This September was Suicide Prevention Month. All throughout September, many survivors, allies, and mental health advocates shared their stories about dealing with the subject of suicide. Not only is September Suicide Prevention Month but there is also a designated week. This took place from September 6 to September 12.

One of the biggest advocates of this month is the Suicide Prevention Hotline. The hotline is a network of local crisis centers that provides free emotional support during a crisis. They are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The hotline is available on call or via message. Another organization that is a large advocate of suicide prevention is the National Center for Prevention of Youth Suicide. Their goal is to reduce the rate of youth suicides by informing others of warning signs, targeting at-risk groups, and empowering youth.

Among teens, suicide is the second leading cause of death. Over the years, experts have not been able to figure common causations of suicide but have concluded that social media and intense academic schedules can be linked to depression. A large amount of social media use is connected to low-self esteem and stressful school schedules have been likely to cause anxiety in teens.

In order to prevent something like this from happening, we have to be aware of the signs. Some of the symptoms of a suicidal person can be a diagnosed illness, family history of suicide, prolonged stressful life situations, childhood trauma, being exposed to another person’s suicide, and past suicide attempts. Hearing positive stories about recovery too can reduce the mentation of suicide.

As school has already started, many students may find themselves overwhelmed by work or find it difficult to get back into their work-like mentality. It can be stressful juggling schoolwork, sports, extracurriculars outside of school, and for many seniors, college applications.

This year to help mediate the stress, a wellness club was started at SHA. This club started by SHA senior, Anoushka Ahuja aims to give students a space to talk out their dilemmas and improve their mental health status. Furthermore, it is designed to build the self-confidence of students at Sacred Heart through manageable tasks such as skincare.

Promoting wellness within yourself can come in many shapes and sizes. For example, meditation is an easy way to alleviate the stress inside of you. Taking the time to center yourself and drowning out the negative thoughts can result in a more enhanced physical as well as mental well-being. It can also make you feel more productive and ready to take on a challenging task afterward.

Another technique is getting in the habit of writing a to-do list. A to-do list can help you prioritize harder assignments or jobs in an orderly manner. A to-do list can improve your time management as well and it creates more realistic deadlines for you to meet. Although these are just tips for ways you can improve wellness within yourself, you should find what techniques work best for you. Things like exercise, playing with your pet, reading, writing, or talking to a friend can improve your wellness.

Building upon your self-confidence, wellness, and mental health of course starts with you! Taking the time to get to know yourself can motivate you to tackle life’s challenges. It is so important that you can be happy with yourself internally because, without you, the SHA community is not whole. We are all pieces of a puzzle and without that one special piece, it would be incomplete.