YES, it’s Teacher Appreciation Week! YES, it’s Nurse’s Week! YES, Mother’s Day is this week! But did you know: May is also Mental Health Awareness Month. Our students’ (and our own!) mental health is just as important as our physical health, and they are entwined in many ways.
Make it a goal for your family to talk more about mental health. Model talking about your positive feelings as well as healthy ways you get through anxiety, depression, compulsions, impulsiveness, or other mental and emotional difficulties. Help students understand that struggling with mental health issues is sometimes part of life and that it does not make a person “bad” or “abnormal.” Paying attention to our mental health and addressing struggles in healthy ways as they come up is a skill that will serve our students throughout their lives!
How can we become more aware of our mental health? Try making it a practice to check in with yourself just 2 minutes a day. Remember playing “the quiet game” as kids? (Little did we know the real winners were the adults, who needed the silence!) That may not work these days, but you and your children may respond well to 2 minutes on one of these apps (recommended by HCPS’s Social and Emotional Support Services team):
www.calm.com | www.getsomeheadspace.com | www.donothingfor2minutes.com | http://simplynoise.com
Reaching out for help is also normal! Don’t hesitate to give me a call at school (261-5030) if you’d like me to talk with your students about anything. Another great resource for “students” of all ages (adults included!) is Henrico Mental Health (727-8500).
