It’s okay not to be okay
Tags: Depression, Mental Health, Teens, Anxiety, Positivity

Mental Health

In today’s time, mental health has a massive impact on everyone, primarily teenagers. Being a teenager is hard. We are under stress to be liked, do well in school, get along with our families, and make big decisions for our life. We cannot avoid most of the pressures in the world, and to worry about them is normal. There are times when we try to express how we feel to others but fear that we will get shut down quickly and receive hate from them saying it is all for “attention”. As teenagers, our anxiousness and sadness may not always be taken seriously, and some people may even say we are “over-dramatic”, but we should not let that stop us from expressing our feelings.

What Is It?

What is mental health exactly? It includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, act and helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. There is not one way to go about mental health. When we are faced with a few problems, we all have different approaches towards it. Some of us will try to avoid our problems while the rest of us try to face the problems first and deal with everything else later. It is hard to think of how you would want to deal with such issues in life but from fellow teenagers’ perspective, rather than avoiding our problems, it is best to deal with them before it becomes too much for us to handle. It helps to relieve us from the burden faster.

Warning Signs

If you ever feel like you or someone close to you is suffering from bad mental health or dealing with any mental health problems, always be aware of their mannerisms. For example, eating or sleeping too much or too little, having low or no energy, feeling helpless or hopeless like nothing matters anymore, the inability to perform daily tasks, etc. Sudden mood swings as well like yelling or fighting with family and friends for no reason, feeling on edge, angry, upset, worried, and scared all at the same time. Sometimes, we try to relieve ourselves from the pain by pushing those close to us away, smoking, drinking, or taking drugs more than usual, and thinking of ways to harm ourselves or others. If you ever feel like you are going through something that you cannot quite explain, or if you have the fear that people will turn you down if you try and talk about how you feel, always remember that there is someone there to help you no matter what. Never ever feel like you cannot talk to someone about something. Have the confidence in yourself to be able to express your feelings, do not hide it.

Triggers

When it comes to our mental health, we find that there are many different things that trigger a bad mental health. Social media, for example, plays a huge role. Almost all teenagers around the world use social media. We use it to interact with our friends and families, share pictures or just get general news from. However, social media is sometimes seen as one of the primary triggers for a fall in mental health. It brings down many teenagers’ self-esteem when looking at many Instagram influencers or models. It worsens the mental health of young individuals compared to times that lacked the ease of access to such big platforms. Another primary trigger can be our family members and friends. They may not realize it at times, but they are one of the reasons. Sometimes they may make fun of mental health or they realize something is wrong but do nothing about it. In times like that, we feel confused and scared. We think to ourselves about how we are supposed to act around them. We are told to act like adults when treated like children.

How To Maintain Positive Mental Health

When trying to maintain a positive mental health, do whatever it takes. By staying positive, getting enough sleep, staying physically active and developing coping skills, achieving it will be a piece of cake. You can also help and connect with others or in desperate times, get professional help. Never be afraid to speak up about this. Do whatever it takes to achieve a positive mental health. After all, it can benefit so many teenagers around the world. It allows us to work productively, cope with stress and realize our potential. In general, it makes us better people. The minute we learn to love ourselves is when we achieve full happiness.