August 23, 2019
Welcome to North Hunterdon High School for the 2019-2020 school year! Throughout the school year, you will receive emails from me, the Student Assistance Counselor, on a variety of topics in order to give you current information on teen trends, mental health, and drug-related topics. The NHHS Student Assistance Program aims to offer all-encompassing information to parents and students while also offering a variety of support services.
“Stressed” and “anxious” are words that we hear high school students say all the time. Adolescents and teens of this generation are dealing with many pressures that we could not have imagined even 15 years ago. According to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), 20% of youth ages 13-18 live with a mental health condition. Our district places great emphasis on trying to help students who are struggling. Our counselors and staff spend a great deal of time working with students to help them through the challenges they are facing. Some of this is done in a one on one setting, while some of this is done through support groups. We offer support groups on a variety of topics, including but not limited to:
- anxiety
- stress/mindfulness
- divorce/family concerns
- girls group
- LGBTQ
- cancer support
- loss group
If you believe that your child(ren) would benefit from any of these supports, please reach out to me at tkraatz@nhvweb.net. We are here to help your child and family.
NAMI-Knowing the Warning Signs – https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Know-the-Warning-Signs
Trying to tell the difference between what expected behaviors are and what might be the signs of a mental illness isn’t always easy. There’s no easy test that can let someone know if there is mental illness or if actions and thoughts might be typical behaviors of a person or the result of a physical illness.
Each illness has its own symptoms, but common signs of mental illness in adults and adolescents can include the following:
- Excessive worrying or fear
- Feeling excessively sad or low
- Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
- Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
- Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
- Avoiding friends and social activities
- Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
- Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
- Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
- Changes in sex drive
- Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don’t exist in objective reality)
- Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia)
- Abuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
- Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
- Thinking about suicide
- Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
- An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance
Mental health conditions can also begin to develop in young children. Because they’re still learning how to identify and talk about thoughts and emotions, their most obvious symptoms are behavioral. Symptoms in children may include the following:
- Changes in school performance
- Excessive worry or anxiety, for instance fighting to avoid bed or school
- Hyperactive behavior
- Frequent nightmares
- Frequent disobedience or aggression
- Frequent temper tantrums
To learn more, please visit: https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers.
Sincerely,
Tara Kraatz
Student Assistance Counselor
Anti-Bullying Specialist
North Hunterdon High School
1445 Rt. 31
Annandale, NJ 08801
908-713-4167
