Episode 8: Mental Health

Warning: This episode contains mentions of mental illness and suicide. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. Your feedback would be highly appreciated! Please use this link. Also, join the Us, Now conversation on Instagram @usnowpodcast! Hello! My name is Ginny Helmandollar. I am a senior from Louisa County High School and the Blue Ridge Virtual Governor's School program. A component of my Senior Project is to give back to the community, so I have chosen to begin a podcast called Us, Now. In each episode, I have a discussion with various guests from around my school about relevant social issues high school students face today. In this eighth episode, we will be talking about mental health. Mental health and mental illnesses are becoming less stigmatized in today's society. Still, many still misunderstand their effects on individuals. Some topics that we talk about today include: What is considered mental health, and what is the difference between mental health and mental illnesses? Why is there often a stigma surrounding talking about mental health? How can mental health affect physical health? Does mental health health improve with time? How does a school environment often conflict with one's mental health? How can one recognize that someone's mental health is suffering? How do we start a conversation about it? If someone with a mental illness has a negative experience with a counselor, what should they do next? What should one not say to someone who is suffering from a mental illness? What should one do if a friend is experiencing a mental health crisis? How should students (and everyone else) prioritize their mental health? How should we have more genuine conversations about mental health? A special thank you goes out to Dr. Nora Coleman, Mr. Chad Bunovich, Max Montana, and Katie Harris for participating in my podcast! Please fill out the Google Form or email [email protected] for any feedback, questions, or requests for future episodes. Thank you for listening!