Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 1

How teens are coming together to fight the mental crisis

Brittany F. Bonsall

Tidewater Community college

College students and teens today in this world are having a hard time coping in the world

we live in, especially since Covid has happened. Surveyed by the US Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, researchers are saying teens are having a hard time expressing their

feelings and emotions to other friends and family members and making them depressed and put

in a bad state of mind. One student named “Davis Cooke” stated that “we are not alone, there are

larger communities who support us.” Over a third of high school students in the United States are

experiencing poor mental health and have only gotten worse with covid. Two out of five students
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 2

have felt persistent sadness and hopelessness that stopped them from doing activities that they

enjoyed. One in five considered suicide and one in ten actually attempted suicide.
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 3
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 4

The teens realized it’s a national emergency, its about life and death. Pastor Michelle

Thomas-Bush a paster for the youth said “if they can give them some resources” for the stress

they deal with it may be a lifelong gift for them, and save some lives. The church came together

in 2021 and started a program to help teenagers. 40 teenagers participated in the program and 12

became certified advocates to help out. The advocates undergo training by the church leadership

skills such as problem solving, breathing techniques , self compassion, mindfulness, and

meditation. It’s easy to overlook the problems kids are having and the mental health that high

schoolers are dealing with. One kid said at the meeting “Check on those that you think are doing

ok, because they might not be.” The mental health check-ins that were created are for teens in

crisis who need support. We are all going to have a bad day , so they just wanted to make sure

they have the life tools and resources they needed so that they can face it head on.

Important parts of their evening was to make time for the teens to check in on one

another. In one group meeting they slouched on sofas,chairs, and beanbags. One by one they

would describe their emotions and feelings with a card. It was a way to share their feelings for

that day. The second meeting they came together around bowls of chipotle to help them open up

and eat together laugh and giggle and gripe and groan about their family and friends. This is

when they were joyful. While talking they came together talking about what is the most stressful

thing that college students stress about, and it was usually colleges to which they apply at they

don't get accepted in. Decatastrophizing is one of the tools group members have practiced to take

back into everyday life. One teen was asked, “What you are worrying about now, will it matter in

three minutes,three hours, three days, or three years?” It’s good to keep perspective but

remember that pain deserves to be felt. As humans we all have emotions and need to let them
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 5

out, crying and showing our emotions is not weak. Peoplpe don’t want to be seen crying now

days, but it’s something we all have done or will do in the future . The parents of the kids should

learn how to use the psychological tools also, so they can help their kids. Kids now have

resources to use if they are feeling depressed or suicidal, and I hope they are able to use the

resources that are made for them.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/22/health/teen-mental-health-support-wellness/index.html