With COVID cases rising again just as we begin our new school year in Ponca, we may be thinking, HERE WE GO AGAIN! When the stress of what’s going on around us becomes too much, we MUST pay attention to the mental health of ourselves and our friends and loved ones. We need to be aware of how we are feeling and what we are doing to take care of our mental and emotional needs. Do we have enough support from others to help us do this?
Last October, the psychologist Lisa Damour wrote a column for The New York Times about how adults could help teenagers attend to their emotional needs as school resumed for a challenging year. There was a great response to the article and some teenagers responded by asking Ms. Damour to write another column but this time addressing them, the teenagers, rather than the parents.
In “Dear Teenagers, Here’s How to Protect Your Emotional Well-Being.” Ms. Damour offers up five suggestions for young people. Yes, this article was written the tail end of 2020 but it is so very relevant again right now that I wanted to share the link for the article in its entirety. This is an important read. Let’s all help take care of each other.