By Sarina Francis | Opinion
Growing up comes with more responsibilities, new emotions and learning to be more dependent. When I was younger, I didn’t know anything about mental health. I got sad like a regular little kid would over the simplest things, but parents tend to want to shield their children from real life pain for as long as they can.
As I grew older and my brain developed, more emotions came to life.
Mental health is not taken as seriously as it should be. From my personal experience, when someone confides in a person and is in need of help, it’s taken lightly and brushed off. If a person is struggling with their mental health, there’s a bunch of different things it could be like depression, anxiety, voices in their head, etc.
Those feelings take a toll on a person if they are not helped or supported. It’s difficult to see what’s going on in someone’s head so I believe a person should consistently check in on their family and friends because you never truly know what someone is going through mentally.
In the year of 2020, COVID-19 spread all over the world, sickening and killing millions of people. With that happening, stores, schools, and restaurants everywhere were shut down and everyone was stuck at home. Being confined in one space for so long affects absolutely everything.
You start to feel claustrophobic, manic, anxious and depressed especially if you’re extremely sick. After two years of COVID-19 existing, checking in on your loved ones mental health should be a priority.
This should apply to schools as well because homework and tests are already stressful enough and COVID-19 has added stress to everything you can imagine. Mental health has not been as prioritized as it should be and that needs to change.
I know how it is to struggle with mental health and it’s something that needs to be handled with care. The best way to get through being mentally ill is to keep going and keep trying.
A person who struggles with their mental health is not weird, unusual or meaning that there’s something wrong with that person. It’s a feeling that needs nurturing from others who are only trying to show support and be there.
