Cate School

Mental Health Resources

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Welcome to the Brain Blog

  • AnxietyCoach: Utilizes an evidence-based approach to reduce anxiety.
  • Breathe2Relax: Teaches breathing techniques to manage stress.
  • Gratitude: A five-minute a day gratitude journal can increase your long-term well-being by more than 10%. Gratitude increases sleep quality, reduces the time required to fall asleep, and increases sleep duration. In other words, gratitude can help with insomnia.
  • Happify: Overcoming stress, negative thoughts, and building resilience.
  • Headspace: Teaches meditation and living mindfully.
  • HelloMind: Helps to boost self-esteem and cultivate healthy habits that will help you live life to the fullest.
  • MindShift: Provides tools to tackle worry, panic, perfectionism, social anxiety, and phobias.
  • MoodTools: Designed to help you cope with depression, negative thoughts, and alleviate symptoms.
  • RealifeChange: Will help you define a direction in life and better understand your behavior and emotional patterns.

These resources have been curated in support of community members who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color – and to forward the cause of anti-racism

  • Kelty Mental Health Resource Center: Reference sheets are provided that list top websites, books, videos, toolkits and support for mental health disorders.
  • Reach Out: This website provides information on specific mental health disorders, as well as resources to help teens make safe plans when feeling suicidal, and helpful tips on how to relax.
  • Teens Health: Providing a safe place for teens who need honest and accurate information, this website provides resources on mental health issues.
  • Teen Mental Health: Geared towards teenagers, this website provides learning tools on a variety of mental illnesses, videos, and resources for friends.
  • The Trevor Project: A place where LGBTQ youth and their allies can find answers to frequently asked questions and explorer resources related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and more…

Phone Lines and Text Lines for Mental Health

Sexual Harassment and Assault

  • If you have experienced Sexual Harassment or Assault, https://sbstesa.org/services/ has a 24 hour hotline available. This is a local organization devoted to supporting victims.

Please note that when contacting hotlines, it may take a few minutes to be contacted with a live person by phone or by text. If you are in need of immediate assistance, call 911 or reach out to our Health Services Department at ext. 219.

  • Teen Mental Health: An organization that provides various tools to increase Mental Health Literacy and decrease the stigma of mental illness.
  • National Alliance on Mental Health: Information on how to help a friend struggling with mental health issues, coping with mental health issues, and discussion groups on various mental health topics.
  • National Institute of Mental Health: This website provides easy-to read guides and brochures to help better understand a variety of mental health disorders.
  • Pacific Pride Foundation: The foremost resource in Santa Barbara County for the LGBTQ community. Provides information, individual counseling, group counseling, advocacy and fun events for LGBTQ teens throughout Santa Barbara.
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: SAMHSA provides information on mental health services and treatment centers through a service locator.
  • StopBullying.Gov: This website offers resources specifically for teens to prevent bullying in their schools and communities and provides resources for those being bullied.
  • Teens Against Bullying: Created by and for teens, this website is a place for middle and high school students to find ways to address bullying, take action, be heard, and own an important social cause.

What is Anxiety?

In its most pure form, anxiety is a surge of energy. Sometimes that energy comes in the form of excitement, a way for our systems to gear up for what lies ahead. Other times, it shows up as a paralyzing fear about the future and has us contemplating endless “what if” scenarios that make it difficult to function in our normal day-to-day lives.

Anxiety can prevent us from socializing, concentrating, and relaxing, among other things. Long term symptoms of anxiety tax our systems and can result in physiological changes to our brains and bodies. If you’re suffering from anxiety, you’re not alone. Anxiety is the most common mental health challenge in the United States, with 40 million Americans reporting suffering from symptoms. Below, please find more information about Anxiety as well as healthy coping strategies for dealing with it.

Symptoms

  • Lack of concentration
  • Racing Thoughts
  • Feeling nervous, restless or tense
  • Having a sense of danger or panic
  • Shortness of breath
  • Increased heart rate
  • Sweating
  • Trembling
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
  • Difficulty controlling feelings of worry

Healthy Coping Strategies

  • Exercise Since anxiety can be the result of stuck or pent up energy, give exercise a try. We suggest something that gets your heart pumping, like running, swimming, dancing, surfing, or skateboarding. If you’re in your room and need a little jolt, try some jumping jacks or vigorous yoga.
  • Five minute workout (click on the link)
  • Phone a friend or family member- sometimes reaching out a loved one while we are struggling with anxiety can help calm us down. And if you don’t have a loved one available in the moment, you can text HOME to 741-741 to text with a Crisis Counselor trained to support and guide you in a time of need. Please note that it may take a while to be in touch with a live person and if you are in need of emergency services, please call 911.
  • My 3 App (click on the link)
  • Self Compassion- when we are going through a tough time, self compassion really helps. Giving ourselves permission to be feeling exactly how we feel. It’s okay to not be okay sometimes.
  • Self Compassion Guided Meditation (click on the link)
  • Talk to a counselor- If you notice a pattern of anxious thoughts or feelings, please reach out to the Director of Counseling, Dean’a Curry, to have a session with one of Cate’s licensed therapists.
  • Breathing- it may sound simple, but directed breathing practices soothe anxiety. That’s because when we are anxious, we start to produce stress chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline that signal to our bodies that we are in danger. Often when those chemicals are released, we hold our breath. Practicing breath work counteracts the stress hormones and signals to our bodies that we are safe.
  • Breathe with Calm.com (click on the link)
  • Download the app “Insight Timer” to explore free guided meditations for sleep, anxiety, panic, and more.

