Supporting Our Valued Adolescents: A place to learn, share your strength, be positive, and grow.
by Moderator ★
March 10, 2017 in LINKS
A Brief Mental Health Check-up
Take five minutes and ask yourself these questions! The American Psychiatric Association is a great resource to use when you are interested in gaining more knowledge about mental health! Let us know if you learned anything new about yourselves!
by Moderator ★
March 3, 2017 in LINKS
Sometimes we all just need to take a moment and escape from the real world for a second. For many people, games on the internet can be a fun outlet. Lifehack.org has complied a list of 10 fun and relaxing games to play to help you de-stress and stimulate your mind. Alex Morris from Lifehack.org describes the games as “minor masterpieces of chilled-out enjoyment which can help calm you after a busy day, or hectic morning, by ridding you from the stress of modern life. It’s blissful escapism at its best, and it’s entirely free!”
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There are ten games available on the website. Here’s a description of one of the games: Echogenesis
“Put your headphones on and immerse yourself in the wonders of Echogenesis. The visuals come from nature; swamps, forests, coves, and the like, whilst the sounds are created by interacting with the various life forms come across. It’s an immersive experience, from the beautiful graphics to the luscious stereophonic orchestration. You can’t win or lose; you just experience and influence the worlds you see, making it a relaxing tale of exploration.”
Take at look at what they have to offer and lets now what you think of the games.
by Moderator ★
March 2, 2017 in Social Media Guide
Social Media is all about communicating and sharing your experiences with friends and followers. The question is at what point does it become too much and we begin to overshare? How and what we choose to share on social media will affect how people see us. It is important to be mindful of what information you decide to disclose. Psychology Today has provide some tips to help keep oversharing to a minimum.
At the end of the day just keep in mind that social media represents who you are to many people. This is a snapshot of your life and you want it to represent the best of who you are.
Have you overshared or seen others overshare on social media? What was the result?
by Moderator ★
March 1, 2017 in Educate Yourself
The mind and body have many different ways of expressing depression. Often times the symptoms of depression are mood-based such as hopelessness, feelings that one is unworthy, and suicidal ideation. Although those are symptoms related to mood that are often found with depression, it can also be represented through the physical changes and not just in a person’s mood. The depression symptoms can easily be managed, just as any illness or sickness.
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“Many people suffering from depression never get help because they don’t realize that pain may be a symptom of depression. The importance of understanding the physical symptoms of depression is that treating depression can help with the pain–and treating pain can help with depression.” – Melissa Breyer
Some common physical symptoms:
Pain and depression often go hand in hand. Many of the same neural pathways that control pain signals also involve neurotransmitters that help regulate mood such as serotonin and norepinephrine. According to Health.harvard.edu; “When [mood] regulation fails, pain is intensified along with sadness, hopelessness, and anxiety. And chronic pain, like chronic depression, can alter the functioning of the nervous system and perpetuate itself.”
You just have to constantly be aware of what is happening within your body because a person’s mind and body does work independently of one another. What is happening with your mood and emotions will manifest in your body and vice versus. The body can impact a person’s moods and emotion.
by Moderator ★
February 28, 2017 in Educate Yourself
There are lots of different kinds of anxiety. The general definition of anxiety is an unrealistic, irrational fear or worry of disabling intensity. While fear is the natural response to a serious threat to someone’s well-being, anxiety is a response to a potential threat in the future. People with anxiety can experience it in different situations and in different ways. It’s important to keep in mind that everyone experiences anxiety. When the anxiety gets to a point that it is disabling, it can then be classified as a disorder. For this post we are going to focus on a common type of anxiety: social anxiety disorder.
As we always do before discussing a disorder, it’s important to note that only a professional can diagnose individuals with mental health disorders. We want to warn against the dangers of self-diagnosis, especially relating to mental illness. If you or someone you know is experiencing some of these symptoms, it’s okay to investigate further by educating yourself on the disorder, but important to get a professional opinion before drawing any conclusions.
The defining feature of social anxiety is a marked or intense fear or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual may be scrutinized by others and be negatively evaluated (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The following are symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder:
Social anxiety causes individuals to be unable to attend social situations because of the fear or anxiety. If they do attend, the fear or anxiety is difficult to tolerate. Social anxiety is more prevalent among females than males, and usually develops between the ages of 10-20 (Comer, 2014). Researchers and theorists have proposed lots of causes for social anxiety disorder. They believe that people with social anxiety disorder maintain social beliefs and expectations that work against them. These social beliefs include:
-They view themselves as unattractive social beings,
-They maintain unrealistically high social standards and so believe that they must perform perfectly in social situations.
-They view themselves as socially unskilled and inadequate
-They believe they are always in danger of behaving incompetently in social situations
-They believe that inept behaviors in social situations will inevitably lead to terrible consequences
-They believe that they have no control over feelings of anxiety that emerge in social situations.
(Comer, 2014)
There are lots of successful treatments available for people with social anxiety disorder. While social anxiety can cause great distress, therapy can do amazing work to help individuals manage and cope with social anxiety.
What are some of the ways you manage anxiety in social settings?
Comer, R.J. (2014). Abnormal Psychology (8th Edition-DSM5 Update). New York: Worth Publishers
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM5). (2013) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
by Moderator ★
February 27, 2017 in Be Positive
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by Moderator ★
February 24, 2017 in LINKS
When you have a question about your health, where is the first place you go?
Probably you are googling it! Many of us google our medical problems – its fast, easy, you get an answer right away. What could go wrong?
Well for one, you could get really upset over nothing – or you might ignore something serious!
There is some good information on the internet about your health – but sometimes it is hard to figure out what is trustworthy and what is just one person blogging away about something they don’t know about.
Here are 16 ways you can check out a site to see if you can trust it:
Try it out – look up a health question you have – and test out whether these questions helped you or not.
