Your Feelings Are Valid

Serra Elayda (‘28)

“Will people hate my writing? Will I ever manage to finish writing this? Am I good enough?” These are the questions racing through my brain at the moment. As someone who’s struggled with anxiety for a long long time, I’ve always worried what other people think of me. I work hard to succeed and be at my best, but sometimes it feels like all the work I do isn’t getting me anywhere. Sometimes all I want is for someone to recognize my efforts and tell me that they appreciate me. I know many students, especially right now in our high school years, are pressured to succeed in all that they do, but I think it’s important for them to also nurture their mental health. How do we balance responsibilities and mental health? This is a question I’m definitely not the first to ask, but if I had to answer it, I would say that it depends; I think the only way to truly figure ourselves out is by learning about mental health and embracing the healthful resources we have around us (whether it be people, organizations, etc.). 

Mental health is a part of our daily lives and it’s important to talk about it. In a survey the Lawrencian Newspaper sent out to the school, we found that 68.5% of students feel

that on a scale of 1 to 5, their peers’ mental health knowledge is a 3 or under. In addition, 50% of students believe that schools don't talk about mental health enough. This indicates that perhaps there is a lack of mental health education, and that we need to discuss it more as a school. LHS is making significant strides in fostering a safe space of understanding and support for its students by having strong mentors, teachers, and guidance counselors leading productive conversations and activities to ensure that students are heard.

According to a report from The World Health Organization, around 1 in 7 adolescents struggle with mental illnesses, so it is definitely important for schools to be conscientious of mental health. Certain disorders cause people to have reactions that seem out of place, or instill regular feelings that those around them do not normally feel, which can be amplified in a school or classroom setting. For example, simply sitting in a room with lots of students could cause an individual to experience physical symptoms of anxiety such as heart palpitations, light-headedness, nausea, shortness of breath, etc.; this is only one scenario of a struggle many people face daily, and it is not limited to anxiety. 

Your feelings are important, but getting to the root cause of your problems is also important, and you deserve to voice them. One of our survey respondents who wished to stay anonymous believes that “No one is being over dramatic when they mention that they are going through a lot mentally.” Mental health problems should never be taken lightly as something that you can just “get over”. It’s not that easy. Your feelings should not be pushed aside by others nor yourself, and you deserve support. Whether you’re experiencing depression, anxiety, struggling with a disorder, or anything else that makes life harder, take your struggles seriously, and know that each and every one of us is fighting our own battles.

It’s ok to not be ok. But it’s also important to take care of, and go easy on ourselves. Everyone is important and everyone deserves to have all the support they  need!

The Lawrencian Staff provides a safe space and welcomes all writers and journalists to share their stories!