Everyone in the world feels things. Emotions are chemical reactions in our brain. Most times people undermine those feelings, or tell you you’re wrong. However, that is not up to them to decide. Your opinions are based on your experiences, therefore no one can change them. Sometimes it’s hard to change them. Sometimes it’s hard to communicate what’s going on inside of you, and that’s okay. We all struggle with different things in life, but not everyone understands those struggles. In this article we hope to give you a feeling of being understood from a High School students perspective.

Every day life throws us new obstacles to overcome, sometimes this gets difficult to deal with. Many people have a hard time with being overwhelmed or overstimulated by their emotions. This can stunt focus on the things that are most important such as school, family, work, and more. Typically when this happens you are judged for being lazy or sensitive. However, it’s not so simple. Quite often it’s not just the new obstacles, it’s the old ones that hurt you too.

K: To give you a better understanding of this, in seventh grade I went through a lot at home and I didn’t have very many friends. This lead to self-harm. I talked to my mom and counselors, but they told me there was nothing wrong with me. My mom decided it was for attention, and the counselors agreed. Though in reality, I felt really alone. I didn’t know what to do, and no one would listen. Now, some days are great, but some days take me back. The difference is now I know how important those emotions are. Now I strive to not only help myself, but also listen to others. That’s why feelings matter to me.

A: My experience is a little different. I was put in a situation that nobody should ever be put in. I was naive and I was not taught how to say no to things that could potentially harm me. Something bad ended up happening that was out of my control. Talking about it didn’t help. If anything, it made it worse. I remember trying to reach out for help but nobody believed me. An 11 year old girl got something taken away from her quicker than she could remember. For the longest time I blamed myself and eventually stopped caring about about the way I felt. Not only that, I didn’t care what anyone else was going through. I focused on nothing.

A: Things changed for me when I was about 15. I learned more and more about God and how He is someone I can count on regardless the situation. I worked with worship groups and learned how to take feelings into consideration. I now believe feelings are the most important thing to take in from someone. I grew into someone I never thought I’d be. When you’re stuck and feel like you have nobody to talk to, you really start to think about how you act towards people. You start thinking before you do things.

If you or anyone you know needs help finding crisis resources please click the link below:

https://www.apa.org/topics/crisis-hotlines

You are worthy, you are loved, and you are cared for. Please do not forget that!