In Colorado, “one in six young people have seriously considered suicide, with almost half of gay, lesbian and bisexual youth considering suicide,” according to CPR news. There are a lot of different factors that play into the stressors of students’ lives.
One of the factors is school and the stressors it brings along with it, such as the amount of homework, social media, a job, pressure to go to college, the pressure to take AP classes, and pressure to take everything with grace. On top of all of that, students are still expected to take care of their physical health.
For mental health, there is “a great analogy, it’s like looking through dark glasses,” said Kelly Corr, activities director. “It impacts everything. Even when you don’t think it’s impacting, it still impacts every decision you make- your energy level, and you physically, mentally and emotionally.”
All this stress takes a toll on students and their lives day in and day out. Corr said, “This idea that you have to go to college, that adds a lot of stress in a student’s world.” The stress that grades have to be good, an SAT score, and taking all the right classes are on a student’s mind starting freshman year.
This leads to people stressing and trying to overwork themselves. “You start to look at all of this and what’s the first thing that goes, well, naturally sleep. I’ll just sleep less, so that I have enough time to get all my stuff done,” said Corr. Students that are sleep deprived might make bad decisions with their lives.
Social media is something students do in their free time and use to talk about their lives. But sometimes social media can be toxic because of the perfection that is shown on it.
“I think part of the problem is that social media is so rampant right now,” said Amy Stivers, a school psychologist. “And students are on technology so much so when they don’t take a break from the screen, it definitely can impact their function as well as looking at social media and seeing all these perfect lives.”
All of these stressors can have a big effect on a student’s mental health that it might start to decline and affect other aspects of a student’s life, such as their emotional health and their physical health.
Alex Tornato Sotelo, Photography Editor
