Drained. 

This is how so many students describe feeling right now. Many have run out of mental energy and stamina. The challenges and crises of the past year have left many of us emotionally and mentally exhausted. 

My name is Gracie Pixton and I am a senior here at Lincoln. I began passionately advocating for and writing about mental health for the Cardinal Times since my junior year. Some of my previous pieces have included “Op-Ed: Lincoln needs to do more to support students’ mental health,” “Quarantine takes a toll on the mental health of students” and “Lincoln advocates for mental health at first wellness fair.”

Through the process of writing these articles, I have learned much about mental health in general and the mental state of students specifically within the Lincoln community. 

It is no secret that Lincoln is a hyper-competitive school in which students are constantly pushing themselves to excel. The IB program is rigorous and, for many students, overwhelming. Online learning has changed Lincoln’s intense academic nature changed as, now, many students are struggling to keep up with their workload and navigate online courses. 

As a senior who has attended Lincoln for the entirety of my high school career, I have been a witness to the mental health challenges that students at this school face and have battled some of them myself. There are things that I learned along the way, advice that was given to me, and resources that were shared that I now hope to pass along to the rest of the Lincoln community. 

In this column, I will be diving deeper into the many mental health challenges faced by Lincoln students such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. I’ll also be providing resources to combat these challenges. 

We are fortunate to have many resources within the Lincoln community that I will be utilizing to help provide reliable information to students. Lincoln’s nurse Mary Johnson (Nurse Mary) has graciously offered to share her expertise with me and provide support for the writing of this column. 

I am excited to take on this project and to be able to explore a topic which, like many Lincoln students, I am so passionate about. My hope is that students within the Lincoln community will learn to prioritize their mental health and that this column would provide students with the skills and resources they need to do so.  

RESOURCES 

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

The Trevor Project (For LGBTQ young community) – 1-866-488-7386

YouthLine (For teens in crisis) – 1-877-968-8491

Friends For Survival, Inc. (Support for suicide survivors) – 1-916-392-0664

Multnomah County Call Center/Crisis Line: (503) 988-4888 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

Urgent Walk-In Clinic 4212 SE Division (503) 963-2575  (Like Zoom Care for Mental Health) 

DAILY 7am-10:30pm –  insurance not a barrier

LINCOLN RESOURCES 

Giovanna Bocanegra (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) – [email protected]

Judy Marantz-Herzberg (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) –  [email protected] 

Jim Hanson (School Psychologist) –  [email protected] 

Sada Dewey (Counseling Students last name: Schu – Z) – [email protected] 

Danielle Holloway (Counseling Students last name: Hi- Mc) –  [email protected] 

Shae Morris  (Counseling Students last name: Cr-He) –  [email protected] 

Neomi Navarro (Counseling Students last name:A-Co & ELL) – [email protected] 

Debra Sankovitz  (Counseling Students last name: Me-SchoForeign Exchange Students) – [email protected] 

Mary Johnson (School Nurse) –  [email protected]