Written By: Amelia Saunders

Walking through the hallways of Salem High School, you see laughter, happiness and friendship. Sometimes what we do not see is hidden and is not shown by the majority of students behind their bright, contagious and happy smile

Mental health in school has been a major struggle for students, staff and anyone who is involved in the school for a very long time. Statistics show that one in five students have a mental health setback every year. These setbacks show that it is important to have a healthy and welcoming school environment.  

“The Student Council does a good job of having fun activities and events to help add some fun to the school day,” said SHS counselor Jennifer Martin. “The SHS Class of 1999 and Hoosier Upland are making a donation to SHS to help us build a calming room that can be a place for students and staff to come and chill for a bit when things get crazy.”. Salem High School does their best to accommodate and make students feel welcomed. 

The counselors at SHS help with the effects of Mental health. Martin sees the effects that mental health has on school and tries her hardest to help. 

“Students with mental health issues have trouble focusing and concentrating on their school work,” she said. “It can impact grades. They may also not be involved in school activities and miss out on opportunities to build new friendships.” Martin’s most effective ways to help students cope with stress are deep breathing exercises, exercise and doing things that they enjoy. Finding great ways to cope and manage with stress will help students and staff in the long run. 

Social media plays a lot of roles in mental health. Social media can be very informative and helpful for finding effective ways to deal with mental health issues. The other side of social media may not be so positive. Sophomore Karley Hawn is a student who believes “Social media can help in some ways but it can also be bad in some ways. People can look at a picture someone posted and compare themselves to that person, or they can wish that they had that life.” 

 While social media usually has a negative effect on  students, finding the right balance of positivity will help. Students staying up late on social media such as TikTok can affect their sleep schedule and cause a decrease in motivation. The human body needs at least seven or more hours of sleep for an adult. Having a unproductive sleep scedule can cause you to feel more anxious, depressed or even suicidal.

Having positive environments to go to will help you have a lot of motivation to do school work or anything else. Motivation makes a big difference with school work when your mental health is on a decline, especially when you are having trouble focusing on your school work and concentrating. It may make the student feel depressed or anxious. 

“I think mental health can have a big impact on school,” said Hawn. ”Some days are worse than others and that can affect your work.” Common problems like this cause the counselors to see the major mental health problems that are affecting the students. 

“Schools can recognize when their students and staff are stressed and try to alleviate it,” Martin said.

 “Students can be affected by all the mental health disorders.Anxiety and depression are probably the two biggest mental health issues students face,” Martin said. Anxiety is the feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. Depression is a constant feeling of sadness and loss of interest, which will stop you from doing normal activities. 

SHS  has many opportunities to help. You could join a sport, which helps with your confidence, depression, anxiety and improving your mood. If sports are not your thing, you can join a club. The social environment will help find friendship and people with the same interest. Friendships can build up so many healthy habits that you can use in your everyday life. Finding things that interest you will help you feel more grateful for life. 

“Find things that are relaxing and bring joy,” said Martin. “Spend time in the sunshine- that elevates one’s mood. DO NOT isolate yourself.”. 

“I think there is less of a stigma around stress and anxiety now than there used to be.  People hear more about taking care of their mental health, as well as their physical health.” 

SHS counselors and students provide a very positive atmosphere to help and cope with mental health issues. 

“I always try to see the best in things and avoid negativity,” Martin said. 

Mental health is all about our emotional, psychological and social well being. The important part to succeed in life is to make sure all of these parts of ourselves are healthy. That way you can function in school and have a great school year to look back on and enjoy. The important part of highschool is to enjoy it. Enjoying the little things in life helps us enjoy the big things in life and not stress. 

“I like to watch funny shows and have a group of friends and family that share funny stories and silly jokes and memes,” Martin said. 

These simple things that make us happy make our worries seem less important. All these simple tasks will help you improve your day and help you succeed in school or whatever environment you are in.