It’s ok to ask for help when dealing with mental health. Stress and anxiety are natural deterrents that keep people from being able to live life freely, however getting the right help and advice can make it easier to go on a healthier path.
“If you’re trying to help yourself you can […] benefit from somebody else that’s also trying to do the same thing, like adopting some of their strategies or things they use to get less stressed out ” Said Amy Lopez Gonzalez (‘26).
Learning new strategies is good, as people face problems in different ways, and you can find some good strategies from many different types of people.
“What my grandma told me, I keep having bad thoughts [so] I told my grandma this and she told me this, she told me to think of something nice, like clear skies tall grass and little dogs, so just think of something nice [and] repeat it if you have to,” said Briana Scarcella (‘25).
While sometimes, people do wish to be left alone, it’s natural, but sometimes, your biggest enemy is yourself. “You’re always just constantly overthinking anything, more than anybody else, you just get too stuck in your own head sometimes,” said Lopez Gonzalez.
Mental health can be helped with the aid of others, it’s important to go to those who contribute positively to your health, and not negatively.
There are people who are like therapists and they help people every day but then there are some people who can be terrible influences on others and their mental health can go down because of that” said Jacob Brushet (26’)
If you yourself want to help others then you need to be careful to not make situations worse.
“Just listen, don’t judge, ask if they need help. If you don’t know anything about it, don’t try to help, you don’t know anything about it, it can make things worse, help them get professional help” Said Scarcella.
Even if you don’t exactly know much about the situation, just being there as a friend can help a lot, listening or even doing other activities in their presence, to let them know they are not alone.
“Interacting and… talking or even texting maybe, with the people you feel closest with or like just really good friends, being in like social groups, for me its band obviously and it’s… a way to clear your mind or like get your thoughts out of whatevers bothering you and being able to have this like open mindset again and just stop being so closed off to… other people’s opinions as well. Said Lopez Gonzalez.
