Melissa Schatz is a social worker and mental health counselor employed at the health center in modular M6A. She is super easy to talk to and anything you say can be kept completely confidential. If you want to learn more you can go see her at the mod on Maroon Avenue, or email her at schatzm@nclack.k12.or.us
How and when can students make appointments with you?
It’s really easy! I am here Monday through Friday, I see people through primary care, which means that you’re gonna be asked to meet with our medical doctor just to say ‘I want a referral to behavioral health’. I often have same day appointments, you just have to come in and make an appointment!
How can we open the conversation on mental health and start undoing the stigma around such issues?
I think people kind of assume that any conversation about mental health is about mental illness, but we need to talk about mental wellness as well! Mental health is about having healthy self esteem and having really good coping tools for managing stress, problems in your life, and issues that are impacting you in some way. Mental illness is often what we look at; at our issues that impact mental health, and that make it difficult for you to have a good, healthy sense of self esteem, and tools that work and are positive
I think people kind of assume that any conversation about mental health is about mental illness, but we need to talk about mental wellness as well! Mental health is about having healthy self esteem and having really good coping tools for managing stress, problems in your life, and issues that are impacting you in some way. Mental illness is often what we look at; at our issues that impact mental health, and that make it difficult for you to have a good, healthy sense of self esteem, and tools that work and are positive
What are some tips to keep stress/anxiety at bay during the school day?
My tip for handling school stress is to break things down into small, achievable goals. If you look at the task at hand it might seem enormous and unachievable, and then that makes you feel discouraged. When you break it down into small, achievable steps, the more little things you are able to focus on in the present, you actually stimulate this part of your brain, the dopamine response, which is your reward center that says, “I did it! I did it!” and you start to feel better, and the better you feel the more you are actually able to keep moving towards your goal. If you are looking at the big task to hand it can often seem too overwhelming and that impacts your sense of your ability to do anything, and also your mood. When your mood is low, you are less likely to focus on anything, so it helps your mood to start with one achievable task at a time.
My tip for handling school stress is to break things down into small, achievable goals. If you look at the task at hand it might seem enormous and unachievable, and then that makes you feel discouraged. When you break it down into small, achievable steps, the more little things you are able to focus on in the present, you actually stimulate this part of your brain, the dopamine response, which is your reward center that says, “I did it! I did it!” and you start to feel better, and the better you feel the more you are actually able to keep moving towards your goal. If you are looking at the big task to hand it can often seem too overwhelming and that impacts your sense of your ability to do anything, and also your mood. When your mood is low, you are less likely to focus on anything, so it helps your mood to start with one achievable task at a time.
What are some ways to keep a positive mindset, especially as the dreary weather sets in?
With winter coming and the darkness, one thing is to be really aware of how the weather impacts your mood, because when you start feeling low, sad, depressed, or whatever happens to your mood, you’ll start to think negatively. It’s like putting on a pair of goggles that change your perspective on everything around you. All of a sudden nobody likes you, your friends are this, and because your mood is low you think everything is bad. But if you recognize that no, actually I get really low when I don’t see the sun for days on end, it helps you remember [that the weather affects you], so that you can be more realistic about the things that you’re looking at. Exercise is good for boosting serotonin, which is what makes you feel better, vitamin D is really important (make sure you’re not deficient in that), whenever you can give yourself a little bit of sunshine, do that! Most importantly, just remember that, if [the weather] is impacting your mood, to remember that it is impacting your mood, and focus on that.