September is National Suicide Awareness Month, giving all of us the opportunity to remember those lost to the suicide, comfort the families and friends impacted by the effects of suicide, and to offer support to those battling with suicidal thoughts. It’s a time to raise awareness of the deeply seed impacts of poor mental health and suicide.
It’s also a moment to think about all of the what-ifs.
What if that kid that sits next to you battles with his mind every night before going to sleep. What if the girl that’s always smiling and laughing forces herself to wear those long sleeves everyday. What if the guy who’s always quiet in class is too scared to speak up.
Counselor Christy Tucker shared that she noticed a continuing increase in poor high school student’s mental health.
“It’s gotten to be more of an issue or concern over the past 10 years, but even more so since 2020,” Tucker said. “Most of the time, they come to the counselor, because otherwise, there’s no way for us to know they’re struggling. Every once in a while, I’ll have a parent email or call and say, ‘Hey, you know, my child had a bad morning or a rough night, could you check on him?’”
Given that Fulshear has a large student body, it is hard for the counselors to counsel every struggling student. Casey Warren, another counselor, added that Fulshear High School used to have an HGI counseling that would come in once a week, but the district cut off the funding.
“We used to have a group that we worked with that had a therapist that came on campus, but we unfortunately don’t have that partnership anymore,” Warren said.
Despite a system being in place, most students have yet to seek help. Suicide awareness month provides the space for people to destigmatize mental health and kick start the road to recovery for many.
As the school year progresses, student’s probability to face stress, anxiety, or depression increases. Most of us are even dealing with a mental issue as of today. The counselors shared their advice in hope of it reaching the students that need it.
“Take care of you. Make yourself a priority as much as everything else in your life. Because at the end of the day, you’ve got to be good for yourself before you can be good for anyone else,” Warren said.
“Make sure that you are looking out for you, taking care, and being kind,” Warren said. “Take time for yourself. You can’t pour from an empty well. Make sure that you are as good of a friend to yourself as you are to others.”
Students need to accept that depression is a secret we all share at one point, and mental health needs to be talked about more often. It shouldn’t be a topic of controversy or embarrassment; instead, like a bonding experience. Being all teenagers in high school, they all go through similar problems.
“It (mental health) is something to always work on no matter what kind of state we’re in. It’s a concern for everybody right now just because there’s a lot going on in the world. So, it should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind and it should be one of the most important things that we’re thinking about right now,” Warren said.
The ongoing war with our mind is what stops us from realizing that in the end, everything will be okay. There’s something inside of us that wants to believe we won’t and blinds us to believe that we deserve to stay that way. There’s something that keeps us going every day; hold on to that.
