FHS students are struggling with mental and emotional health, according to staff and students.
“You should have a healthy system going on,” sophomore Layla Moore said. “You should surround yourself with people who love you and want to see you grow and have people around you who benefit you.”
Each and every day it’s very vital to take care of your mental health, according to staff, and here’s why: A lot of students that don’t have a great support system or someone to talk to at home or school.
Mental health is part of your overall health, coping with stress, and maintaining healthy relationships.
“Students who may be in need of support some of the resources I would refer them to Rosecrance where they can see a counselors at school or at their agency; Voices for domestic violence or abuse; there’s a new online therapy that I can refer them to; and there’s private agencies in that area,” Heal Academy Counselor Danielle Jackson said. “If it’s something they don’t need ongoing therapy for, I can meet with them for a few sessions to go over coping skills and things like that.”
“I think the thing that I find most helpful that would support students is knowing the signs of depression and suicide,” Lead Academy Dean Deontae Collier said. “Once we as a staff get those things better identified, we can connect those people to the right resources.”
In many situations students usually don’t like to talk about their feelings since they might have been shut down about talking and expressing themselves.
People can improve mental health by encouraging students to open up about their emotions with different ways of taking care of their mental and emotional health.
