World Teen Mental Wellness Day

What is World Teen Mental Wellness Day?

March 2nd is World Teen Mental Wellness Day. The day is recognized across the globe to help raise awareness and de-stigmatize the mental illnesses that teenagers often have to deal with.

Mental health struggles are increasingly common in teenagers, accounting for 16% of disease and injury in people aged 10-19.

Wellness and mental health are huge parts of our day-to-day lives. Participating in World Teen Mental Wellness Day is one of many steps toward promoting mental health awareness and helping teens and young adults find balance and ways to cope.

Why Mental Health Matters Now More Than Ever

The state of the world following COVID-19 and other social issues has had a huge impact on students’ mental health.

Studies and statistics have found that reported episodes of major depression have risen 60% since 2007. Suicide rates have also risen 60% between 2007 and 2018, alongside related statistics around visits to the emergency room for self-harm, antidepressant use, etc.

Despite this, statistics around cigarette use have dropped, binge drinking has reached 30-year lows, and early experimentation with sex and drugs have also gone down.

While these were previously thought to have some impact on teenage mental health, rising reports around mental health suggest that there might be more at play than experts might have realized before.

Tips for Coping with Your Mental Health

We’ve shared tips before on how to keep on top of your mental health, but there’s always more you can try if you find yourself struggling.

Get to know your mind by looking for ways to express your thoughts. This could be journaling, drawing, or as simple as jotting down the ideas you have floating around in your head. Putting things out on paper or somewhere you can see and review them can make it easier to understand and talk to someone about what’s been bothering you.

If you’re struggling with anxiety or racing thoughts, try different activities to ground yourself and bring yourself back into the moment.

Ask yourself questions that might help focus your thoughts on something concrete: what day is it? What’s today’s date? Where are you and what do you see around you? Count and name the colors that you see around you. You can even try saying the alphabet or spelling words backwards, focus on breathing in and out for an even amount of time – the idea is to try and focus on something else.

Focusing on something can help distract your thoughts and keep you from spiraling or getting too lost in anxious and negative thoughts.

How to Help Someone Who Might Be Struggling

Recognizing when someone might be struggling with anxiety, depression, or other mental health related issues could be the key to helping them find the support that they need.

Signs someone is struggling with anxiety, depression, or other issues include drastic and sudden changes in behavior, disinterest in eating or social activities they previously enjoyed, changes in sleep patterns, and withdrawal from other parts of life.

But don’t those just sound like normal teenage life things? Yes – distinguishing between normal behavior and changes in mental health can be challenging to identify.

When in doubt, it always helps to open up a conversation. Ask gently if there’s anything they’d like to talk about. It’s best to approach the topic with curiosity and empathy; being too insistent might make someone clam up instead.

If you’re looking for ways to observe World Teen Mental Wellness day, be sure to check in on your friends, and remember to be good for yourself.