On Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, Jupiter High School’s Mental Health Awareness Club (MHA) partnered with Annie’s Choice to host an event called Paint an Anchor.
“Painting an anchor is supposed to be your emotional anchor or something that keeps you grounded instead of your emotions spiraling out of control, because emotions can be overwhelming,” Daisy Nolf, senior and head of marketing for MHA, said.
Annie’s Choice is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping teens overcome mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. They also help with suicide prevention and assist others in getting through their difficulties.
“Last year they raised money for a scholarship to send a student who had severe mental health issues for college and help pay for that,” Nolf said. “When you have mental health issues it can get expensive with treatments.”
Paint an Anchor is one of the many events MHA takes part in. Just like the scholarship Annie’s Choice raised money for, it has shown in recent years that many other donors are also raising money for scholarships for kids that have anxiety, depression and face other psychological illnesses.
Anchors are supposed to help someone feel grounded or centered, it can be a memory, an activity, a place or just something that allows people to gain control of their emotions again.
“We as the mental health awareness club we like to try to have events that are kind of a stress relief, things that remind people to prioritize their mental health and we thought that this fit right in for people when things get stressful,” Sarah Guzick, science teacher and administrator for the MHA club, said.
While using an anchor won’t make mental disorders disappear, they can improve focus and mindfulness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among people 15-29 years old. Annie’s Choice works diligently to lower this number.
“I think the more information that’s out there, the more students, and anyone really, has access to help, because suffering with mental illness is not something that has to happen. There is help out there,” Guzick said.
Teens are the highest leading number for experiencing or developing a mental illness. According to WHO, one in seven adolescents ranging from 10-19 years of age have experienced mental illnesses though many of these cases are not treated and sometimes unrecognized. Making sure that adolescents have access to mental health care is crucial in their years into adulthood.
MHA and Annie’s Choice began working together this year and have been using multiple techniques to help adolescents have more outlets and opportunities to learn they are not alone. This idea was the motivation behind starting the club at JHS.
“Sabrina Cohen and Ruhani Dashmesh came to me a couple years ago and they wanted to [start the club] because they said they felt like there wasn’t a ton of student-led outreach about mental health,” Guzick said.
MHA has given students a chance to be around others who either want to help them or are going through the same thing. It has become crucial for communication to happen in order to start treating people who deal with mental health issues.
“Spreading awareness about it [mental illnesses] and making a club where people can get together who have mental health issues, it creates a sense of community where you’re not alone,” Nolf said.
