With Suicide Prevention Week having ended a couple weeks ago, Mrs. De Los Santos, the school crisis counselor at Delaware Valley Regional High School, has much to discuss concerning the misconceptions of depression and how to start the conversation about one’s mental health.

Mrs. De Los Santos explains that many people, students especially, hide behind a “mask” and pretend to be strong. Many have fallen victim to illness but pretend to be strong for others. De Los Santos notes that students need to be sincere when talking and reaching out to friends and fellow peers. That sense of “I see you” is essential to having a real conversation about mental health. “You don’t just see a person as they walk down the hall, or what they’re wearing. We’re not just looking at them. We’re seeing them, and there’s a comfort in that, and people then don’t feel so alone,” De Los Santos said. 

Mrs. De Los Santos notes that depression is not just “feeling blue.” It’s so much deeper than just being sad. Some symptoms of depression that exist are sadness, emptiness, pervasiveness, lack of interest in hobbies, change in appetite and sleeping too little or too much. These symptoms aren’t something to be ignored; students should try to reach out to friends in need, even when everything seems fine because, as Mrs. De Los Santos puts it, “you can never ask ‘how are you'” too many times.

For more information on these topics, follow the links below.

https://afsp.org/how-to-start-and-continue-a-conversation-about-mental-health-a-realconvo-guide-from-afsp/

https://afsp.org/find-support/resources/