Self-care in uncertain times

A good form of self-care for teenagers would be to encourage them to talk and share their feelings. Studies have shown that, talking about feelings can help a person to stay in a good mental health, in other to deal with times they feel troubled. However, being that the average teen’s brain is not fully developed, they may respond to the stress this pandemic has caused very differently. In the year of 2001, 50% of adolescent with mental health issues kept their struggles from their parents and friends hoping it would go away because they feel embarrassed or they simply do not trust anyone, which are things that can lead to depression and anxiety in teenagers. Mental health has become a great side effect of this pandemic, and while teenagers cannot go out and have a social life, it is time for siblings, parents and adult guardians to step in and help by simply; planning cook outs, a bike ride where everyone cannot be that close to each other, or a socially distant bonfire and having fun conversations with their teenage loved ones that could be struggling mentally. Also, teens may be anxious about their family’s economic situation during a time when businesses are closing, and employees are being furloughed. Parents should not just brush off the anxiety because that may not work for all teenagers. Rather, they should acknowledge the anxiety teens and young adults are feeling and have an open and honest discussion about the struggles they could be facing. But, in that process parents should be able to balance the facts with a level of reassurance and talk about coming up with plans to help the situation. Therefore, discussing family economics with teens can also be a good way of communication to teens just to relief them of the stress and anxiety they could be facing to promote proper self-care, doing this is especially important for those who require mental health and psychosocial support. Because the stigma associated with mental health problems may cause teenagers to be reluctance in seeking support for both COVID-19 and mental health conditions.

Teenagers are young and have noticeably big dreams for their future but now, in place of their dreams, stress and anxiety loom large for some. At the beginning of this pandemic, when schools shut down, teenagers  saw that as a great opportunity to just stay home all day, play video games and for the extroverts an opportunity to hang out with their peers more often but for others, at the time they didn’t think it was forever. However, as news came out in the media it became nerve-wracking because they knew there was less and less of a chance of going back to school. So then, the disappointment and disruption from the coronavirus has been especially hard for teenagers, caught in limbo at a time when they are ready to launch. Many teens are wading through complicated emotions right now. They have had to adjust to online learning, isolate from their friends and erase meaningful events from their calendars, which has significantly decreased the ability to provide self-care for themselves. Many with the new mentality of just being home all day, with nothing to do or no one to visit have gradually become living zombies with zero ideas of proper self-care. Therefore, Parents and adult siblings who may be equally balancing work and remote learning schedules, should try to find ways to help their teenagers cope with the stress and mental health fallout resulting from the pandemic.

Negative Effects of Infodemic during COVID-19

Social media has become one of the main channels to receive new information but exposing oneself to it can also increase the chance of having anxiety and depression. Nowadays, the fastest and most convenient way for people to receive new information and health guidelines is through social media because of its speed of news updating and the huge variety of sources it has. Although social media does help us to receive information about the pandemic more rapidly, there are also negative effects of using social media such as increasing the prevalence of mental illness. Also, due to the large variety of sources that social media has, it had made fake news and misinformation spread faster and even further. According to a study about mental health and social media exposure, “82.0% of participants frequently expose them to social media, and frequently social media exposure associated high odds of anxiety and combination of depression and anxiety, which is consistent with previous studies” (Gao et al. 7). This study also has shown that there is a high prevalence of mental disorders during the outbreak of coronavirus and such high prevalence is related to exposing oneself to social media frequently. Other than the aforementioned, there are many studies that were done to prove the association between social media and mental disorders during different times of humanitarian crises.

Undoubtedly, during the outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation and false statements have flooded social media and aroused groundless fears among lots of netizens, which have caused them to be more confused about the current situation and also do damage to their mental health. In addition to that, many users had revealed and disclosed their thoughts and opinions about the virus with negative feelings, such as fear, worry, and anxiety on social media where emotions are contagious and can be spread. The study about overloaded information and infodemic had suggested that “searching the internet for COVID-19 related news which may result in confusion, disappointment, and frustration” (Rathore 164), makes the fact that infodemic does harm to our mental health more explicit. Besides that, the study also suggested that “reading about infection and death rates regularly can adversely affect morale and mental health during this time of lockdown and isolation” (Rathore 165), indicating that viewing a considerable amount of information about the pandemic does impact our mental health negatively.

Temporary Dental Clinic Closures

Visualize yourself as a local dental assistant  during a threatening global pandemic. Well being a dental assistant isn't easy, especially since you have people, other than yourself, to take care of and ensure their safety. Dentistry departments should close until after the Coronavirus is contained, because the virus negatively impacts the occupation. Being a dental assistant is very risky, and the ways they provide care to their patients, can and may increase the transmission of the Coronavirus to others.

