SOVA Blog

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Accepting Happiness

This is something that I have recently come across. It is actually quite challenging. For life to be so good. There were days where I never thought life would get better. To look back on the past few days and realize that, finally, you were happy.

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Practicing Radical Self-Care

Self-care has become a term that always pops up when talking about mental health and wellness. The most common image is that of meditating, taking a bath, or doing a face mask. And while this is great, self-care is so much more than that. While these moments of nurture are helpful, self-care is a radical act for many as they learn to put their needs, emotions, and well-being first.

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Do You Have a Wearable?

The idea of having technology in your watch seems like something out of a science fiction novel at first, with the screen popping up in the air in a bright neon blue or green. Even twenty years ago, a digital watch with a timer on it felt super futuristic.

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Achieving Homeostasis

I’m not sure if this will be a relatable experience or not but I’ll write it as a question anyway: Do you ever feel like something’s just off? Like you’re uncomfortable or irritated or tired and don’t know why or how to fix it? Well, if this has happened to you, my advice is to first make sure you’ve achieved homeostasis before looking towards any other possible reasons and solutions.

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Making a Tough Decision

Everyone has faced tough, personal decisions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes schools and universities, like the small, private university I attend. Many schools, like mine, are under financial strain, and have decided to risk reopening so that they don’t have to close their doors for good.

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Joining the Team

Hello, everyone! This is my first blog post as a SOVA Ambassador, and I’m so excited to start blogging! I came across SOVA in the Pitt+Me Registry, and I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of it. I am passionate about mental health in young adults, as it is something I have struggled with since I was a teenager. In this post, I wanted to write a little about my background and where I am now in my mental health journey.

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Tracking Your Sleep with Tech

Okay, we know, using technology to help your sleep doesn’t make much sense. It’s almost a widely accepted known fact that using technology as much as we do can actually damage our sleep habits and patterns, especially when using it in bed and during nighttime. If you haven’t been sleeping that well though, you may need some extra support getting the recommended 8-ish hours of sleep a night.

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Can You Recreate Socializing in School Online?

For most of us, especially those in younger generations, we likely interact with people on social media as much as we do face-to-face communication, if not even more. It’s both a blessing and a curse to constantly have access to those we care about, and instead of having to arrange plans to meet up with someone to see them, they can simply be a text message, phone call, or DM away.

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Talking with Your Friends about Mental Illness

When I was first seeing a therapist and diagnosed with anxiety, it felt like a secret. I didn’t know how to bring up this topic with my friends, it felt like something taboo and embarrassing. I was afraid I would be judged and seen differently if people knew that I went to therapy. When I had to miss class for therapy I didn’t tell people why. I was secretive about it and would hope that my friends wouldn’t ask questions about it.