Your Mental Health
If you or a friend are in crisis, please call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988
or use Life Line Chat.
Resources from WCPSS
Wake County Public Schools System offers many resources for students and families with need mental health assistance, from information about HPV to suicide prevention.
We are all concerned for for the emotional safety of our students. Below are some of the resources collected by WCPSS.
Online Safety: https://www.wcpss.net/Page/38545
Safe Child NC Parent Resources: https://safechildnc.org/parent-resources/
Darkness to Light: https://www.d2l.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Statistics_4_Risk_Factors.pdf
Transitions Grief Care: https://transitionslifecare.org/contact-us/
If you have concerns about your student, please contact your student’s school counselor at BHS. If you have an urgent concern, contact Alliance Health at 1-800-510-9132.
Have a burning question on your mind?
Go Ask Alice! is a team of specialists from Columbia University who provide Q&A opportunities about a variety of health concerns. The website provides additional information about ADHD concerns, nutrition, or even hiccups.
You can also ask your own questions if you don't see what you are looking for.
Some other local help
Poe Health Center is a nonprofit organization supporting youth, families, and schools in North Carolina. Several of my students might remember Poe from their sexual education field trip in the fifth grade! Poe provides many different educational opportunities for teens and their families such as substance abuse curriculum.
Anxiety and Teens
Over the past several years, reported feelings of anxiety and depression have increased among American adolescents according to Pew Research and the CDC. Dr. Lisa Damour, an APA member, psychotherapist, and the author of the monthly Adolescence article in The New York times, spoke with the APA's Kaitlin Luna on the podcast Speaking of Psychology in the episode, Anxiety and Teen Girls. Dr. Damour offered great insight into potential reasons for the increase in these rates, tips for helping teens work through anxious feelings, and strategies parents and other adults can take to empower teens.
Talk to a therapist virtually
More and more people are using teletherapy as a means of helping to resolve mental health concerns. It is often more affordable, more readily accessible, and low risk. In fact, randomized trial studies have found face-to-face and remote therapy to have similar positive outcomes, outlined in this article from the American Psychological association. If you feel that online therapy could help you, talk to your healthcare provider, family members, and look over these seven options suggested by VeryWell Mind.