Consequently, a dental assistant's role is to clean their patients' teeth, which means they have to pry into people's mouths. "The practice of dentistry involves the use of rotary dental and surgical instruments...These instruments create a visible spray that can contain particle droplets of water, saliva, blood, microorganisms, and other debris." (CDC). This can cause a very unsanitary environment, which can cause the spread of Coronavirus. If dentist clinics were closed during this troubling time, less people would be susceptible to COVID-19 through dentistry. This shows one way how closing dental clinics can prevent exposure to the virus.

I have two minutes to tell you that Dental Clinics should be closed until post-pandemic times. This is for the safety of the dentists & dental assistants who work there, and their patients. This may help "to reduce the risk for transmitting and acquiring infection," (CDC). With less people at dental clinics, where the environment can become unsanitary, less people can be exposed to the Coronavirus. Though some may say that closing the dentistry occupation isn't important, being a dentist is an essential job to postpone during a global pandemic such as the Coronavirus, for the reasons of good health for everybody. And now fellow peers and scholars, I invite you to take care of your teeth and use floss, this is very important. Let your children clean their teeth twice a day, and do not let them drink a lot of juices. That will raise awareness of the importance of dental clinics. Thank you!!!   

     

The Silent Pandemic

    With this pandemic, people are in isolation in their homes. While this may be perfect for certain individuals with perfect households, there are some individuals who have to constantly fight an emotional battle in their households. They specifically have to deal with issues with mental health. Mental health is a topic that is slightly gaining traction in today's age. However, there are still households that do not show any support to those with mental health. It is often seen as taboo and not real. With this, there needs to an emphasized effort in educating all generation about mental health.

    As you may know, ideologies differ among all generations. In regards to mental health, there is a split in belief with mental health. It is often not mentioned in group conversation due to fear of ridicule. Many believe that it does not require physician assisted help. While this is dangerous for teens who are under guidance by these older generations, there may be older generations that suffer from mental health issues, but are forced to confine to their generations ideologies. There can not be a relaxed perspective upon this issue. There needs to be urgency to tackle this pandemic.

American Teenager’s Health Issues in During Pandemic

American Teenager’s Health Issues in During Pandemic 

    During pandemic teenagers have stayed all day in shelter and they have been spending most of their time on social media. It gives them social stress and depression. There are many social stresses going on social media, one of them fake information. In the article, “Teens and Social Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Staying Socially Connected While Physically Distant.”, Jessica Hamilton, she states “One of the clearest ways that social media can harm teens is through the spread of misinformation and “fake news”about COVID-19”( Hamilton 13). They believe fake information easily, and they also share it on their facebook, instagram and twitter that help to spread the fake information very fast. It brings them more stress and fear. Since teenagers can not meet their friends and do not go out anytime they want, they want to spend more time on social media and chatting with their friends. Many statistics show teens spend more time on social media than other people because  they do not want to feel loneliness. While children and adults all of ages are experiencing feelings of loneliness during this time of physical distancing, the effects of being isolated from peers may be especially pronounced for teens (Hamilton 5). It shows they may affect mental health issues more than others. That is why parents need to pay attention to their teens. If they help them, they can be more healthy and safe. 
    Though some people may say social media has many benefits that teenagers can connect to each other from any place, and they can make friends easily. Therefore, it is educational which provides many kinds of educational benefits. In the article, the author mentions ”Social media provides unique benefits for teens during the COVID-19 pandemic, including access to resources, social connection, and the ability to explore and express themselves. However, social media also can negatively affect teen’s anxiety, mood, body image, and sleep, and contribute to the spread of false information about coronavirus”(Hamilton 2). It shows  social media has advantages and disadvantages. Teens are very active on social media and they are comparing themselves to others. It makes them anxious because they see unbelievably beautiful people and perfectly shaped bodies. Social media is very addictive and they want to scroll a few minutes before sleep and it ends mostly endless scrolling. It means they sleep late and It lead them to poor sleep. Sleeping poor might  end up destroying their immune system. That is why teenagers use social media less. It helps them to be healthy.

