It's not always easy being a teenager. Although it may seem like the SAS counselors spend most of the time helping students with schedules and college, they are also trained to help you sort things out when life gets complicated. SAS counselors plus our school psychologist are professionally trained to help students with a range of situations. When you need some advice or would just like a shoulder to lean on we hope you'll seek us out. If you have a connection to someone in the counseling office that is not your "official" counselor, please feel free to speak with that person as well. 

Sometimes it's easier to read about something on your own before speaking to a counselor. We've identified some web sites that we think are pretty good at giving you honest and factual information about topics that you may feel uncomfortable discussing with others. After reading this information we hope you'll consider talking further with your counselor, parent, or other trusted adult.

Mental Health Related Sites

Change Your Mind About Mental Health
Sponsored by the American Psychological Association, this site approaches mental health concerns from the young adult's point of view. It's designed to help teens assess their own concerns and decide whether professional help is needed. Anecdotes and examples make serious mental health problems easier to identify and understand.

He@lth
This site attempts to improve understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. It describes the most common mental disorders, commonly prescribed psychiatric drugs, and offers links to web sites on topics from Agoraphobia to Bulimia to Learning Disorders to Stress.

Go Ask Alice!
Columbia University's Go Ask Alice! is the world's leading health question and answer service with an archive of over 2,500 straight-forward and in-depth responses to questions sent anonymously to Alice!'s e-mail box.

Anxiety Disorders
The National Institute of Mental Health gives a sketch of each known anxiety disorder and has a keyword search to help identify symptoms.

Stress
Although stress at its worst literally can be a killer, total eradication of stress is not ideal, either. This site helps you find your optimal level of stress and learn how to maintain it. 

Depression and Death 

Whenever you think that someone you know is in danger of suicide, get help. Suggest that he or she talk with a counselor, sympathetic teacher, coach, clergyman, or other adult you respect. You could also suggest they call the Singapore SOS suicide prevention center at (toll free) 1-800-221-4444 or at 6221-4444. If your friend refuses, take it upon yourself to talk with an SAS counselor for advice on handling the situation. If it's a weekend or evening, please call your counselor, the school nurse, your favorite teacher at home, or another adult that you trust and ask for help.

depressedteens.com
An educational site dedicated to help teenagers and their parents understand the signs and symptoms of teenage depression and provide resources for those ready to reach out and get the help they need.

Let's Talk about Depression 
Approximately 4% of adolescents get seriously depressed each year. This National Institute of Mental Health site discusses the topic of depression.

Suicide Prevention
FAQ on suicide, symptoms of depression and suicidal danger signs, most common misconceptions about suicide, what students should do if a friend had depression, what hospitalization does for depressives and a recommended reading list.

Being a Supportive Friend to a Grieving Person
Many students (and perhaps adults too) are at a loss of what to say to support a friend who has lost a family member. Since students may not know the right thing to say, they may end up saying nothing--which would not be helpful to anyone. The following are some suggestions to help reduce these awkward moments--while at the same time providing support for a grieving person.

Relationships and Sexuality

Sexual Health Connection
The award-winning content in The HealthCentral Network's Web sites combines medically-reviewed original content from doctors, researchers and expert patients, as well as news and information.

Sex Etc
The Network for Family Life Education at Rutgers University is committed to providing honest, accurate information about sexuality and related health issues.

Oogachaga
This site has answers to questions you might have about issues of sexual orientation - of being gay. Oogachaga is named after the dancing baby in the hit sitcom Ally McBeal. It was a part of Ally's being that she kept trying to suppress but yet this dancing baby kept popping out all the time in her life. Often people try to suppress their identities and issues but it just keeps popping out one way or another. So that is Oogachaga's mission - to help us come to terms with and possibly embrace that suppressed dancing baby in each of us.

Advocates for Youth
Advocates for Youth is dedicated to creating programs and advocating for policies that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health.

HIV/AIDS Information and Anonymous Testing in Singapore
Avert, an international AIDS educational and medical research charity, provides information on this global epidemic. Singapore's Action for Aids operates the only anonymous HIV counseling and testing site in Singapore. It runs from 6.30 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday and 1 to 4 pm every Saturday at the DSC Clinic, Blk 31 Kelantan Lane, #01-16. At this clinic, names or passport numbers are not required or recorded, even for positive results. Results are available within 20 minutes of doing the test.

Youth Embassy
Teen magazine says that this information is "...so straight forward and simple, your parents (and you) will be grateful when they sit you down for "the talk" only to find that you've got the tough stuff covered."

Teen Pregnancy
The mission of this group is to improve the well-being of children, youth, and families by reducing teen pregnancy.