5 Mental Health Awareness Activities for High School Students
The mental health crisis in high schools can be combated with healthy habits and tactics. Learn about mental health awareness activities for high school students to help you out.
Written by Tess Pacetti ’26
The need for mental health awareness at the high school level has grown rapidly throughout the last few years. The rise of social media, body checking, and constant comparisons for teenagers have added to an increasing everyday pressure in their lives while making many teens experience body dysmorphia.
Mental health issues are also often stigmatized and labeled as uncomfortable topics to discuss, which isolates a struggling teen from expressing his or her feelings. But today, one in five teens in the United States reported they experienced mental health issues, creating a desperate need for new tactics to help them.
Constant pressure from their environments causes many teens to feel overwhelmed, and especially with college applications approaching, stress levels rise to new highs. These teens are expected to perform their best all the time without taking a moment to assess their emotional state.
So, what can be done to help students during this difficult season? One valuable tool is to find mental health awareness activities for high school students that fit you. Let’s dive into some important student support tips.
Activities to Support Mental Health During High School
There are many different methods that are recommended to help manage your mental health and stress levels. Today, we’ll focus on five different tactics to promote mental health awareness and help combat mental health problems in teenagers.
1. Mental Health Communication
Many high schools, such as St. Agnes, have wellness counselors and school therapists to help students manage their mental health and provide an outlet for discussion. Most students feel isolated and alone in their struggles, and counselors create a safer and more comfortable environment.
Conversations about mental health can sometimes be emotional for teenagers, but counselors are there to support student’s mental health and address the problems they are experiencing.
When teenagers express their concerns to a counselor or a trusted friend, it reduces their anxiety and depression while also creating a safe space for the teen to share their emotions. These counselors offer lessons to help battle mental health issues and to spread awareness to other struggling teenagers.
These conversations and activities to help bring understanding to mental health issues can also help decrease mental health crises and help students realize their full potential without being held back by their anxiety or stress. This freedom is especially important during the formative high school years before college and during a teen’s developmental stage.
2. Art Therapy
The use of art and creative expression is another way to lower stress for teenagers and create a safe environment. Creative outlets such as drawing, painting, beading, and pottery allow your brain to relax and not analyze problems.
Art therapy is recommended to be completed during study breaks or after school to give your body a break. Coupled with breathing practices, such as the box breathing method, students draw or craft to express their emotions in a relaxing and fun way. Just 15 or 20 minutes a day can benefit a teen's mental health dramatically.
Examples of Creative Expression
- Painting
- Drawing
- Wood Carving
- Collage
- Pottery
3. Practicing Mindfulness Activities
Mindfulness is an important method for managing a teen's mental health and stress levels. You can find many outlets for mindfulness, such as meditation or affirmations. Just 10 minutes a day can give perspective to a student’s life and allow for the release of anxiety.
Many young people have little time during the day, but practicing mindfulness and affirmations is a quick and simple way to manage emotions in daily life. Whether before taking an important test, first thing in the morning, or last thing before bed, mindfulness can be practiced anywhere at any time.
Mindfulness is a way to center a teen’s life and focus on important issues. A student’s daily life can be full of anxiety, but practicing mindfulness is a method to battle it. Lessons on mental health for teens are of utmost importance when it’s so easy to get carried away with comparing yourself to others.
4. Physical Activity
Outdoor recreation and exercise have many mental health benefits, which is why this type of activity has been recommended by counselors and doctors for managing and supporting mental health.
When teens move their bodies and get blood flow circulated throughout their system, endorphins are released that make them feel good and decrease anxiety and stress levels. Running, walking, or even yoga can improve a teen's daily mood while also providing many health benefits.
Exercise and physical activity combat obesity in teenagers, which is a leading cause of depression. By getting some vitamin D and moving their bodies, teens' mental health problems are severely reduced.
Examples of Physical Activity
- Running
- Biking
- Walking
- Yoga
- Swimming
5. Mood Tracking and Journaling
The use of mood tracking or journaling is one of the most effective methods to manage emotions and support teen’s mental health. It is an easy and simple method to keep track of a teen's mental state and for them to understand how to best combat their issues.
Journaling is also a tactic to cope with stress and offers an opportunity for self-reflection. Many school counselors and online websites recommend this tactic to help manage stress and mental health because it provokes thoughtfulness and allows teens to better understand themselves.
Journaling Prompts for Teenagers
- What obstacles did I face today, and how did I overcome them?
- What emotion have I felt most strongly today and why?
- How do I respond when I am angry, and why?
- How do I feel right now?
- What am I holding onto in my life that I need to let go of?
Discover More Mental Health Awareness Activities for High School Students
This list of mental health activities for managing stress, anxiety, and depression is not a complete list. But it is a start for teenagers struggling with their mental health in high school specifically.
If you are a teen struggling, you are not alone. Many teens are in the same situation as you, and there is no reason to be ashamed for asking for help. Many people want to help if you give them a chance.
St. Agnes is focused on creating a safe and welcoming environment for students by bringing awareness to mental health and helping provide lessons to manage emotional responses.
Lessons about mental health allow teenagers to grow into smart, level, and compassionate young people. If you would like to know more about the mental health awareness activities for high school students at St. Agnes, contact the Wellness Department today. Discover our comprehensive student support program!
