Mississippi teen face of national Macy’s Youth Mental Health campaign

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A 15-year-old from Starkville is getting consideration for her braveness to speak brazenly about her psychological well being standing. Now, she is a part of a nationwide marketing campaign to finish the stigma amongst younger individuals.

Final yr round this time, just a few weeks into the college yr, 15-year-old Alex Jones realized one thing was totally different.

“It was actually tough for me,” Jones mentioned. “I’m a very social particular person, and with the pandemic taking place and never having the ability to see individuals and now coming again, it was actually a flip, I might say. It was fairly irritating.”

Instantly her bubbly character was thrust into an area that she wasn’t used to. The scholar-athlete additionally felt the strain of performing for her coaches, academics, and fogeys. So, she joined The Jed Basis after which began speaking.

“It made me need to talk about it extra. It made me need to hopefully assist different individuals going by the identical factor as me with the change and shift within the environment,” mentioned Jones.

“Don’t wait till a pupil is in disaster or eager about suicide however transfer method upstream to take a look at and spot when somebody is simply starting to wrestle,” Jed Chief Scientific Officer Nance Roy mentioned.

The oldsters at The Jed Basis are working to embed this concept into younger individuals and assist them notice it’s okay to speak about your psychological well being standing. The inspiration is partnering with Macy’s to succeed in thousands and thousands, and Alex is without doubt one of the new faces of the youth psychological well being marketing campaign. The aim is to shed the stigma and get individuals speaking about their psychological well being standing. Small speak in these conditions can go a good distance.

“I like to speak, Jones mentioned. “I like to talk to individuals. I’m at all times the kind of particular person to say, ‘Hey, how are you? How was your day? Are you okay?’ I like checking up on individuals as a result of I do know anyone would need the identical for them.

Alex says with this newfound fame, together with popping up on the massive display in New York Occasions Sq. — she needs to assist individuals in any method she will be able to. The teenager additionally needs younger individuals to know it’d really feel isolating at instances, however you’re not alone.

“Any person on the earth might be having the identical struggles as you’re, and so they received by it, so you possibly can too,” Jones mentioned. “It’s at all times room for enchancment. Room for betterment, and you’ll at all times do it. That’s my motto — you are able to do it.”

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