Juliana Scott

A text message showing a student saying “I’m okay” as a way to avoid how they’re really feeling. Students may be embarrassed to talk about certain things because they may be afraid of vulnerability with other people their age.

It is a common occurrence for students to say they feel okay when they’re clearly not. There may be a few reasons for this communication block. Students may think they’ll be seen as weak if they talk about their feelings, or even that they’ll be a burden to others. However, talking about how you feel is an important part of human connection and understanding one another.

According to a research article from the National Library of Medicine, which is a research institution that provides free online access to health information, students’ fear of expressing their feelings may come from social aspects; they may be embarrassed to talk about certain things or they may be afraid of vulnerability with other people their age.

Junior Lorena Lopez agreed with this statement. She feels afraid of what other people might think of her, which causes her to bottle up her feelings instead of talking about them.

“As a young adult, you feel that everybody is just very judgmental towards you so it makes you feel not comfortable to speak your real state of mind,” Lopez said.

Students who find difficulty in expressing themselves may feel like their emotions won’t be noticed or that they won’t have the right words and not be taken seriously. Because of this, students suppress their feelings even more than they already have and experience internal distress like anxiety and confusion.

Junior John Rodriguez builds up a wall between himself and his peers when asked if he is okay. He feels like he needs to tell people  “fake feelings” to avoid how he’s actually feeling.

“I do it just so people don’t think I’m emotionally weak,” Rodriguez said.

Also, according to the article, students may experience a barrier between them and their peers because they may have limited knowledge of mental health, and sometimes, students may not even see a problem with how they’re feeling.

These students may have low energy, lose interest in things they usually love, be more irritable, and have trouble concentrating. Another factor why a student may not talk about how they are feeling is that these things may be obvious to their peers, but not to the student themselves.

So, when a student is asked if they’re okay, it may be for one of these reasons. And it is important for that student to be honest and open to the person who asked in hopes of feeling better about themselves or their situation. If that student does open up to you, it is important to listen and be there for them and understand why they may have pushed you away.