Many of us are dealing with big emotions. The pandemic, racial tensions, climate change, political polarization, and the uncertainty it all brings can at times feel overwhelming. Here are some tips from JED Senior Advisor, Dr. Janis Whitlock, to manage big emotions during these uncertain times.
Janis Whitlock, Ph.D., M.P.H., JED senior advisor, has worked in the area of adolescent and young adult mental health, resilience and wellbeing for over 30 years. She is dedicated to bridging science, practice, and lived experience wisdom in ways that inform, enhance and support the human capacity to thrive. She has experience as a frontline provider and program developer and, for the past two decades, as a researcher, educator, author, and public speaker in these and related areas. As the founder and director of the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery and the co-founder of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury, she has deep expertise in areas of self-injury and related mental health challenges, including suicide, depression and anxiety. She has also studied and written about connectedness, resilience, the role of social media in mental health and prevention, and sexual health.
If you or someone you know needs to talk to someone right now, text, call, or chat 988 for a free confidential conversation with a trained counselor 24/7.
You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.
If this is a medical emergency or if there is immediate danger of harm, call 911 and explain that you need support for a mental health crisis.