Most importantly, a website will never give you all the answers you need to take care of your health. If you have a serious question, then talk to a trusted adult or see your health provider.
Did you try these questions? Did they help you rate a website? Let us know below! If you found any good links for quality health websites tell us below! One great website we recommend for girls is youngwomenshealth.org and for boys is youngmenshealthsite.org!
by Moderator ★
February 23, 2017 in Social Media Guide
Instagram is a picture-sharing social media site created to allow you to share your life through pictures and videos with the world. But the new norm of constant sharing can create a sense of loneliness if you begin to compare your life to those you witness on your feed. Good.health.is.com talks about a new feature of the app that can be helpful for individuals with mental health concerns. The website states the following:
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“If you stumble upon a friend or stranger’s post about self-harm, an eating disorder, suicidal thoughts, or other dangerous situations, you’re now one button away from anonymously reporting that post to Instagram.” Alerting Instagram when someone may be in need of some help or support will prompt a message that will be sent out saying: ‘Someone saw one of your posts and thinks you might be going through a difficult time. If you need support, we’d like to help.’ The users will be prompted with three options to get help, which are talking to a friend, contacting a helpline, and tips for support. The language used to construct the wording was developed with the help from the National Eating Disorders Association and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.”
If you see anyone that you believe may be in need of help, it’s best to report it because you never know what impact it could have an individual. It can be hard to reach out personally, especially if your relationship with the person takes place mostly over social media. This new feature is an anonymous way to check in with the person. It might be able to provide them with the resources they need. The app suggests that the person reach out for help in some way, and that can make all the difference. Sometimes all people need is a small gesture that conveys a helping hand reaching out for them.
by Moderator ★
February 22, 2017 in Educate Yourself
Intertwining music into your daily routine is a simple way to help reduce stress in your life. Helpguide.org gives several ways to incorporate music into everyday situations that can be used to reduce your stress.
You can implement music starting first thing in the morning. Waking up to an alarm clock that is blaring a horrendous beeping sound can be a rude awakening! Try waking up to a familiar song that you enjoy. You could create an entire morning playlist to get yourself in the right mindset to start your day. To go the extra mile and really increase the positive effects of music, it is time to start singing. Who knew that singing in the shower could actually be helpful? “Singing is one of the best ways to shift the vibrations of our thoughts and the very cells of our body, helping slow and regulate breathing and promote relaxation.” When choosing your music, be mindful that the songs suit and benefit your mood, inspiring you or helping you to relax. While doing this pay attention to how you feel when singing and after to help keep in mind the songs that lift your spirits the most.
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Active listening is also a technique that can be used to reduce stress. Do this by taking your time to enjoy the music of your choice. Often times music is the background noise while you are busy engaging in various activities. Active listening is the opposite. This is when you focus on the music and the lyrics of the song and let the rest of the world fade away. Take the time to close your eyes, slow your breathing and focus on the song clearing your mind of all other distractions.
There are many more ways to integrate music in to your life listed on Helpguide.org. Check it out!
What songs do you use to decompress and relieve some stress?
by Moderator ★
February 21, 2017 in Educate Yourself
There is a relationship between depression and changes in sleep patterns. One of the symptoms for Major Depressive Disorder is “insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day.” Insomnia and hypersomnia are two sleep disorders, described below. Because disturbances in sleep are such a prevalent symptom of depression, we thought it would be important to talk about sleep disorders, sleep patterns, and what “normal sleep” looks like.
Before we dive in, it’s important to note that only a professional can diagnose individuals with mental health disorders. We want to warn against the dangers of self-diagnosis, especially relating to mental illness. If you or someone you know is experiencing some of these symptoms, it’s okay to investigate further by educating yourself on the disorder, but important to get a professional opinion before drawing any conclusions.
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To start, let’s take a look at what insomnia looks like according to the book that mental health professionals use to diagnose mental disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The main feature of insomnia is a dissatisfaction with sleep quantity or quality with complaints of difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Insomnia causes significant distress and/or impairment in one’s ability to function in different areas of life. Additionally, the disturbance in sleep occurs at least 3x/week and has to have been a problem for at least 3 months. Another criteria for insomnia is that the sleep difficulty occurs despite the opportunity to get sleep. Lastly, insomnia is diagnosable if this change in sleep isn’t better explained by another physical or mental health problem.
Hypersomnia is easily explained as the reverse of insomnia: instead of having trouble getting sleep, one is exhausted despite having enough sleep, or oversleeping. Hypersomnia is a result of reoccurring periods of sleep or lapses into sleep throughout the same day. Additionally, hypersomnia is a prolonged sleep session lasting more than 9 hours per day that is nonrestorative (the sleep is not refreshing). Hypersomnia is also marked by significant distress and/or impairment in a person’s functioning, whether that be in their thinking, or their ability to function at work or in social settings. Like insomnia, hypersomnia is present 3x/week for 3 months in order to be diagnosable.
The relationship between sleep disturbances and depression is usually determined by looking at a change in sleep pattern. One might start experiencing significant changes in their normal sleep patterns when they are feeling depressed. With that said, it’s important to note that normal sleep can look different for everyone. Most doctors recommend an average of 7-9 hours of sleep for adults. But some people might need more sleep, while others might need less. The important criteria that defines insomnia and hypersomnia as a problem is that it results in distress and it causes impairments in one’s ability to function.
Most people have experienced a bad night’s sleep, which throws off their ability to function normally the next day. But insomnia and hypersomnia are classified by the length of time the sleep disturbance has been happening (3x/week for 3 months). Lastly, it’s important to note that just because one might be depressed, doesn’t mean that absolutely have sleep disturbances, and just because someone is experiencing sleep disturbances doesn’t indicate that they’re depressed.
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