How the Pandemic Has Affected Youth Mental Health, From a K-12 Expert
April 8, 2022 — Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide statistics. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many were concerned about how it would impact youth mental health, especially high school students. The disruption of daily life, the pivot to distance learning, and the stress of the ever-changing mutations of the virus led to many young people experiencing […]
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“Active Minds and All of Us: Using Data to Support Mental Health” Webinar Recap
April 5, 2022 — Mental health research can be life-changing. It allows us to predict factors that can affect mental health outcomes, appropriately explain conditions and their complexities, and understand strategies to improve, treat, and manage those conditions. Unfortunately, mental health research has not always been inclusive. Historically, most study participants were middle-aged white men. What impact does a […]
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Protecting My Mental Health During an Ethnic Identity Crisis
April 4, 2022 — One of my first extracurricular experiences in college was attempting to join the Filipino Student Association (FSA) at the beginning of my freshmen fall semester. While I could say it was a memorable experience, it’s more accurate for me to describe it as an infamous memory amongst many others that defined my college life. I […]
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I’m the First in My Family To Go to Therapy – And It Changed My Life
April 1, 2022 — I’m going to be honest – I didn’t enjoy my first therapy session. I was 14. Growing up, I saw therapy as something people do when there is something “wrong” with them. They’d sit in a room, maybe on a long couch, and talk about their feelings for an hour before leaving and going on […]
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Visible for Those Who Can’t Be
March 31, 2022 — When people ask if I ever played sports growing up, I take a second and do a lot of quick calculations. I ask myself “Can I trust this person?” “Is this a safe space?” “Is this an appropriate time to disclose that I am transgender?” If I decide that this is the right time, then […]
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Finding Peace in My Bipolar Diagnosis
March 30, 2022 — Every day, I work with young people across the country, helping them to share stories that aren’t always easy to vocalize. They disclose their own battles with mental health, the ways they’ve seen loved ones struggle, and so much more. They sacrifice comfort and privacy to share their story to let others know they are […]
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Reflecting on the Past Two Years: Mental Health During COVID-19
March 21, 2022 — Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide. Two years. It’s been two full years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in the United States and the effects have been as deep as they have been wide. We have all experienced loss in our own ways. From those who battled COVID themselves, to those who […]
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Five Tips from a College Student to Form Better Sleep Habits
March 18, 2022 — Sleep. It’s something that most people yearn for throughout the day but can never seem to get enough of, especially during the week after daylight savings time. I’m sure I’m not alone right now in wishing I had just a bit more rest as I move throughout my day. In addition to the more obvious […]
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Accessible Mental Health Care Shouldn’t Come Down to Luck
March 17, 2022 — Mental health has become an increasingly discussed topic over the past few years. More and more, people are willing to open up about their struggles, discuss strategies they’ve used to feel better, and help their loved ones through the same battles. Despite this, access to mental health resources remains inequitable and in many communities, the […]
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The White House Announces New National Mental Health Strategy
March 4, 2022 — This week, President Biden tackled a variety of pressing issues in his first State of the Union address since taking office, including introducing a renewed focus on the mental health crisis plaguing the United States. As part of his unity agenda, the President announced a national mental health strategy to tackle three main hurdles currently […]
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