It’s National Suicide Prevention Month, here at OCSA we can start spreading awareness to all of our students and staff. As you may have seen at club fair, a new club NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) has been added to the roster. That’s a good way to start fighting mental illnesses and comeback suicide. There are also other ways to contribute, try reaching out to your friends and check up on them. When walking in the hallways try complimenting others, it could make their day. You can make small simple gifts, such as bracelets, a snack, or something in your art form to show appreciation for them. In some states workshops are taking place to guide young and old minds in Suicide Prevention. Do we need anger management?

Sometimes we need a rage room. Breaking, destroying, trashing…because it feels like we’ve been thrown away. When your mind wanders into that dark place, there’s no telling how easy it’ll be to swim back up to the surface. The goal is to float, not to sink. The first step to swimming is keeping one’s body above the water. Avoiding the sharks that will chew and cut your skin, paddling away from the whirlpool that will suck you away. Focus your mind on the objectives to stop the negative thoughts from taking over, start with positive thinking.

No bad thoughts here, we’re taking your mind to a good place! Turn up the volume on your music and start moving. Picture yourself walking or running somewhere, you’re escaping from the hell that trapped you. Tell yourself you CAN get out, and you WILL gain your peace back. In order to begin thinking positively you have to motivate your mind into thinking that this is possible. Happiness? Possible. Use positive affirmations to calm your anxiety and overthinking thoughts. Repeating them will make you believe it. For example:

• “I know I will be okay”
• “I can move forward the things that hold me back”
• “Sometimes things are out of my control, it will be alright”
• “There is a good future waiting for me, and I will live it”
• “If I put my mind to it, I can do anything”

After looking at yourself and saying them out loud, we can start planning things to do to ease your mind. Establish a daily routine you can dedicate to your progress of improving your wellness. When you wake up in the morning fuel your body by eating a healthy meal. Never skip any meal of the day, eat real dishes instead of living off of snacks. Run, dance, stretch, walk, connect with nature after eating your greens. And at the end of the day, you can relax and hit the replay. You can adjust your schedule to your specific interests. When everything feels like it’s irrelevant, there can only be one resort, mobile games. Playing these simple games can help you calm down quickly in any situation. Here are some recommendations:

• Wordscapes
• Monument Valley
• Geometry dash
• Paint by number
• Stardew Valley
• Lifestyle simulators

Maybe you can play with your friends on multiplayer games. Together we all can prevent suicide my doing small things like this. It starts with what you’re thinking, to what you are doing. If you can change your way of thought, you can alter the results of your mindset.