SOVA Blog

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You are not “so OCD”

Have you ever heard someone say “I’m just so OCD?” Have you ever thought about how someone who is diagnosed with OCD feels when that is said? I can say from first hand experience that it is an uncomfortable situation to be in.

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The Struggle in Finding Treatment for POC

Stigma towards mental health and mental illness has always been present, but the way that stigma is expressed and the level of stigma can depend on a variety of things. One of those ways is how stigma can differ among different races: posts here have covered how stigma acts as one of the barriers for people of color to seek treatment, including African-Americans, Asians, and Native Americans, for example.

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Calming Down Through…Smell?

Take a moment to think of scents that make you happy. It could be the smell of your favorite food, your significant other’s perfume, or the scent of opening up a new binder.

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The Benefit of Naps

You may have heard about the danger of depression naps before. However, this isn’t to imply that all naps are bad for you – in fact, they’re incredibly beneficial!

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My Mental Health Quote of the Week

I have been dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety lately with a new move and new job that I have posted about previously. When I am having some rough mental health days, (or recently for me, mental health weeks), I often look to quotes.

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Social Media can Induce Feelings of Anxiety

Social media can produce high levels of stress and anxiety. Sharing and posting aspects of your life with others is the purpose of social media, but it can lead to negative outcomes. These negative outcomes can cause a mental health concern or it can trigger an existing disorder.

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Why Does Anxiety Disrupt Our Sleep Before a Big Event?

The situation may be all too familiar: you have an important event coming up, or worse, happening the very next day. It’s a job interview, a big test, the playoffs for the sport you play, a move to a new apartment, the start of a significant school year. No matter what it is, you can’t seem to sleep, like, at all. Your body is waking you up throughout the night, or it might not let you go to sleep at all, and you’re just lying there, trying to keep your eyes closed in your dark room despite being fully conscious.

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Keep it in Perspective!

A key contribution to my personal growth away from anxiety and depression has been keeping seemingly impactful negative thoughts in perspective with reality. Many times I have found myself having an average/decent day and letting turn for the worse due to the isolation originating from negative self-talk.

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Weekend Reads: Latino Youth Stories about Their Mental Health

We wanted to use today’s post to highlight personal essays from Latino youth and how their culture and personal experiences have played a part in their mental health and coping mechanisms. Studies and news reports are showing that Latino adolescents and young adults struggled with their mental health throughout the pandemic, and this comes on top of existing reports of increases in depressive symptoms.