Surprise!!

 Heyy everyone!

Welcome back to month 9 of #faltufriday where I talk about something totally random. Today's post is not like any regular faltu friday because today is a special one!

A lot of you might have come across me hyping up about a surprise post on my socials-well wait no longer :)

Today's post is a collaborative one with a likeminded friend of mine, Aanya Lodha :)

Aanya, is a 14 year old attending Oberoi International School. She previously ran a mental health account on Instagram, @teen.trauma, but is currently taking a break from that. She loves doing what any teenager does; listening to music, watching movies and hanging out with her friends and family. She's not a professional and has never struggled with her mental health, but she knows many people that did, which is part of what made her so interested in starting her account, which promotes and educates people on mental health, in the first place.

Her zeal towards educating had also played a role in inspired me to create my own blog; which is why I decided to interview her for todays post to get to know more about her views and thoughts on various topics from this vast field :)

Without further ado, here we go :)

"I knew that everyone had their own mental health-related story that they experienced, and I wanted to be the person to enable those individuals to share their stories. By doing so, I would exhibit to everyone what their friends or family might be going through, as well as give troubled teenagers stories to relate to—to feel less alone." Teen trauma is a voice of the teens. For the teens, by the teens.

Fun fact: This account has also inspired a lot of my posts and has helped me drastically change my point of view on various topics :)

It’s quite possible that you may observe a few signs and symptoms that might align with a particular mental illness among your social circle. "Even with the possibility that these speculations are accurate, I would strongly advise against self-diagnosis. Taking medications or any other treatment without formal diagnosis from a professional could be dangerous." If one identifies any red flags, rather than self diagnosing, they should immediately approach a mental health professional.

I too agree with this; as a matter of fact I've known a lot of people in my life who have indulged in this and have often led to misdiagnosis. It is highly encouraged to see a professional if you feel your mental health is deteriorating and is seeking help.

Both Aanya and I agree that this is a salient issue that is becoming more prevalent than ever nowadays.

Often at times, teenagers are told that their mental illness is “just a phase” or can be solved by taking their phone away by family members. To top this, kids that don’t have good, open relationships with their parents and other guardians and struggle with reaching out to them, causing them to internalise their feelings and symptoms of mental illness.

It is important to break the stigma of going to therapy to get help!

To a large extent, mental health has already destigmatized between friends and on social media. "However, I feel like the subconscious barrier between parents and kids, or teachers and students, most definitely exists. Despite being extremely close with my parents, I would be very hesitant in talking to them about my mental health, and the age or generation gap could be blamed for this." One way we could help break the stigma is to have open conversations with our family and guardians about this neglected topic and bring it to light.

This is one of the biggest questions I think a lot of us spend a lot of time pondering over. How can our school help? Here are our thoughts about it:

"Many of my friends who undergo severe mental illness symptoms can’t talk to their parents about their problems due to strained relationships, hence can’t seek professional council through parents’ funding", Aanya says.  A solution to this would be using school resources, such as school counsellors, as a means of professional advice. However, a lot of schools don’t even offer internal counselling, thus they should." And for the schools that do offer these services, they should do a better job of introducing the counsellors (in a more personal manner) to the students so that the students feel more comfortable reaching out to them first."

So, this was a question I answered a couple of weeks ago on one of my posts; but those were just my views. Here's what Aanya has to say about it :)

While the feelings of anxiety and anxiousness are initially the same, the development of an anxiety disorder is not. An anxiety disorder means constant, regular, and unhealthy amounts of panic, fear, worry, uneasiness, etc. However, anxiety and anxiousness can be one and the same—despite being unwelcome, it is healthy and normal.

Students do have the constant pressure of being perfect academically—from their family, friends or teachers. Moreover, we put pressure on ourselves to be perfect, perfect grades, perfect body (beauty standards from comparing ourselves to people on on social media), etc. Some sort of pressure is always healthy; it pushes us to perform better. However, pressure gets unhealthy when students are seeing an increased number of panic attacks, breakdowns, and more, to an unhealthy amount, Aanya says.

I completely agree with this statement too. It's been prevalent for a very long time and has often had extreme side effects to it (such as mental and physical illnesses). One must strive to be better but shouldn't cross their limits.

This is a very commonly asked question but doesn't have a lot of answers to it. Here's what Aanya has to say about it:

"Firstly, always push them to reach out to an adult, like a parental figure. Receiving professional help is proven efficient, and a proper diagnosis, along with medication, can definitely help! It’s important that someone more responsible and present in your life is aware of your mental illness and can support you, financially and emotionally. Next, always asking how they’re feeling, what they need help with and offering them that help, as well as other basic measures (checking up on them, inviting them to gatherings even if they will most probably decline, and performing nice gestures) to support them will definitely help them feel less alone!"

As a friend of a person whose been diagnosed with a mental illness, you shouldn't try putting across your story when a person is opening up to to show that "you get it". Rather just listen to the other person with open ears-its taken them lot of courage to open up about it and you as an individual must acknowledge that rather than discrediting their story.

Okay I'm pretty sure all of us have had at least one toxic friendship with someone over the course of years-I've had my share too.

Almost everyone has gone through some sort of toxic friendship in their life. It’s natural to experience something like this, but it’s important to learn to recognise and let go of what is harming you. "For example, I had a friend that pointed things out about my appearance, further worsening my insecurities. So, I slowly stopped talking to her and got rid of the toxicity that once poisoned my life."

 It is difficult to move on from someone, mainly if they’re close to you. 

However you need to prioritise your well being. Is this person making you feel bad about your self? Is this person influencing your bad decisions? Is this person inflicting more damage than good? Ask yourself those questions when questioning how toxic your pal may be, and make a logical choice to cut that toxicity out.

Try avoid being a toxic friend to an extent-no one's gonna enjoy the company of one.

Please remember that the both of us are not professionals and these are just our thoughts and views on topics. Reach out to an adult or a professional if you need help!

Okay! That was it or today's post! Really enjoyed having Aanya for this post-hope y'all like reading it too :)

Don't forget to share and subscribe for more content, every Friday!

Signing off,

Kuhu :)