Noa G
on
CW: Mentions of suicidal ideation. As a crisis counselor for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, I supported a diverse range of individuals facing challenging and distressing situations. Help-seekers with suicidal ideation (the desire to die by suicide) that reached out to the hotline expressed something called ‘suicidal ambivalence’. Though many of these individuals had […]
Ilana
on
CW: Mentions of suicidal ideation and self-harm. “I’m sorry for wasting your time–” “I don’t mean to be a burden–” “I’m not sure if this counts as a crisis–” As a Crisis Text Counselor, I receive messages like this almost every shift. Often, they seem to come from the people who need these services the […]
Angie
on
‘It will pass. There are plenty of fish in the sea’ they said to me, as my heart was cleaving into two pieces. In that moment, I knew with complete certainty that this pain would not pass as painlessly as many made me believe. Many, like myself, have experienced the significant loss of a relationship, […]
Charlotte
on
I am a mental health advocate. I’m also a 17-year-old, a proud Portuguese-Chinese American, a younger sister, a dog lover, a milk-before-cereal person, a photography hobbyist, a soccer player, an early-riser who also stays up late, a sleep-deprived teenager—I’m a person. Yet, whenever I talk to people in the mental health space, the first thing […]
Ayaan
on
CW: Mentions of suicide. Friends are incredibly important, especially for students who spend so much time around our peers during the day. Yet, there are so many aspects to friendships that often go overlooked. Personally, I have struggled with recognizing the true value of friendship, particularly as my mental health challenges have turned me into […]
Charlotte
on
CW: Mentions of suicide. “No judgment” is so much more than just listening to someone share their story. It’s more than just accepting their story, sympathizing, and extending compassion. While mental health campaigns have long advocated to “end the stigma” and make it easier for people to talk about mental health, I believe there’s an […]
Natalia
on
CW: Discussions of substance use, suicidality, and self-harm. Youth substance use is happening regardless of whether or not people are speaking openly about it. As a teen who had a substance misuse problem, I was never given non-judgmental information regarding substance use; I was only told unhelpful statements like “drugs are bad for you.” This […]
Aimee
on
CW: Mentions of suicide. We rely on construction workers to provide the infrastructure we use daily. Behind every building and road is a hard hat and a vest. In the United States alone, over ten million adults work in construction (IBIS World). However, a silent crisis urgently demands our attention: the alarmingly high rates of […]
Greta
on
Since elementary school, I’ve been a perfectionist with a strong work ethic. Some of my earliest memories go back to kindergarten, where I would volunteer to help my teacher clean up supplies from the day. Over time, my desire for perfection intensified. I wanted to be remembered as a student who worked harder than anyone […]
Charlotte
on
Exactly four days before the COVID-19 shutdown began, my world came crashing down when my dad passed away. During this time, I was stuck at home and rotting in bed all day. I desperately wanted to inform my friends about what was going on in my life, but I felt like no one would understand […]