Christmas carols are playing in the senior lounge. Ugly sweaters have returned, met with love and loathing in equal measure. I haven’t seen a snowflake, but I can confirm: it’s winter, and it’s not a wonderland.

Winter is when we are most vulnerable to anxiety, depression, self-harm, and a host of other mental health issues. I’ve been dealing with depression and anxiety for my entire life. It’s a year round struggle for me, an unrelenting uphill battle for which the slope is steepest in winter. But this kind of vulnerability isn’t limited to those of us with diagnoses.

Trimester 2 is no piece of cake, and exams are lurking round the corner. Stress is high, skyrocketing for those of us applying to college. We are all struggling. And yet, to be depressed or anxious at Hackley is to be alone. There is no dialogue; there is little awareness. And so the silence of the season presses in on us, and the darkness shuts us down.

Hackley, we need to talk about mental health. Now. Ideally, we would have this conversation year round. But we’re a school that has trouble naming the issue, let alone talking about it. We need to break the silence and initiate a dialogue within our community. And that kind of change starts with the self.

Take a moment and assess your own well being. Are you drowning in work, is home a source of stress and seclusion? Reach out. I’ve had a messy high school experience, but Hackley teachers have always been accommodating. If approaching faculty seems daunting, talk to your advisor. They can open up those channels of communication that will be vital to preserving your sanity. Moreover, we’ve got professionals! Dr. Sadler is amazing, whether you need to talk or you need to take a break. And she works (confidentially) with more of your peers than you think.

The next step is interpersonal— check in with your friends and classmates. Are they afloat, or are they in need of a lifeline? A casual, earnest conversation will let them know that you care. One caveat: don’t make stress a competition. We’ve all done it; it’s part of the prep school environment. But you can’t win a game of brinksmanship. You’ll only end up hurting yourself and others. Instead, offer support as best you can. And when you can’t help your friends, get help for them.

Faculty: initiate conversations about your students’ well being. Be receptive to their complaints and concerns (and I know that’s a lot to ask, when you’ve heard it every year from every student). If there are kids that seem overworked and underslept, follow up with them or their advisor. You can’t cut curriculum, but you can be understanding. The socratic method is essentially academic group therapy, after all.

Awareness is only part of the equation. As we begin to talk about these issues, we should also be taking action to bring about change. Hackley has excellent resources, relative to most high schools. Maybe those resources need to come to us, before we’re ready to look to them. So what action can we take, what can we do to bring about change? The answer is, pretty much anything. Whatever works.

A friend of mine commented that while free candy is nice, she still has five tests this week. I love tea, and free food (don’t we all), but there are more effective ways to reduce stress and engage the community. Suggestions from students and faculty include offering free neck massages, like those at a nail salon, and guided meditation. Or another day —like First Friday— that brings us together for play, not work, offering a respite and an opportunity to bond over something other than a Doc Rob deadline. Workshops are great! What about one focused on stress relief, with Mr. Colten teaching coping strategies and time management?

Many of these suggestions require time, planning, or funding. But in the meantime, we can also take action on a smaller, improvised scale. I’ve had teachers allot three minutes of class-time to meditation every day, and (once) two minutes for an ‘80s dance party. Solutions don’t have to be school-organized; what about movie nights, impromptu rock-climbing, even board games (remember those?)—the possibilities are endless and entirely up to you. Try something, anything. We need opportunities to let go of our stress before it becomes something we can’t manage.

It might be difficult, but I have faith that we can raise awareness about mental health, illness, and the importance of wellbeing. So, take a step back from holiday cheer, if only for a moment, and think about mental health in our community. Think about each other, and how we can help one another. ’Tis the season, after all.