Expert POV: How Everyday Connection Can Help
The first conversation about mental health doesn’t have to be the hard one. It can be about how classes went. It can be about a ...
Youth POV: What Kunling Wants Adults to Know about Teen Mental Health
 Before high school, Kunling loved bird-watching. She would go outside with a journal and draw what she saw. She began nature journaling in middle school. It gave her time to be herself, and it taught her patience. Then high school started, and gradually, that time disappeared. Schoolwork became more challenging and college applications were looming. At home, she carried responsibilities that many of her classmates didn’t. Her family had moved to the United States several years earlier, and Kunling often helped her parents navigate life in a new country. By sophomore year, she was exhausted. “I thought I was being high-achieving,” she recalls. “I thought I was working hard.” She stopped spending as much time with friends. She stopped going to parks on the weekends. She stopped doing something that for years she loved to do. Something else changed that year. A student at her school died by suicide. Then, during winter break, Kunling learned that the son of a beloved former teacher had also died by suicide. The losses stayed with her. And as Kunling reflected on what she was experiencing in her own life — the exhaustion, the pressure, the feeling that she wasn’t doing enough — she began to see her own struggles differently. She also began going back outside. Kunling returned to birdwatching. She brought her journal to parks again. She drew. She wrote. Eventually, she started inviting other young people to join her. In an effort to support teen mental health, Kunling founded Project Wild Wellness, a nonprofit that encourages young people to “look outward to reflect inward.” Nature journaling can sound more complicated than it is, Kunling says. But it can be as simple as drawing something you notice. Writing a poem. Jotting down a question. Sitting in a park with friends and making something together. Sometimes the important part is just having somewhere to put what you’re feeling. “When I was struggling, I didn’t tell any of this to my counselor,” Kunling says. She talked with friends, but she knows firsthand how difficult it can be to put an experience into words, especially with an adult. She thinks there are small things adults can do to make that easier. Teenagers may worry about being judged or disappointing parents, teachers, counselors, and other adults they look up to. Kunling says adults can show they’re a safe person to talk with. “Sometimes teenagers need help, but they won’t necessarily be comfortable enough to take the first step,” she says. Kunling is still bringing nature journaling to other young people. She’s seen students draw, write poems, talk about their families, or simply sit together. For her, the practice has become a way of remembering that whatever feels overwhelming now is only one moment in a much longer life. She sometimes thinks about a tree she is drawing. What will it look like in two months? In winter? Next spring? It gives her something to look toward. If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, text, call, or chat 988, or text HOME (or HOLA) to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. Related links |