Do you ever feel sad for no reason? Or don’t know why you feel that way? From the ages of 13 – 18 the brain goes through a huge amount of growth. You may have trouble regulating your emotions or making connections. So what can teens do to help them through this? 

Doctor Janis Kunkle says “I think those boring things that we can always do better can make a big difference with our mental health” when asked about how teens can improve their mental state.

“I think sleep is a big thing if we’re not getting good sleep we’re going to be crankier and we’re going to be moodier and I think a lot of teenagers one of the barriers to getting good sleep is the screens.” Doctor Kunkle says. 

The blue light in screens of ten wakes your brain up more and makes it harder to sleep. “When we are on the screens a lot it wakes our brains up in a different way that makes it harder to get to sleep, so we know that when kids are on the screens whether it’s video games or social media that definitely affects their mood, we respond better with interpersonal relationships, ” Dr.Kunkle says. 

“Another thing teens can do to help with their mental health is to eat less processed, more whole foods. Don’t follow a specific diet, but just try to make healthier food choices and you’re going to feel better.” Dr. Kunkle says. 

When asked for other advice on teen mental health Dr. Kunkle said “Have a group of people that you can talk to, adults that you can go to if you have problems because everybody is going to have problems, so identify in advance who are three adults that you can go to if you have important or uncomfortable things to talk about.” 

“So those are kind of three things to think about, your sleep, making healthy choices and having a support system that you can go to.” Dr. Kunkle says.