2011 November | Youthline

Finals Week… Dealing with the Stress

November 29, 2011

Finals week is coming up for many of you, and that means stress. Take a look at this article from livestrong.com about dealing with test anxiety. As always, getting enough sleep and exercise is a good, healthy way to deal with anxiety. While you’re at livestrong.com check out this list of great songs to work out to!

Filed under: Stress — alex

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Great Video – Ella’s Gotta Have It

November 22, 2011

An uncle was going to shoot a home video welcoming his newborn niece, Ella into the world. Instead, he made this hilarious version of Kanye and Jay-Z’s Gotta Have It!

Filed under: Feel Good Song of the Day — alex

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Coping with Grief During the Holidays

For someone who is grieving, the holidays can be an especially difficult time of the year. This website is great for anyone who is struggling with feelings of loss, or knows someone close to them who is grieving.

Filed under: Depression,Grief,Holidays,Stress — alex

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Bullying, Bisexuality, and Social Media: A Teen’s Perspective

November 17, 2011

An excerpt:

Mamiverse: You waited about a year to tell your parents and Anna that you were dating a girl. What kept you from telling them?
Sarah: I wasn’t sure how my mom would react, I just didn’t know how to tell her, and I didn’t really know myself what to call it. I liked boys, I still like boys. I didn’t think of it as wanting to date girls, it was that I loved her. I only told my mom when I couldn’t hide how upset I was when we broke up. I told Anna right after I told my mom.

Read the rest here

Filed under: Bullying,LGBTQ,Relationships,Sexuality — kaitlyn

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Bullying

November 16, 2011

I can’t stand when people bully me or others for that matter! I have been going through it for years. People think it’s cool and it’s not!

Dear Sabrina,

I am sorry to hear that you and others are being bullied. No one deserves to be bullied. There are a few things we can suggest to you. The most important is to remember to take care of yourself, and if others are being bullied, to remind them to take care of themselves too. If you are taking good care of yourself physically and mentally, it is a lot harder for outside influences to affect you. You will be feeling much better about yourself on the inside, which will be transparent and show on the outside. Remember to always keep your head up and be strong because if a bully can see that the bullying is “working” by way of affecting you and your well-being, (s)he is going to take advantage of that and continue to bring you down.

However, that doesn’t mean that you or anyone else should have to deal with bullying. If you have talked to the bully or bullies already and they have not stopped, or if you do not feel safe talking to them, you or whoever is being bullied should talk to a trusted adult –such as a teacher, a counselor, or a parent. These people can take the appropriate measures to ensure that the bullying stops. If the bullying does stop after taking these steps and getting an adult involved, it is important that you continue to care for yourself and keep your self-esteem up. You can do this by building good self-care skills for the future. Self-care is basically doing something for yourself that is healthy, that you enjoy, that makes you feel good and uplifted, and keeps your stress down. An example could be going for a run or taking a bath. Only you know what works best for you, but here is a website with some tips that can give you an idea of how to cultivate good self-care skills: http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/bryan/webstres.htm

I hope this helps you. If you ever need more help, we would love to hear from you! Feel free to email us here, chat with us by going to oregonyouthline.org and clicking “Chat Now” on the right, or giving us a call us at 1-877-968-8491. The YouthLine is available 24/7, and teens are available to answer your calls Monday-Friday from 4-9pm.

Best of luck,

YouthLine

Filed under: Bullying,Read Your Answers — kaitlyn

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Depression

my score said to see a counceler bt i dont want to its a lot of money and my school ones are awkward to speak with

Dear Celeste,

Thank you for reaching out to the YouthLine. Just because the score you received on the test suggested that you see a counselor, that doesn’t mean that you necessarily need to. Depression is something that needs to be taken seriously, but there are other ways to receive help and support if seeing a counselor is not an option for you. Since I don’t know anything about you or your situation, I would just ask that you take some questions into consideration: Do you agree with the test results and consider yourself to be depressed? If so, that’s good that you can recognize how you are feeling and that you want to do something about it. Can you remember when you started feeling this way and do you know why? Was there something going on in your life? Are there any hobbies that you enjoy doing and that make you feel better, such as jogging, reading, writing, etc.?

If seeing a counselor is something you would be interested in as long as money is not an issue, then the YouthLine can give you resources for your exact area for free or low-cost counseling available to you. To get these resources you can either give us a call at 1-877-968-8491 or you can e-mail us again with the county you live in. If you live in Portland, (where we are located) you might consider visiting Outside In, which provides free counseling for homeless and low-income youth. You can visit their website at www.outsidein.org.

I hope this is helpful, and again, we would love to hear from you again. The YouthLine is available 24/7, or if you prefer to talk with a teen, you can call Monday-Friday from 4-9pm. 1-877-968-8491

Sincerely,

YouthLine

Filed under: Depression,Read Your Answers — kaitlyn

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