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What national mental health day means in the eyes of a high schooler

graphic from https://noelbell.net/resources/world-mental-health-day-resources/
graphic from https://noelbell.net/resources/world-mental-health-day-resources/

As a high school student, the topic of mental health is often not one of high priority. This past Tuesday was world mental health day. A day to recognize and raise awareness for mental health.

Throughout my group of friends and in my class I noticed that this topic was easily avoided.

High School students, in my opinion, is the group that needs to be put under a microscope when it comes to this topic.

We do not talk about mental health in school, even though learning how to deal with it, is something very important.

According to the Webster dictionary, mental health is “the psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment.”

To most growing adolescents it is much more than that and in reality, it is nearly impossible to put into words.

Mental health is, unfortunately, a difficult topic because of that exactly: it is impossible to define. And even then, everyone’s definition varies to their personal experiences.

As high schoolers, we often overlook mental health because we associate it with the most extreme example of that issue.

It is easy to feel like you are walking on nails when talking about the topic to anyone else because the severity is often judged.

‘I know what depression is but I can get out of bed so that must mean I do not have it.’

As humans, we associate a label with a single feeling or event. One may experience episodes of depression or anxiety without being diagnosed with a clinical mental illness.

The mental state of a person is something that needs to be talked about, which is so overlooked in this society.

There are layers of complexity to the topic of mental health. Taking this into consideration, any conversation relating to the topic will often be beneficial in the long run. Verbalizing your experiences with mental health to the people you love is extremely important.

The majority of people who experience symptoms of mental health are not diagnosed, but this doesn’t determine the severity, or mean it isn’t present in a person.

Raising awareness for mental health can be as simple as knowing the warning signs for you and your friends.

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About the Contributor
Emma Kubelka, editor-in-chief

Emma Kubelka is the editor-in-chief for The Voice and huntleyvoice.com; this is her third year on staff. Emma is also on the Huntley swim team. She loves to explore, learn, and challenge new things. She is proud to be on staff and looks forward to the future.

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