What is really going on inside your head? Out of the 90 thousand thoughts you have every day, how many of them are worries or anxieties? Every home in New Zealand has at least one person who has had, or still has anxious, depressed or suicidal thoughts. Earlier this week a well respected speaker, Lance Berdette, kindly brought to us by Otago Rural Support, came to speak to our school about mental health and different techniques to help us cope with certain emotions and situations. Lance had been in the police force for many years, and realised the importance of mental health support, leading him to where he is mostly involved today, in suicide prevention. There are so many things going on inside our brains, so many things that can stress us out and bring us down. Often when we worry, our brains exaggerate the negative aspects, only making the situations worse. We need to stop unnecessary worry, to do this, Lance suggested a ‘risk management plan’. Ask yourselves these three simple questions about your worry. What is it? What is the likelihood of it happening? What can I do about it? Just processing your thoughts in this way can break down the stress and help you see the situation more clearly. He also walked us through some effective breathing techniques that can be used to get rid of anger, give our brains a break and even to help us sleep. In high school we begin to face many new pressures with school, sports, work and our home lives but as we get older these pressures and responsibilities only increase. Lance advised a three part strategy to help us manage this ever increasing load of pressures. Socialisation, talk to people about what is going on in your life. It is important who you talk to and what you talk to them about. Exercise, helps to clear your mind and shake off hindering emotions such as anger. You often come back with a fresh perspective. Sleep, is so important! Because when you dream, your brain is taking all of the information from the day and saving all of the important data. We were reminded that the little things in life really matter. Things like making your bed first thing in the morning, give your brain a sense of accomplishment, pride in completing a task. Lance advised us to drink more water, to look forward to good things and to smile more. Leaving us with a challenge he said, “You can control your thoughts…. it's just a thought..”