Self-assurance is Reassurance

During the first quarter of the year the will to continue gets tested; here are some ways we can better outselves this year by

Jayda Moffatt | Photo by Pxhere

What is mental health? Mental health encompasses our physical, emotional, and mental well-being, it influences your behaviors and heavily affects how you handle stress according to MentalHealth’s website. It refers to your overall psychological well-being which includes the way you feel about yourself, the quality of your relationships, and your ability to manage your feelings and deal with difficulties.``

Your mental health also regards your mental fortitude, and how you handle stress can play a big role into how you cope with tough times. Online research is very important to educate yourself and others on what you may have; however, seek professional guidance before self-diagnosing as that can harm more than it can help you and those around you.

Media spreads information about mental health and most of it is positive, helping spread information, common misconceptions, and other useful knowledge that others can benefit from. Having accurate information about mental health is the most important thing. With accurate information you are now able to help spread awareness about what you know and how you can help others out.

According to AuroraArizona, “Changeonlyhappenswhen peopletakeaction,andraisingmentalhealthawareness isanimportantactionthatalmosteveryonecantake.” It is crucial that we look out for those who may not receive as much accurate information, where gaining access to such information is difficult or overlooked. Being aware of the situations and backgrounds people come from and helping educate them is one of the first steps to keeping everyone on the same page and all properly informed.

“I like letting them-- my friends in need- talk about it to me, I love communicating to people, communication is key.”

Sophomore Mikayla

While obtaining accurate information about mental issues in our community it is very important that it contains statistics which help bring to light the lack of information given to us and the lack of help given to fix these problems. According to Mental Health America (MHA), one in five people will experience mental illness during their lifetime.

With this we now know just how common mental illnesses are among our friends and our schools. Not only are we met with the shocking fact that these illnesses affect our love ones so commonly but according to AuroraArizona, “--Mental health issues are also a significant contributor to suicide, which claims the lives of nearly 50,000 people per year in the United States alone.”

The lack of coverage given to people in the community shows just how immense our issue is. Together, showing accurate information about what happens and what we do and don’t see with help open the eyes of the people who overlook these issues.

With so much stress especially during the pandemic and postpandemic, we look for ways to stay positive, motivated, and uplift others. Having a healthy mindset can affect other aspects of your life including your work, relationships, and even an improvement within yourself and self-image. When you look at life with a glass-half full mindset you are able to overcome stress and anxious encounters with less mental strain because you were fortifying your mind prior.

Mental Health America came up with 31 tips to help boost your mental health; Tracking your gratitude, working on your strengths, and even included a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” These mini moments can make an impact during your day to day life and you can gradually see an uptake in your happiness and a decrease in stress factors.

“I

Sophomore Elsie Afful