk to your therapist on how you might address them. If it doesn’t feel comfortable to talk to your therapist, then talk to whoever referred you to them—like your primary care provider about whether they can help talk to your therapist and investigate whether they are a good fit for you.

Which of these questions would you be most likely to try out? Are there other questions you suggest for talking to your therapist? Let us know in the comments.

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