1. What Does Mental Health Mean to You?
Kick off to the Connecting With Our Communities Teen Service Project for May is Mental Health Month
Teens Are Talking…
What Does Mental Health Mean to You?
Children’s interagency Coordinating Council (CIACC) of Bergen County

2. Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts Are Talking About it!

3. Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts
To me, mental health is very important because you will be able to make good choices. It is also important because you will be able to feel happy and sad without getting frustrated
Age 10
Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts

4. Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts
Mental health means to me how well you can pay attention
Age 11
Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts

5. Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts
Mental health means to me how you think.  Also, it could mean what goes on in your mind
Age 10
Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts

6. Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts
Mental health means for me is how you act mentally.  It also can mean that something is going on in your brain
Age 10
Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts

7. Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts
Mental health is very serious.  It is important to stay healthy and help out anyone who is going through sickness
Age 10
Dumont 5th grade Girl Scouts

8. Lyndhurst High School Is Talking About it!

9. Mental health is one’s ability to cope with situations and keeping their emotions in check.
Age 16
Lyndhurst High School

10. Being mentally healthy is having the ability of being able to go about your everyday life without struggling to do everyday things
Age 16
Lyndhurst High School

11. Mental health means stability, clear thoughts, and a positive outlook on life.
Age 17
Lyndhurst High School

12. Mental health is something that every human has to have, they should have good mental health. It’s about their psychological well-being.
Age 17
Lyndhurst High School

13. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health means a lot to me. The condition of my Mental Health affects my mood. It’s been really wobbly for a while. I’m not getting a lot of sleep. I’m also helping friends through depression. It’s been a mess lately.
Age 12
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

14. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health can be a learning disability. It is when your brain doesn’t think properly. In my life, I have seen people with mental health issues. This is what mental health means to me.
Age 12
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

15. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health means unhealthy thoughts going through someone's head at all times and that can even cause suicide or depression.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

16. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
The first that comes to mind is the brain, some people have good health and some have bad. What it means to me is the way you use your brain, is the way you’ll act. If you keep learning bad things, you will act bad. If you learn good things, you’ll be good. Mental health is the state your brain is in. Good or bad.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

17. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
I think mental health means that people help people that have mental problems and they need help, so they take care of him/her, teach them stuff, make them make friends, so they can feel better about themselves like human beings.
Age 12
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

18. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health means someone who has a disability or someone with a problem like ADHD or Anger. It also means that they need extra help or something like that.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

19. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health to me is one of the most important things because the brain controls your body, organs, and thoughts.
Age 12
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

20. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health means a lot to me because if I don’t control it, I can get into trouble and make bad decisions. Lots of people in my life suffer from mental health issues and it makes me feel bad. Having bad mental health can mess up your future like being homeless, poor, drug addict, etc. I try my best everyday to keep good mental health and not get into any problems.
Age 12
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

21. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
To me it means a disease that deals with the mind and gives people problems. It is something that people should know about due to the recent events. These people should be helped and properly treated as people. It can be harmful if not treated properly and should not go unnoticed.
Age 12
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

22. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health is a topic that is very important to me because I know some people with mental health and I see the struggle they go through every day to try to fight it. This is a topic that some people may know how to deal with the problems they have or have other people knowing how to help and deal with the people that have these mental health issues.
Age 13
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

23. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health means to me that you should treat people how you want to be treated. If you’re mean to someone, that means that they will be mean back so if your mean you should talk to someone about it like a parent, guardian, counselor, etc.
Age 13
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

24. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
I’m not 100% sure of what it means but I’m pretty sure it’s your non-physical health. It means a lot to me because innocent kids are suffering and hurting themselves on purpose because they feel they deserve it or that they don’t belong in this world. My opinion is that everyone was made different but we all belong in this world. It doesn’t matter if you’re White, Black, Hispanic, Muslim, or whatever, we are all even.
Age 13
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

25. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
To me, mental health is healthy thoughts. Bad thoughts, like suicide, are unhealthy thoughts. So my guess is that mental health is health for your thoughts.
Age 10
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

26. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health is to me important because if you don’t feel good about something you should tell someone. It is important because if your going through something it is important to you.
Age 10
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

27. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health means that somebody is not being mentally hurt and they are ok on the inside. Mental health is an important thing because we have to know when we are being mentally hurt. You should tell somebody if someone is mentally bullying you.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

28. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
To me, mental health is important. People with mental issues have something wrong with their brain that affects their whole body.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

29. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
What mental health means to me is that it helps kids with mental problems. Also, it helps disabled people. This is what I think mental health means.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

30. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health is how you act. Mental health could also be how your body reacts to something. For example, you might be really angry at a sibling and they might have embarrassed you. You could be really angry and throw a fit or take it out on someone else who doesn’t deserve it.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

31. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
To me, mental health is how your body reacts to different things. For example, when you can’t solve a problem, you get stressed about it. Say you lost a competition, you might be angry or sad. Mental health can even affect your emotions or feelings. For example, you can’t spell a word out, you’ll fail and since you fail, you might even yell at your friend for no reason. This is what mental health means to me.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

32. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
To me, mental health means when someone is not healthy enough to act right. Also, it could mean you’re not healthy enough that you could end up in the hospital.
Age 10
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

33. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
If you’re not healthy in your brain, you might make bad decisions.
Age 10
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

34. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
When a person needs help or has anger issues and wants to talk to someone to make them feel better. Mental help will make you a better person than who you were before (if you have problems). Some examples of why a person would need mental help is if someone is being bullied, hard time at home, or some people might just want mental help so if they have no one to talk to or get their feelings out.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students

35. Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students
Mental health means a lot to me. It is something everyone is born with. Mental health is what goes on in your brain when you are asleep, when you make decisions, when you think, what you see in your head, etc. Sometimes the brain’s mental health does not function correctly.
Age 11
Lyndhurst Upper Elementary Students