You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away. - Jimmie Davis When we think of sunshine we typically tend to think of warmth, comfort, light, and joy; things that bring us happiness. In this classic song, Davis suggest that whoever this person is, is so full of … [Read more...]
Virtually Haunted: How Social Media Stress Took Over My Life
My best friend and I had an emotional and confusing falling out that has extended over the past few years. Obviously, this was not something that was easy to handle, and consequently is something I am still burdened with today. It took a long time for our lingering toxic relationship to fade, and to be honest, despite both of us being pretty dead-set on wanting to move forward, … [Read more...]
6 Tips to Balancing Your Mental State in College
College is a life-changing period in our lives. It tests our character, mental stability, and our overall self-esteem to get through the toughest of times. With all the commitments, events, academics, and things going on each day, it can be daunting for one to tackle them all. Fortunately, there are solutions and steps to help balance out your mental state. Let’s … [Read more...]
Rejection From Every Direction: How to Manage College Application Anxiety
For any college-bound student the year leading up to the application deadlines is extremely stressful. On top of keeping up with classes, studying for entrance exams, and visiting colleges, students have the agonizing task of creating “the list” of schools to which they want to apply. For our anxious student, this time period caused her an enormous amount of fear, uncertainty, … [Read more...]
The Culture of My Anxiety: An Indian Girl’s Story
I am sitting in my third grade classroom on a rainy day, as my favorite teacher is reading to the class. Everything is great. I have a wonderful family and wonderful friends. I am contentedly listening to Mrs. Thompson’s calming voice as she reads us a section of a chapter book. I love reading books and listening to stories. But the sudden quickening of my heart and blood … [Read more...]
Help for OCD in Teens: AiT Exclusive Interview with Author Alison Dotson
Welcome to another awesome AiT Exclusive Interview, this time with Alison Dotson, author of Being Me with OCD: How I Learned to Obsess Less and Live My Life! Join us as we talk through her book, her personal journey with OCD, and advice share has for young adults struggling with OCD. AiT: You had, of course, experienced OCD yourself. Sharing about OCD isn't exactly easy, … [Read more...]
7 Practical Tips to Manage Your Stress and Anxiety
Life gets stressful! Things start to pile up, you get busy, and sometimes it can get difficult to manage everything going on in your life. As a student, it seems like anxiety and stress are things that just come with the territory. Any yes, that may be partly true, but there are ways to manage this stress and anxiety. I’m going to give you some self-care tips that I try to … [Read more...]
Life Can Be Tough Sometimes, But So Are You!
To almost anyone you ask, they will say that transition, no matter the circumstance, is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome. Most of us are faced with this tricky concept during our teenage years as part of the long, tedious journey into adulthood. Transition can come in many forms, whether that be transition to just a grade older, a new school, or a new lifestyle … [Read more...]
Stressed, Excited, Anxious? How to Tackle Back to School Anxiety
Happy New Year! With the new school season (or new semester) upon us, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and anxious about what the year has in store for us. Without a doubt, we all have changes that we must deal with. Whether it be new classes, new people, new professors and teachers, and maybe even new jobs or new cities. With all this change coming our way, and a certain … [Read more...]
Care Package Ideas: Best Things to Pack for a College Student Dealing with Mental Health Issues
The new semester is about to start this autumn, and students everywhere are getting organized for the upcoming stresses of classes, getting settled in a new dorm and attempting to make a new set of friends. If you are about to embark on a new year of college or want to support someone who is, care packages are an awesome way to start the year off right. One of the best … [Read more...]
Me Telling You
When I was little it would come to me like a mysterious invisible monster. Usually when I was dozing off to sleep, alone with my thoughts in quiet, the thumping got louder and louder. The monster drew closer. It was closing in on me, and when I felt that it would in fact become lifelike - that I could reach out and touch it, or worse yet, it could touch me - there were only … [Read more...]
3 Ways You Are Stronger Than You Think
Someone today will need to hear this. Is that you? Overcoming challenging emotional feelings and persistent negative thoughts is hard. But it's not impossible. You are capable of empathy and compassion. Your ability to help another human in need despite all that may be happening in your own life is a testament to your ability to relate to and empathize with others. The … [Read more...]
Back to School Anticipation Anxiety and How to Deal
Going back to school after three months of summer is one of the most anxiety-provoking times of the year for me personally. Back in high school, I remember feeling a mix of emotions about going back to school: part of me was excited to start exercising my brain again and begin learning new, exciting things every day while the other part of me was incredibly anxious to see … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Help a Friend Struggling with a Mental Health Issue
Some of you may be struggling with having a family member or friend with anxiety, depression, or some other mental health issue. If you are someone who hasn’t had a mental health issue yourself, it can be hard sometimes to completely understand what he or she is going through. This is something I have struggled with myself, as my brother was diagnosed with anxiety and … [Read more...]
Just for Today Poem
Just for Today Just for today I will hold my head high, and forget my problems. I can smile and make everyone else's day better, even if behind that smile I crỵ. Just for today I will walk away from a fight, though I may feel hurt insidẹ. I will ignore what is said, and continue on peacefullỵ Just for today I will set an example, when I feel the need to hurt. I … [Read more...]