
The Black Horse Pike Regional School District hosted its second annual mental health awareness night on March 29, and the virtual event drew over 100 attendees, including students and parents.
βThe vision for the night was to promote mental health and reduce the stigma surrounding it,β said Abigail Altman, assistant mental health counselor at Highland Regional High School.
She and other counselors at Timber Creek Regional and Triton Regional high schools hoped the conversations on mental health would help bridge the gap between students in need and local resources.
βIt is important for caregivers and educators to understand that their student may be struggling with a diagnosable mental health disorder that is negatively impacting their ability to learn and function,β Altman explained.
The event kicked off with a presentation by Guy Iacono, a psychotherapist from Minding Your Mind in suburban Philadelphia. Called Just Talk About It, the program explored stress, anxiety, depression, suicide and suicide prevention.
βTreatment is available for mental health, and yet only 30 percent of individuals seek it,β Iacono noted. βShame, guilt, stigma, and fear prevent people from reaching out for help when they should, when they need to.β
The therapist defined stress as βa mental, physical or emotional response to something that creates tension in the body,β an emergency response intended to ensure safety. Although there are positive benefits of stress (or eustress, which is stress that can be beneficial), when the emergency response signal is left on for too long, it can start to create problems.
βWhen youβre feeling threatened or endangered, whether itβs a true threat (like thereβs a fire in the stairwell) or a perceived threat (like studying for an exam, or a social situation), our bodies are going to respond the same,β Iacono said.
He continued to share how stress is relative: Whatβs stressful for some may beΒ different in others. Being overly stressed can express itself as anger, rage, substance abuse, eating too much or too little, sleeping too much or too little, isolation and self-injury.
Iacono reminded people at the event that anger is a secondary emotion, meaning if anger is present, thereβs also a primary emotion that we donβt like to convey, such as guilt, fear, shame or sadness.
Iacono also touched on anxiety, which he characterized as βnervousness, worry, uneaseβ and what if projections into the future.β He described anxiety as the brain catching up to the stress response but noted that it becomes problematic if it lasts longer than six months or prevents getting work done.
Iacono also addressed symptoms of depression that can appear as consistent sadness or hopelessness, a lack of interest in normal activities, difficulty concentrating, sleeping too much or too little, eating too much or too little, substance abuse, suicidal ideation and dramatic changes in mood or activity.
βThough we often think of lower moods, it can also look like elevating moods, and thatβs where you get into manic depression and bipolar,β he said.
From there, Iacono talked about suicide and suicidal ideation and how important it is to instill hope, because the feeling of hopelessness plays such a large role in both.
βRecovery is possible,β Iacono advised. βItβs really important to understand when people donβt feel like they have a reason for living, thatβs when theyβre going to act out in the most irrational or rash ways. Suicide happens when pain, whether itβs physical or emotional, exceeds hope … People donβt want to die by suicide;Β they want their pain to end. Whether itβs emotional or physical pain, we can alleviate that pain in many different waysβ
Altman said the key takeaway of the night is to βnotice the signs and ask for help.β
βOver this past year, our world has been faced with an unprecedented pandemic,β she observed. βWe see mental-health concerns are greater than ever and it is ok to not be ok. Reach out to your childβs school counseling department.Β They are in constant contact with local resources and will be able to assist in the process of finding outside resources.β
The counselors look forward to hosting another mental health awareness night next year.Β May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and to celebrate, mental health counselors in the districtβs three high schools have started a monthly βMental Health Newsletterβ that is sent to all staff, students and parents. ItΒ highlights mental-health services in the area as well as current information regarding personal health and wellness. Each school will recognize May with weekly activities that will provide education to the school community.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please dial 911 or call Jefferson Crisis Center at 856-428-4357. You can also call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center or text MHA to 741741 at the Crisis Text Line.