You know mental health is just as important as anything else in your life, maybe even more important. Mental health doesn't deserve the stigma attached to it. People deserve to be able to talk about it without people running away, without people looking at you differently. That's why today's so important. Today is about bringing awareness to mental health and mental illnesses.

This is from The Latest Kate Blog

A few weeks ago my friend and I were talking about life, complaining about all of it's little problems when all of a sudden we found ourselves talking about depressions and the like. I can count on one hand how many people I've talking about my mental health illness. I don't like to talk about it because whenever I did people looked at me differently, treated me differently, which made me feel even more isolated and even more alone. As time went on, I got lucky, I found people that are accepting to be my friends. But that doesn't make it any easier to tell them about, to talk to them about, because the stigma is still there. And honestly its absolutely ridiculous.

I was watching a video, and i'll post the link here, and in the people in the video talked about how the hardest part of it all was the stigma. Mental illness is a thing, It's real. And it sucks just as much as any physical ailment. Suicide is still the third leading cause of death, 90% of those deaths had an underlying mental health issue. That says something. Mental illness isn't something that just goes away, it's not something we can pretend doesn't exist. People line up to sign casts, create get well cards but as soon as anxiety, depression, an eating disorder comes up, they leave. In some places people with mental health problems are abused and stripped of human rights.

This is from The Latest Kate Blog

Mental illness has this way of making people feel isolated people don't need to help with that. 1 in 4 adults suffer from a mental illness, so that means that even if you don't have one, the people around you might. Just because people seem fine doesn't mean they're fine. Just because people suffer from a mental illness doesn't give any one the ability to take away basic human rights. Just because people have mental health problems doesn't mean every one needs to run away. Some people just don't understand mental illness and don't see it as a real thing. We need days like today to educate those who don't know much about this, to bring awareness, and ultimately destroy the stigma attached to it. "People with anxiety aren't rude, people with depression aren't lazy, people with mental illness aren't crazy", I saw this quote and I just thought it was perfect for this post and that it is incredibly true.

The stigma doesn't make it any easier to get better. It makes people embarrassed to get help, to reach out, to even talk about it. I know I was afraid for a really long time to go into therapy, but trust me it's really helpful. I'm lucky, in that I'm part of a program that allows me free therapy through my school system. Not everybody has that chance. If you can, you should take advantage of it. If you don't, find an adult you trust, a friend maybe, a counselor, because reaching out to people who aren't going to stigmatize you or marginalize you, is going to help. There also hotlines and websites you can visit where you can talk about what you need to get off your chest. Here are a couple : IMAlive, 7 Cups of Tea.

We also need to focus on helping individuals with mental health issues, finding even better ways to treat them. We need to make these treatments available to everybody. We need to help those in countries that mistreat them.

That being said, I also wanted to talk about the things that can help with mental illness. Music is incredibly helpful, so is a hot cup of tea (if you have anxiety don't have caffeine, it makes it worse). Mindfulness is great, I don't do it enough, but it definitely helps: Pocket Mindfulness. Sometimes it even helps for me to hold ice cubes in my hand. Yoga helps too because it calms me down and gets me to a calm state. Part of living with a mental health issue is learning how to cope. (Here is a little post on how to cope wit mental illness.)

Just know that you are not alone, you are more than kind of awesome, you have survived this much and that means something. Sometimes just getting up in the morning is a great accomplishment. So breath and take care of yourself. Self care is important, it's not selfish, it's not stupid, its important, a priority. Here's a little interactive guide thing.
Take some time for yourself, and take care of yourself.

 Stay Awesome,

Dear Students,

I'm not ready.

I am in no way ready for school to start. I'm sure you all feel the same way. I'm sure we're all still recovering from last year, I know I am. I'm not ready for the stress, anxiety, tears, frustrations this year will bring.

Sometimes I think that all the bad stuff outweigh the good parts of school, but then I'll hang out with my friends and we'll have a great time, then I think maybe it isn't so bad. High school is not going to be the best four years of your life. Most likely anyway.

