Research has led me to believe that my community does a pretty good job supporting mental well-being. This is because there are lots of counselors that can help you. For example, you can request to meet with the counselors at school to talk about anything and no one will know unless it can affect other people. 

Everyone in the Fremont Unified School District has a school ID. On the back of our school IDs, there are national domestic violence hotlines, national suicide prevention lifelines, crisis text lines, and many local crisis hotlines for the San Francisco area.  Schools have also made us watch a video about seeing signs that our peers need help, having dark thoughts, checking social media to see if someone is going to commit suicide, and reporting these issues. 

If you see someone who needs help, you can get them to go to a mental facility. There are places for everyone to go, whether because of different ages or different needs. Different needs include needing to cope with something or just needing someone to listen without judgment. 

Other things that can also affect someone’s mental well-being are lack of sleep, lack of exercise, trauma, poor physical health, social isolation, and stress. So for example, if you improve your sleep schedule, you will also improve your health. Playing sports is effective in reducing stress, general and social anxiety, depression, and loneliness. You can also just relax to improve your mental health. 

California offers mental health support for everyone.