By PAYTON WARREN
Sheridan High School Student
Editor’s Note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams.
Covid has changed everyone’s lives in many different ways. With the whole world basically shutting down and everyone having to stay home, obviously there would be a lot of change to the world or even yourself.
Quarantine was a very rough time for me, realizing many things about myself and overall going through some very bad depression. It was nice not having to wake up early every day and getting things done on my own time, but that made me realize how bad of a procrastinator I actually am. Lying in bed gave me absolutely no motivation to do anything; I would live like a slob for weeks. (I hate to admit this, but the only way my room would get clean is if my mom helped me.)
During summer I could feel myself become a little happier again. I could finally see people other than my family. Summer was really good to me. I was always with friends and I didn’t have to be stressed about anything. Hanging out with friends made me feel normal again. I guess you could say it was a distraction from what I was actually going through. I wasn’t ready to admit that I wasn’t happy or feeling like myself, so hanging out with friends was my way of coping and burying those feelings deep inside.
Fast forward to the start of school: I was super happy to be going back after being out of school for five months. As you could probably imagine, school was not anywhere close to being the same. The thing I loved the most about the school year was Friday nights and being in the cheer block for football games. I don’t think I went to even half of the games this year because it just wasn’t fun anymore due to new rules set in place because of Covid.
Toward the middle of the school year, I noticed myself not doing very well in life. There were moments when I couldn’t even get myself to get out of bed. I was struggling to keep up on my work and my grades (my grades weren’t super bad – I just usually have all As, so not having high grades wasn’t like me).
I was finding things to keep myself busy so I didn’t realize how unhappy I was. I was working two jobs on top of trying to keep up my grades for school, which wasn’t really helping my situation; at the end of the day, it just made it tremendously worse. I was getting overwhelmed with all these tasks I had to stay on top of, including fighting these thoughts I had no idea how to handle.
I was pushing everyone I cared for away. At one point I didn’t see anyone or hang out with anyone for months because of how sad I was. When people tried making plans, I would always make an excuse because I just wanted to stay under the covers in my bed.
At the moment while writing this column, I am doing better than I was. I started to talk to a therapist and be more open about how I was feeling. Talking to someone has helped a lot and I recommend it to anyone who is struggling with any type of mental health issues right now. I also try to put myself out there more and make more plans with people. It is rough sometimes but I know it’s good for me to get out. I end up enjoying it every time.
So, if you’re struggling with mental health issues right now, just know that it will get better. There will always be someone for you to talk to even if you feel like you have no one. Here are a few numbers you can text or call if you feel like there is no one close to you that you are able to talk to: Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24-hour crisis center or text MHA to 741741.