Metea Valley presents its very own showing of “Angst,” a documentary made by students about what it is like being an anxious adolescent. At the event organized by Kids Matter, the movie gives parents, teachers, social workers, and students a different point of view on anxiety. The documentary spoke about what not to do when feeling anxious and is used to educate about the mental health community.  A discussion was held after to talk about the problems in that particular community, some tips to help students, and some shared their different experiences

“I think that it’s really helpful for educating teenagers and people that work with teenagers about anxiety, I think it’s great,” licensed clinical professional counselor and founder and director of Counseling Works Kristen Breese said.

One of the main tips the documentary gives for teens is when feeling anxious,  it is worse to avoid the obstacle or thing that makes one feel anxious. Avoidance is a major problem and it makes the stress and nervousness fester even more. The best solution is to open up to an adult you can trust.  Students in the documentary expressed that they wished they had opened up sooner or wish they had someone to open up in general. 

“I would say for people, If they have anxiety, talk to your parents, talk to your friends, talk to a social worker, talk to somebody and get connected. I think, avoiding it is not helpful and I think the more that you’re willing, to be honest about what’s going on. And you have people that you trust, the better you’re gonna feel,” Breese said.

Mental health is very important to Metea students and teachers so using tips shown in the documentary could better benefit the community.  

“The documentary helped me be able to pay particular attention to my high school students that I care about very much and see them sometimes struggling with these issues,“ English teacher Casey Solgos said.