I'm Stressed By Noah Fischer

This month's blog post is supposed to be a current event, and I really don't to talk about politics, or any news stories because I'm sure that they're going to be done a million times over by everyone else, so we're going to discuss my stress levels, as that is the only thing that is new and current thing in my life.

It is unbelievable the amount of stress I am already under when it's only October. I've been comparing it to as if I have every final on the same day, at the same time, and they're all on subjects that I haven't learned. We've only been in school for a little over a month. That is ridiculous. I have no idea what happened from this year to last year, but teachers have suddenly decided to amp up the work load so much that it can not just be attributed to moving up a grade level and the classes and work is harder. It's as if all the teachers have banded together to make us miserable (this is a generalization of course, it's not all teachers, but most of mine). They've decided this year that it's OK to assign homework every night, 3 projects a week, and a test and 2 quizzes every week. I'm at the point where I would see it as completely normal to have 4 tests in a row on any given day. I am in the marching band as well, so that takes up most of my night of 3 week days and takes away my whole weekend, leaving me limited time to do all of my assignments. Yes, I know some people have a sport every day, but to go from having every day to only some days is a big change for me and is another source of stress.

Now it's going to get a little heavy, so strap yourselves in, if you're even still reading. Not only does being over stressed just suck in general, it's had a huge toll on my mental health. As someone who suffers from other mental health issues, this on top of those was probably the worst thing that could have happened to me. There are some days where I have a project due, homework in all or most of my classes, and multiple tests the next day, and that is when I just can't handle it. I've gone from having one or two breakdown maybe two or three times a week, to having three or four breakdowns every day. The toll that this school year has already had on me is indescribable. Some nights I will go to sleep crying, and wake crying, then have to do all the work that I didn't finish the previous night. If this is only October, I don't even want to think about how the rest of the year is going to go, or how junior year is going to be. And I know it sounds like I'm just complaining because I don't want to do my homework, but it truly is as bad as I'm making it seem, or at least that's how it seems to me, I can't speak for other people. The one thing that I can say is that I can't keep this up for much longer, so either teachers are going to have to tone it down, which they won't, or I'm just going to have to stop doing the work to take care of myself, which really isn't an option either.

This isn't just me. According to the Washington Post, teens are more anxious and depressed than ever. They reported that over the past 5 years, calls to hotlines have gone up by 12%. A high school counselor from Maryland said that this year more students have been hospitalized for mental health issues than ever. Teens now compared to 5 years ago also have a harder time communicating their issues to family or friends, which makes things even worse. The cause of this spike in mental health issues is unknown, which is pretty scary. If we don't know what's causing this, then we really can't fix it. But if I'm not just the only one going through this, then we need to figure it out fast, because this issue is much bigger than just me.

I don't know what pictures to put in for this so here are some of the bands/artists that help me calm down when I get over worked, because that's related I guess.

Pierce the Veil
 

EDEN


Hayley Kiyoko

(this isn't her actual cover, the real one is a little too PG-13)