“The common thing to hear is ‘it gets better.’ Don’t get me wrong, it does, but I think a better thing to say is ‘it’s all worth it.’” These words are from Sam Stratton, an Appleton North junior who has dealt with mental illness as early as the 4th grade.
The month of May was Mental Health Month, and helped draw attention to an issue that affects everyone, students at North being no exception.
According to results from the 2015-2016 Youth Risk Behavioral Survey question, which asked “during the past 30 days, how many days was your mental health not good?”, 60.5 percent of surveyed North students reported one or more days, compared to Outagamie County results of 64.2 percent. With more than half of North’s surveyed students reporting troubles with mental health on one or more days in a thirty day period, North has continued to emphasize awareness and resources.
“I don’t know if we can ever have enough [resources]. I do think that Appleton North is making a cognitive effort to raise awareness about mental health,” said Mr. Eric Eastman, Psychology teacher and leader of Psych Club. “When you look at stats saying 20-25 percent of people in the U.S. suffer from depression, people still try to fight alone. They thinking they’re alone. Peer-led efforts work better, so students make other students aware of resources and peers that can help them and get them the help they need.”
Though many fight mental illnesses like depression alone, some students are willing to talk about their experiences with mental illness.
“If I had a message for people with mental illnesses it would be: don’t be afraid of admitting that there’s something different about you. Just because there’s something different about you doesn’t make you any less capable,” North Senior Yasmeen Ashour said. Diagnosed with anxiety at a young age, Ashour went to therapists and tried different medications to help her handle her anxiety.

However, these weren’t completely effective.
“Whenever I wasn’t occupied or anxious, I would notice how tired, sad, and exhausted I was.” This led to another diagnosis of chronic depression. “Anxiety and depression are like two buttons. When one is pushed down, the other is pushed up. It makes it really hard to find medication for one that doesn’t set the other off.” Ashour eventually went through five different medications over the following years, looking to balance anxiety and depression.
Ashour explains she is in a much better place now. “I can still have bad days, but the people I surround myself with are really understanding and positive. You just need to insert yourself in a positive environment.”
These experiences have made Ashour passionate about raising awareness about mental health.
“I see people struggle and I want to make it easier for them and have them understand all the stigmas around mental health. I want them to know they’re still capable people,” she said.
Stigmas play a large role in the fight against mental health issues. “Since there’s a stigma, people don’t want to say they have [a mental illness]. Since no one wants to talk about it, the stigma gets stronger,” Eastman explains.