High school is going to feel more like an audition for college. It's going to feel like too much all at once. I know that that's how it felt for me. I know its scary. I'm still scared. I am absolutely terrified of my senior year of high school. I'm scared about not getting into the "right" college. I'm scared about messing up in the last home stretch. I'm scared that maybe everything I've done isn't enough. I think the last part scares me the most.So to my fellow seniors, we can do this, we can survive it. We're almost done. We've had a 100% survival rate so far. College apps, crazy schedules, friend drama, it's all survivable. I have to remind myself of that. So I'm reminding you of that. Because sometimes all we need is someone to tell us that we can. And trust me you can do this. Don't let stats get you down, don't let grades make you feel like your less of a person. You are you. That can't be defined with numbers and grades. My advice to you, and myself, is that you are in charge of your life so take control and steer yourself where you want to go. Don't let someone tell you that you can't do something. Don't let people tear you down, or try and tell you what you should do. At the end of the day your the one who has to live with the life you create, so create an awesome one. Don't apologize for making choices that make you happy and will help keep you happy for years to come.

 Maybe you're scared about starting high school, maybe you're scared about taking your first AP class, maybe you're scared about making new friends, maybe you're scared about not fitting in, maybe you're scared of disappointing someone. Let me tell you right now that no matter what your anxious about, you'll survive it. It might suck for a really long time.But that doesn't mean you won't survive, you will and you will go on to better things. If you stay organized, you can survive AP classes. If you work your butt off, you will get the grades you deserve. If you put yourself out there, chances are you will meet people who are like you. Don't be angry or sad if you don't find people at first or if you can't find a "real group" of friends. You'll find your people eventually. Try some new things, you might be surprised at where your happiest. That's the other thing, surround yourself with good people.

You'll need good friends, not flaky unreliable people, in your corner. If you don't fit in because your "weird" or "nerdy", fuck everybody else. You just need to be yourself and happy in your skin. High school sucks, its terrible, but don't let the people and the place force you to change. The things people might think are "uncool" now, are the eccentricities someone else with think are awesome, are the things that will make you stand out. After all who wants to be boring carbon copy, leading a boring, vanilla life? Not me. If there's one thing I wish I could have told myself as a freshman is that "You will survive and be okay. Maybe even better than okay". So i'll tell you guys that. Somewhere down the line you'll realize that you turned out okay and that your life will turn out okay too.

Mental illness is a thing that a lot of people struggle with. I can't count how many people have talked to be about depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, etc. They were all afraid to talk about it and I hate that they felt so afraid to talk about it because of the stigma attached to it. Mental illness is a disease. Not something to run away from, or pretend doesn't exist. From my experience music is a great help when things suck and when they don't. It's okay to have bad days, and sometimes your going to have more bad days than good ones. It sucks but remember that the sun at some point will come out and because you've survived dark nights, scary nights, lonely nights, you will appreciate the sun. Talk to someone if you can, and if you don't have someone, talk to me. If not there are plenty of online resources that will help you out: 7 Cups of Tea, IMAlive.

School will most likely get crazy. The people in it are little bit bonkers. And that's okay. But this year I want all of you to take care of yourselves and remember to make yourselves a priority amidst all the chaos. I know I'm going to make more of an effort to do that this year. I always start these open letters with an idea of what I want to say but then I write them and the just end up being mini rambles. As per usual this is also all over the place, but I really want to wish you guys luck this year.

Here's what I've learned from surviving three years of the crazy jungle that is high school

• It's not worth it to be "cool"
• Don't apologize for who you are but accept when you are in the wrong.
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes and try new things. 
• Put the work into school. It's your ticket out and your key to open doors to places you want to go. 
• Education is one thing that no one will be able to take away from you. Take advantage of your classes and learn as much as humanly possible. 
• Playlists will be the soundtrack of your experiences. 
• Being alone is not a bad thing. It's important to know how to be alone. 

Remember that some days are going to suck, but hold on to the ones that are amazing. Pay attention to the moments you feel on top of the world. Those are the ones that count. Remember and enjoy the little things because those small details can make your memories and life all the more richer. Keep in mind that education is important even if you decide not to go to college ( and if you do want to go to college it's helpful to start looking into the application process early).

Here's to us. Here's to a new school year. Lets be awesome and kick ass this school year.


Stay Gold,