mENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS
I don’t know what is happening to me.
My chest rises and falls, as it should,
But I have lost the hold that I once had on myself,
And I feel myself starting to slip.
I am inadequate.
The boulders on my shoulders have been planted.
Pinned to the grounds of uncertainty, I fight and fight
To regain my sense of self in a world without a pause.
Pause.
I don’t remember how to breathe.
I am engulfed by the ocean of insecurity.
I am pulled to the bottom by the weights of the world.
No one is by my side, but rather, leaving me for dead.
I need to come back up.
The water is slowly filling my lungs in my struggle for composure.
I am fighting for my life with no one rooting for me to win.
But all I need to do is just swim, right?
But I can’t.
I am losing this battle.
It would be so easy to just sink.
Sink into myself and the box they put me in.
Maybe I should.
But the waves are starting to calm.
These handcrafted chains, crafted by my own hands.
I am in charge. I can break them.
I have been in charge the whole time. I am power. I am the world.
I am the pawn, but I am the game.
And this ocean will not leave me drowning.
I am the life.
Overall Topic
My overall topic was mental health. I chose this because I personally struggle with my mental health, and it was a way to connect with what I was working with. Many adolescents, especially low-income first-generation students like us in the SEL program, can relate to feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. It is important to address these issues so we can better support those struggling with their mental health.
Subtopics
Some of the subtopics I wanted to express were anxiety (which I went in-depth into in the poem), as well as stigmas around men’s mental health and the impact of covid (shown in the collage), and the impact others can have on your mental health and how it disproportionately impacts people of color (shown in the video).
My Creation
I want the audience of my piece to know that mental health impacts everyone, which I hope I conveyed through my projects. You are not alone, and other people struggle with similar issues. I want to inspire people to challenge the stigmas and prioritize themselves.
Project as a Whole
The title of my project is “Erase the Stigma”.
My Works
My first work is my poem, which I am calling Control. It is inspired by my personal struggle with anxiety and feeling like you are losing control over your situation. (Medium: poetry)
My collage is entitled “Unity in Difference.” It is about how everyone has their own experience and their own battle, but there is unity in our collective struggle and we all have our own issues we are overcoming. (Medium: Canva)
The last portion of this project is a collaborative video called “Java Joint.” It demonstrates the blatant racism people of color face in their everyday lives. This can be extremely detrimental to mental health. I hope viewers will understand the importance of standing up to injustice, even when it may be uncomfortable. (Medium: video)