In my first slate post I talked about Generalized Anxiety Disorder and its causes, affects, and my experiences with it. I explained how it affects students with their education and day to day life. I did my best to explain why mental health is so important and its impacts. I also provided statistics about GAD and mental health in general. I tried to pick a topic that I knew I could relate to so I could understand it and its effects better.) I talked about Generalized Anxiety Disorder and its causes, affects, and my experiences with it. I explained how it affects students with their education and day to day life. I did my best to explain why mental health is so important and its impacts. I also provided statistics about GAD and mental health in general. I tried to pick a topic that I knew I could relate to so I could understand it and its effects better.

As I continue my research I find more and more hotlines and online resources for mental health that I didn’t even know existed. There are so many online screening websites for people to get diagnosed and seek treatment. There were even substance abuse treatment websites that found you help based on your zip code. I was surprised at how easily accessible they were as all it took was a quick google search to find them. Most of the hotlines and resources I found were located in philly too! It was encouraging to see all of these websites together as I felt like I was seeing real change. I think this change is so important because it’s a huge step in making mental health more accessible to everyone. I just wish more people were aware of these websites and resources and knew that there is help out there.

My GAD awareness Instagram Account

For my agent of change I made an instagram account (@gadawareness) and made my own infographics with my research from my annotated bibliography! I had my friends share and follow the account. I also made a link tree for my bio with mental health resources and hotlines that I found in my research. I decided to do this because I felt like most students my age had social media so the best way to connect with them was through an instagram account. My experience was great and I enjoyed making and designing my infographics. I liked being able to get creative and chose the color palette for my account. I think I was effective in at least providing some information to my followers which is a small step but in the right direction.

One of the posts I made for my account

My overall project was refreshing to work on, I felt like there was hope out there and that even my small steps toward change can help. It also felt overwhelming but seeing everyone else make their accounts and fundraisers and websites encouraged me. I learned the impact of hearing other peoples stories and seeing people get the help that they needed when I was researching. I felt very supported by my classmates who followed and liked my posts, it was a reminder that we are a community. If I could change anything I would have made my posts earlier or made more. While I like the way my account turned out I could have planned the timing out way better. I feel like all of my small steps matter but to achieve real change we need people to talk about mental health more and make it more common, maybe then we can finally erase the stigma.

My topic focuses on Generalized Anxiety Disorder in students or GAD. I felt very inclined to research this topic because I felt like it needed more attention and that mental health is looked over a lot in school settings. I want to make more resources available to students that are struggling with anxiety because of all the benefits that come with making a change. 90% of teens can be stopped from possibly developing long term effects when they learn the necessary skills they need to cope. When students struggling with GAD don’t get these resources their anxiety can manifest into physical forms, like panic attacks or anxiety attacks, it also takes a significant toll on students’ ability to learn. While i’m still only reaching the surface with my research, the topics I am researching are very interesting to me and I want to continue to fully grasp the full effect of GAD.

GAD statistics

I struggle with diagnosed anxiety and I used to have anxiety attacks in school, it wasn’t fun. I used to just start crying or shaking and it would get very hard to breathe. It was caused by built up fear or tension from the past couple days of intense anxiety, in my case it was to the point where my lips were constantly bleeding. The gums in my cheeks were also swollen because I would chew on them. These symptoms all went undiagnosed until a year after. I want to help other people that struggled with what I went through because it stopped me from enjoying playing my favorite sport, and made school exhausting every day. If I had been given the right resources then I know it would have helped me out a lot.

Everyday effects of GAD

I also know that there was and still are other people like me that suffer in silence because of how invisible the symptoms are. They might not even understand the intense emotions they are feeling, or they might think it’s normal and that everyone feels that way. Experts believe that anxiety can be inherited, but it’s usually an imbalance of 2 chemicals in the brain (norepinephrine and serotonin). Having anxiety go untreated can lead to long term effects such as heart problems, anxiety has also been known to cause people to go into a depressive state. I want to stop this ignorance and bring light to the subject so mental health can be talked about without people getting “uncomfortable”.

5 ways anyone can help end the stigma

Anxiety also affects a large part of learning, and can make being in a public setting like school very difficult. It makes it hard for students to keep up with their peers or process information. Some of the signs are inattention, restlessness, trouble answering questions, problems in certain subjects, not turning in homework, and even avoiding socializing. Anxiety also goes hand in hand with learning disabilities and can cause students to fall behind, making them even more anxious in class. It tends to “lock up the brain” making school very challenging. It is even harder for children and teens to realize what they are experiencing is severe anxiety. Usually their symptoms are just brushed off or mistaken as a complaint or a headache. Teachers and parents need to be there for their kids and help them get diagnosed.

How few people will get an intervention

My research has helped me understand how much of school is truly affected by GAD, it takes a huge toll on your mental wellbeing and your education. It comprises so much of your life. While I’m still only learning about the long term effects I am eager to learn more. As anxiety is on the rise while mental wellbeing is on the decline in recent years bringing awareness to mental health is even more important. If all it takes is an open mind then I think if we work together we can make mental health normal and help accessible.

Link to my annotated bibliography !

After reading “ Born a Crime” I was heavily inspired by Trevor turning embarrassing or sad memories into humor, and the way he used sarcasm like he was speaking directly to the reader. I loved the way he really opened up and wasn’t afraid to tell so many different parts of his childhood, I wish more people opened up like that in their writing. I think a lot of the deeper stories and the way he really shared his emotions stuck with me. I tried my best to explain my culture as if I was talking to an outsider, but it was so hard to do and made me appreciate Trevor Noah’s writing even more. I also tried to have a deep reflection like Trevor, which also proved difficult, how he wrapped his identity into every small story he told really inspired me too. So I tried to incorporate my chosen culture into as many parts of the story as possible. One of my favorite parts to read were the many chapters where he talked about his school and love life. I could really see him as a social floater, not really in any specific friend group. He was always an outsider and showed how he knew that he was, even in high school and embraced it. He used it to his advantage and even realized that his love life would sadly never work out because of it. “For me, trying to get a girl would upset the natural order of things. Part of my success as the tuck shop guy was that I was welcome everywhere, and I was welcomed everywhere because I was nobody.” page 102. This self reflection was different because it was an at the moment kind of thing, and It inspired me to include how I felt when the events in my vignette actually occurred. Because I really enjoyed this writing style I tried my best to incorporate it into my story, with subtle sarcasm and humor, openness and my real reflections when the event actually happened. While I slightly encapsulated some style, I definitely didn’t pull it off as well as Trevor, I will be sure to incorporate some of the styles I learned from “Born a Crime” into my further writing.