Uplifting African American boys

Hello fellow classmates

I have two minutes to tell you that inside our hostile world we need more youth mentoring programs 

to help prevent gun violence, police brutality and education discrimination in our African American 

communities. Considering mentors provide guidance, mind development and protect souls from the 

world racial abuse.  According to the article Mentoring plays integral role in reducing gun violence 

in one of Americas most violent cities by: Justin Preston stated “you grow up with that experience, 

“he says” and it create a great deal of hostility, anger and untreated vicious trauma in your life”  That 

statement gave awareness on how a fatherless kid is exposed to negative activity and behavior in his 

African American community that could effect and direct them down the wrong path; to life.  Black 

boys are known for being bad and troubled but, their hurting and crying out for help.  Their 

misbehaviors are them acting out in pain and wanting to be included, loved, welcomed, respected 

and wanted. Though some may say youth mentoring programs would not prevent gun violence, 

police brutality and education discrimination.  This is evidence that mentoring can inspire black boys 

and young men to make healthier and safer choices.  Given these points fellow scholars, I invite you 

to share some of your thoughts or observations on the challenges that African American boys and 

men face growing and living in America

 

Offering The Needed Mental Support

                                                                        

The global pandemic known as COVID-19 has had detrimental effects on many lives as the population has to adopt new practices to ensure safety for themselves and those around them. The virus has imposed an ample amount of issues for people all over the world to deal with, and to deal with said issues in an extremely hasty and timely matter. While the world is taking drastic measures to battle the virus COVID-19, remembering to offer help to the elderly in nursing homes that suffer from the effects of mental illness is of utmost importance; the faculty of resident nursing homes should be supporting and teaching the tools of online social communication such as FaceTime and Zoom, offering mental health support groups, and promoting outside activities so that elders will receive the help that is vital for maintaining positive mental health. Even though it will take extra time for the healthcare workers to give these tools to elders, it is imperative that they are offered for the longterm effects on residents’ positive mental state. Offering this mental support to elders is a pressing issue that must be addressed and changed to help those who are suffering greatly in this stressful pandemic.

Most people in the twenty-first century have a strong need and desire to uphold close relations with friends and family members that they care immensely about; but with the COVID-19 pandemic causing the urgent need for the population to keep socially distant from other people, that has proven to be somewhat difficult to do in many cases. One of the largest demographics of people that struggle to find a way to connect with family and friends are the large amount of elderly in nursing homes that suffer from mental illness. According to an article published by The Lancet “Santini and colleagues recently demonstrated that social disconnection puts older adults at greater risk of depression and anxiety.”(Richard Armitage, and  Laura B Nellums, 2020) Meaning that many people in nursing homes that are suffering from mental illness need the help and support of healthcare workers more than during COVID-19. A fantastic way to battle the negative effects of elders self-isolating is with the aid of healthcare workers and nursing home faculty showing residents how to use social communication apps such as FaceTime and Zoom to communicate with loved ones. In an article published by the US National Library of Medicine, it was found that patients that were taught how to use social communication apps by the nursing home employees, had a huge improvement in their behavior and mental health.( Sanjana P Padala. et al, 2020) By using services such as Zoom and FaceTime, it can help elders residing in nursing homes a chance to connect with family and friends and help many in retaining their social connections that they rely on for their own positive mental health. These apps could also open up options for mental health resources such as online therapy for elders to utilize and benefit from. If the employees working at nursing home residencies took the time to show elders the tools for social communication via online applications, it would help immensely in boosting their mental health and would give them outlets for social communication while maintaining a social distance.

    Offering an outdoor exercise schedule to elders in nursing homes could also give elders something to look forward to every week. Many elders have had many plans ruined by the COVID-19 pandemic such as weddings, family reunions, or graduations. After having all of these important life events changed, offering weekly outside activities may give them something to look forward to once more. By healthcare providers encouraging elders to exercise outside, it can help in reducing the anxiety caused by COVID-19 in elders suffering from poor mental health, and give their bodies and minds healthy outlets to move in a time of stress.

Hello, my name is Giovanna Tognoli and I have two minutes to tell you that while the world is taking drastic measures to battle the virus

COVID-19, remembering to offer help to the elderly in nursing homes that suffer from the effects of mental illness is of utmost importance; the faculty of resident nursing homes should be supporting and teaching the tools of online social communication such as FaceTime and Zoom, offering mental health support groups, and promoting outside activities so that elders will receive the help that is vital for maintaining positive mental health. Some may say that the essential workers that are employed in nursing homes are already over taxed and overbooked; they simply do not have time to focus on something as insignificant as mental health for their patients. However, there is evidence that by supporting mental health for residents that suffer from mental illness will actually show positive growths in their mental and physical health. As seen in many articles that residents who maintained their positive mindset also resulted in changes in their appetites, more mobility, and had such a vast behavioral improvement that they were able to take care of most of their own needs. And now fellow scholars, I invite you to try and support those residing in nursing homes as much as you can with the current pandemic. Remember to offer as many resources as you can if you know anyone in a nursing home such as a family or friend by giving your time and an ear to listen and support them in anyway you can.