It's a normal part of life to experience occasional anxiety.

But you may experience anxiety that is persistent, seemingly uncontrollable, and overwhelming. If it’s an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it can be disabling. When anxiety interferes with daily activities, you may have an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders are real, serious medical conditions - just as real and serious as physical disorders such as heart disease or diabetes. Anxiety disorders are the most common and pervasive mental disorders in the United States.

What Is Depression?

Depression is a disorder that is evidenced by excessive sadness, loss of interest in enjoyable things, and low motivation.

Depression is common. One in three people will experience a major depressive episode at some stage in their lives. While most cases of depression are mild, about one person in ten will have a moderate or severe episode

No one knows exactly what causes depression. It is clear that genetic factors are important in many cases of depression. Depression seems to run in families (as do other mood disorders), and about 30% of the predisposition for depression is due to genetic influences.

Stressful life events play a part in the onset or relapse of depression. Ongoing conflicts with others can take their toll on our well-being, as can other social and environmental stressors such as financial difficulties, retirement, unemployment, childbirth, loneliness, or loss of someone or something important. In vulnerable people, these unpleasant life events may be enough to cause or worsen a depressive illness.

Another possible cause of depression that should not be overlooked is physical illness or medications. Glandular fever, influenza, hepatitis, thyroid hormones, anaemia, diabetes, birth control pills, alcohol and other substances of abuse, or other medications such as those for heart or blood pressure conditions, may all cause symptoms of depression.

According to the National School Climate Report, 86 percent of LGBTQ youth reported being harassed at school, compared to 27 percent of students overall. School years can be challenging for all students, yet those who identify as LGBTQ often face additional pressures or concerns. Within this page, LGBTQ students can find resources and information about support systems available to help them navigate both high school and college environments.

Here at Watauga High School, we want students to know that we are here for support, to answer questions, for allyship and to advocate for students who identify as LGBTQ+

Healthy relationships are an important part of being a teenager. Much of high school is spent building relationships whether that be in terms of friendships, romantically, or improving the relationships between you and your parents or other family members. Having healthy boundaries and expectations from your partners and friends will ensure that you are being treated with respect and respecting others as well. We want to make sure you have the resources you need to be able to identify unhealthy relationship patterns, abuse and understand what to do in those situations. 

Too Common

• Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.

• One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.

• One in 10 high school students has been purposefully hit, slapped or physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend.

If you feel like you are being abused, please see your grade school counselor immediately!  

Social media can be a great way to connect with friends and family and gives people an outlet for self-expression and entertainment. Social media can also get you in a lot of trouble. Here are a few tips and advice to remember when using social media. 

• Think about what you post. Sharing provocative photos or intimate details online, even in private emails, can cause you problems later on. Even people you consider friends can use this info against you, especially if they become ex-friends.

• Passwords are private. Don’t share your password even with friends. It’s hard to imagine, but friendships change and you don’t want to be impersonated by anyone. Pick a password you can remember but no one else can guess. One trick: Create a sentence like “I graduated from King School in 15” for the password “IgfKSi15.”

• Don’t measure your own life based on what others post. People typically post happy photos and stories online and don’t usually share their boring or sad moments or unflattering photos. Don’t assume that others have better lives than you do, based on what they post.

• Don’t post or send anything you would be embarrassed for certain others to see. Think about what your family, friends, future employers, or college admission decision- makers might think if they see it. How would you feel if that statement or picture was forever tied to your name and your identity? Does it really represent who you are? Remember, your keyboard may have a “delete” button, but once online it is often impossible to remove.

• Do be considerate of others when posting and interacting. If you message someone and they do not respond, or if someone messages you and asks that you not post about them, take the hint and move on. Also don’t post pictures of others without their permission. And if someone asks you to remove a picture, post, or to untag them, do so immediately. It’s what you would want if you asked someone the same thing.

• Don’t vent or complain, especially about specific people or organizations, in public spaces online. People will negatively judge you based on your attitude, even if your complaint has merit. Employers, schools, and others have access to social media, and they are looking. Is that spiteful comment about your boss or co-worker really worth losing your job over? Or sharing with those who may have an awesome opportunity to give you in the future? Be careful, too, about complaining in seemingly private environments or sending direct messages to others you think you can trust. You just never know who might eventually see your posts.

• Don’t post or respond to anything online when you are emotionally charged up. Step away from your device. Close out of the site or app. Take a few hours, or even a day or two, and allow your brain some downtime to think through the best action or response. Responding quickly, based on emotion, almost never helps make a problem go away, and often makes it much worse. Pause before you post!

Because adolescent brains are still developing, and will continue to experience important development until after college, it is important to know about substance use and abuse will affect the teenage brain and body. These links below have a lot of information about alcohol and drug abuse in the teenage brain. There are some short term effects after use but continued use will result in long term and sometimes irreparable damage. Addiction is also a very real possibility when using drugs and alcohol during your teenage years. 

Addiction is a chronic brain disease that causes a person to compulsively seek out drugs, despite the harm they cause. The first time a person uses drugs, it’s usually a free choice they’ve made. However, repeated drug use causes the brain to change which drives a person to seek out and use drugs over and over, despite negative effects such as stealing, losing friends, family problems, or other physical or mental problems brought on by drug use—this is addiction.

If you believe you are having an issue with substance use and would like help, please reach out to your grade level counselor. They are a judgement free zone and will do everything they can to help you. 

Yes, there are treatments, but there is no cure for drug addiction yet. Addiction is often a disease that is long-lasting (sometimes referred to as chronic). As with other chronic diseases, like diabetes or heart disease, people learn to manage their condition. Scientific research has shown that 13 basic principles are the foundation for effective drug addiction treatment.

Most people go into drug treatment either because a court ordered them to do so or because loved ones wanted them to seek treatment. The good news is that, according to scientific studies, people can benefit from treatment regardless of whether or not they chose to go into treatment.