According to research from the Pew Charitable Trusts, 90% of Americans believe that we are in a mental health crisis. Additionally, a study conducted by the JAMA Health Forum states that 38% more people are in mental health care, compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
With mental health becoming a more prominent concern in society, it is always important to be aware of what resources are available around you. In fact, many resources are offered here at Vista del Lago High School, such as the school mental health specialists.
“I provide individual and group counseling for students, parent consultation, student conflict resolution, consultation for teachers, and behavior support in classrooms. Some examples of reasons a student might be referred to me might be lack of motivation, grief over the loss of a family member, sadness, anxiety, anger, peer issues, and/or family problems,” said Vista Mental Health Specialist Erin Chan.
Although talking to an adult can be helpful, sometimes students simply need a short break to calm down and destress on their own. For students who ever feel this way, the school has also established a student support center inside the college and career center.
“The wellness area basically has resources for community-based help, a list of coping skills, and some grounding techniques. If students are having a hard time and they need to come and chill out, they can access those resources. If you’re using the wellness area, it’s intended to be maybe a 15minute period to relax, use some coping tools and fidgets, do some art, do some puzzles, and decompress,” said Vista Mental Health Specialist Cynthia Roberts.
Another resource that Vista offers is actually- student-run— the Vista del Lago High School National Alliance on Mental Health Club.
“Our club is mostly focused on destigmatizing mental health conversations and making it okay to struggle with those kinds of things and just kind of being vulnerable and having those conversations. The nice thing about the club is that you can get a network of people to talk to,” said NAMI co-president Joy Petteys.
Junior Arin Hatch, secretary of the club, also talks about the benefits of joining the club.
“I would absolutely consider this club to be a safe space. I have always felt comfortable talking about everything with club members, and I have never felt judged for anything I have said. I would consider the club as a good resource for students and would absolutely tell people to join,” Hatch said.
Vista offers many mental health resources—the problem is that many people are not aware that these resources even exist.
“The most that the school can do to help its students is just to make them aware of the things that are out there to help them. The main issue is that people do not know these things exist in the first place. We just need to do better informing the students of the resources that we have to help them,” said Hatch.
Roberts also expressed a similar sentiment about spreading awareness around the school.
“Just bringing that awareness and normalizing us taking care of ourselves and our mental health is important,” she said.
Vista has so many resources to offer. It is important to be aware of the help you have around you and reach out for help if you ever need it.
Even if you do not necessarily need to use those resources, you can help others by spreading awareness and informing people that these resources do exist. They exist for the benefit of the student body, as well as the staff.
Even if you think your problems are not big enough or important enough to use these resources, just try them out because it is okay to get help. Roberts explains this idea as well.
“People think somebody else’s problems are worse than theirs. I do hear that a lot. Sometimes students will come in and say, ‘I don’t have it that bad, other people have it worse than me.’ Well, you still deserve help. Even if you are on the fence about something, I would encourage you to come in and check everything out and meet with us,” Roberts said.