Sources:

Panic attacks are sudden episodes of intense fear that cause changes in one’s physiology, including quick or shallow breath, a sudden intense fear, increased heart rate, trembling, etc. “Panic attacks can be very frightening. When panic attacks occur, you might think you’re losing control, having a heart attack or even dying” (Mayo Clinic). When a panic attack comes on, the important thing to note is that it will pass. Symptoms usually peak within minutes (Mayo Clinic). Some people may have one or two panic attacks in their lifetime, but for others, they are more frequent. If you are noticing a pattern of panic attacks, and have 2 or more within a one month period, please reach out to the Director of Counseling, Dean’a Curry, to be assessed by one of our counselors.

iChill App + Help Now skills

Something we recommend if you know you struggle with intermittent symptoms of panic is to download the iChill App and explore the “Help Now” feature. They have curated a selection of very helpful practices to ground and bring yourself back to resiliency if you are struggling with panic.

Here are some of the ones we use most:

Orient to the room

  • Name five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, two things you can smell, one thing you can taste
  • Name a different animal for 10 first letters of the alphabet
  • Walk around the room, notice feet making contact with the floor
  • Weighted blanket
  • Push hands against the wall or stand with back against the wall

Water

  • Drink a glass of water
  • Splash water on face
  • Wash hands or hold a piece of ice

Distract with a Video of Baby Animals

  • Sometimes it’s nice to have a distraction. We like to use baby animals (click the link)! If you’re having symptoms of high anxiety or panic, it might be helpful to put on a video of baby animals playing and describe out loud (even if there’s no one around!) what you see.

What is Depression?

Depression ranges in seriousness from mild, temporary episodes of sadness to severe, persistent depression. Clinical depression is the more-severe form of depression, also known as major depression or major depressive disorder. Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to function at work and at home. Also, medical conditions (e.g., thyroid problems, a brain tumor or vitamin deficiency) can mimic symptoms of depression so it is important to rule out general medical causes.

Specific Signs & Symptoms of Clinical Depression

  • Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
  • Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as hobbies or sports
  • Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much
  • Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
  • Reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain
  • Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
  • Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements
  • Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame
  • Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
  • Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide
  • Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches

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Managing Stress

Managing stress can be challenging, and like most things — it takes time to get better at doing it. So first things first, let’s agree to be kind with ourselves on our journey towards learning how to manage stress effectively.

TED Talk by Kelly McGonigal: How to Make Stress Your Friend

The most important and interesting aspect of stress management is to remember perspective is everything. In her Ted talk (linked above), Stanford-based research psychologist Kelly McGonigal found that the key determining factor between people who experienced adverse health consequences as a result of stress and those who did not was actually what they believed about the stress. Essentially, if they believed that stress was bad, it negatively affected their health. If they believed stress was okay — even good — for them, the stress had little to no affect on their health and well-being. Watch her talk to learn more about ways in which we can befriend our stress!

Techniques for Stress Management

Teens can decrease stress with the following behaviors and techniques:

  • Exercise and eat regularly
  • Get enough sleep and have a good sleep routine
  • Avoid excess caffeine which can increase feelings of anxiety and agitation
  • Avoid illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. (If you find yourself in relationship with one of these substances, we encourage you to reach out to the Counseling Department. Through our Health and Safety program, we have protocol in place to support you without any associated punishment from the school)
  • Learn relaxation exercises (abdominal breathing and muscle relaxation techniques)
  • Develop assertiveness training skills. For example, state feelings in polite, firm, and not overly aggressive or passive ways: (“I feel angry when you yell at me.” “Please stop yelling.”)
  • Rehearse and practice situations which cause stress. One example is taking a speech class if talking in front of a class makes you anxious
  • Learn practical coping skills. For example, break a large task into smaller, more attainable tasks
  • Decrease negative self-talk: challenge negative thoughts – with alternative, neutral, or positive thoughts. “My life will never get better” can be transformed into “I may feel hopeless now, but my life will probably get better if I work at it and get some help.”
  • Learn to feel good about doing a competent or “good enough” job rather than demanding perfection from yourself and others
  • Take a break from stressful situations. Activities like listening to music, talking to a friend, drawing, writing, or spending time with a pet can reduce stress
  • Build a network of friends who help you cope in a positive way

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