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As a teenager, opening up about mental health can be a difficult process.

Statistics show that mental health is a serious issue among young people – one in five teens or young adults lives with a mental health condition, and depression is globally one of the leading causes of illnesses and disability among adolescence.

Dealing with anxiety or depression as a teenager can be confusing because they may be processing different emotions they aren’t sure how to manage. Parents are often the first to notice significant changes in the behavior of their teenagers – like changes in eating, sleeping, trouble in school, or isolating themselves.

For young people dealing with mental health issues, they may be scared to reach out to a parent or a trusted loved one, and for a parent it can be hard to understand what their child is going through, or know to reach out for help. The unnecessary stigma due to outside pressure from peers and the rest of society can also make youth more wary to acknowledge when they are struggling and reach out.

At David Lawrence Centers, we’ve created the #StandUp campaign for that exact reason. Our goal is to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with mental health, including depression, anxiety, bullying, and substance use. We encourage everyone to #StandUp to mental health issues in the community, school, for themselves, and for their friends — and create a healthy dialogue around mental health, where individuals feel comfortable talking about it and reaching out for help.

The #StandUp Multimedia Contest is a way to get the community involved, and to encourage local middle and high school students to #StandUp and be part of the conversation about mental health.

Students can submit an essay, poem, song, or video submission up until January 31st, 2020 with a cash prize for the winner.

To learn more and submit an entry, click this link: https://davidlawrencecenters.org/standup-multimedia-contest/.