Mental Health
Editor: Grace Corey
Why it's a good idea for students to take breaks
By Izzy Rutherford
High school can be a rough time for students of all grades. There’s a new kind of pressure that takes hold as the years countdown to graduation. Life passes and the classes get harder, the stress building as weeks go by. There are all kinds of important dates filling individual calendars including class tests, the pressure of finals week, ACT dates, and any other activities that might make up each student's personal life. The one thing that remains constant is the steady belief that it’ll get harder before it gets easier, but when are things going to be easier?
The truth is that we’re always going to have those ups and downs. When students reach their high school years, expectations also rise both in work requirements and the overall efforts that are required to keep moving. This plays a big part in the health of students. Not only are they now worrying about the leaps that they’ll have to make school-wise, they’re preparing themselves for the work world. They begin looking for jobs and studying to receive their driver's permit and license. High-schoolers are trying to fit in study time while working around extracurricular activities, replacing sleep with other more personal affairs.
It’s hard for students to find time for themselves, to partake in their own personal lives. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to take a step back and evaluate the different factors you’re faced with, whether this includes the work-life balance that a student is taking on and trying to regulate that or just taking part in stress free activities. It’s easy to forget that it’s okay to relax and schedule in personal days or even a couple of hours to breathe.
Another action a student can do is assess themselves on a personal level. This can include their overall thoughts, feelings, and actions instead of focusing on what one may regret. Rather than assuming the worst about situations, use self constructive criticism to help analyze a situation and figure out where you can go from there. This may be as simple as coming up with a schedule to improve work life or using a situation as a basis for improvement. This allows one to break down what they’ve done and use it to help themselves in lieu of writing it off as done and over with.
By allowing oneself the opportunity to work something out from an outside perspective, they're able to overcome barriers that may be keeping them from moving forward. It’s always important to schedule in personal downtime to de-stress and increase productivity. Doing so will allow for one to take the time needed to help themselves find whatever balance they may need in these stress filled times.
Taking a look into being dramatic vs. depressed
Depression. For many teenagers unfortunately this word has become one that is far too familiar. With the weight of general teenage angst mixed with school stress, possible home life issues, and the worry of obtaining jobs and figuring out one’s future, the relevancy of depression rising among teenagers has grown higher and higher, but what does it mean to be truly depressed?
Living in a world full of long hours of screen time and the influence of social media, the word depression has been one that has started to lose its true harsh meaning. Many teengers have come to associate a few bad days with a very serious and mind-numbing mental illness. Social media, of course, has contributed great efforts in helping normalize struggling with mental illnesses, but at the same time it has spread the idea that having a mental illness such as depression or anxiety is a quirky personality trait. In reality this is not the case at all.
This is exactly why teenagers being able to differentiate being dramatic compared to being genuinely depressed is so important. An article done by crooswindcounseling.org offers a list of symptoms that are signs of a teen experiencing genuine depression. Listed below are some of those symptoms.
Episodes of persistent sadness and isolation that last for more than a few days
Loss of motivation or interest in one’s favorite things
Painful thought patterns that can result in a sense of hopelessness and/or a negative self-concept
Physical symptoms such as trouble sleeping, changes in appetite, heart palpitations, headaches, dizziness, or shortness of breath
Ultimately, teens should be able to notice the signs of true depression vs. being dramatic. Depression is obviously a real thing that teens experience and is something that is important to discuss while also keeping realistic. The same article states a reminder that “Drama can be a common part of adolescence. The emotional 'ups' and 'downs' are a normal part of the hormonal and physical changes of puberty. Drama is a natural part of this process because it is a time of new experiences and challenges.”
The next time someone is discussing being depressed it’s important to evaluate, is it just adolescent drama, or are they actually depressed?