In partnership with EVERFI’s Character Playbook, the Rams continued their virtual mental health series for ninth graders throughout the Los Angeles region. Beginning the second year of the series, the Rams guard logan brussrunning backwards kiren williamslinebacker brayden thomas and Rams Cheerleaders joined two South Los Angeles schools in person for a mindfulness activity and mental wellness discussion. The discussion also featured a question and answer session with Rams sports psychologist Dr. Carrie Hastings, which was moderated by Rams director of social justice and football development Johnathan Franklin.
The program explores a variety of topics, including self-awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making, mental well-being, coping strategies, and help-seeking and offering to students. Dr. Carrie Hastings kicked off the question and answer session by focusing on the importance of maintaining a positive mindset even when faced with life’s challenges.
“A positive mindset is very important and is often underestimated,” Dr. Hastings said. When you have two players with the same ability, the one with the better mentality will win. There are ways to maintain a positive mindset. First, you need to identify the maladaptive ways you think or patterns that are getting in the way. The first step is to identify and question them and replace them with realistic beliefs and attitudes. For example, when you make a mistake in life, instead of getting mad at yourself, you have to move on and not think about it. That will contribute to a positive mindset.”
Mental health plays a key role in everyone’s daily life and affects people’s emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects the way they think, feel, and act, as well as how they handle stress, anxiety, relate to others, and make decisions. Mental health is important at all stages of life, from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. During this discussion, the participants were able to learn how to identify the symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety and how to deal with them.
“Symptoms of anxiety and depression are first felt inside the body,” Dr. Hastings said. “There is a difference between stress and anxiety. Although they can overlap, stress is a response to a specific trigger where the anxiety is more pervasive. Sometimes you can feel it in your chest or feel shortness of breath and sweating. Although people say that depression is just feeling sad, depression is described as no feeling or feeling numb which is more than sadness there are many resources to help like therapy to start your healing process I think the best resource to help It’s finding anything that can ease those feelings. That could be exercise, activities, writing in a journal, or talking to someone.”
Often times, adolescents face difficult times whether at home, with friends, at school, or even in extracurricular activities in schools that can often trigger their mental health. Dr. Hastings shared best practices for dealing with difficulties.
“Two of the best ways to decompress is to take a mental break,” Dr. Hasting said. “Sometimes people think they have to spend every moment honing their craft, whether it’s schoolwork or their sport, to master it and that’s just not true. You need to take mental breaks so you can store what you’ve learned and keep up to date and retain information. Mental rest can come in the form of sleep and changing your mind to something totally different.”
After the question and answer session, the students participated in a mindfulness activity led by the Rams players and cheerleaders. They examined different ways to achieve a healthy lifestyle, stay positive during difficulties, and how to help those around them who may be dealing with mental health issues. Towards the end of the session, the students were able to ask the rookies how they were able to maintain a positive lifestyle while they were students and are now NFL athletes.
“You have to give 100 percent to whatever you’re doing,” Brayden Thomas said. It doesn’t matter if you are at home or even doing sports. Whatever you do in the world, give it your all and give it 100 percent. Do what you have to do to keep making yourself and the people around you happy.”
The Rams will host monthly virtual sessions for middle and high school students from the Los Angeles region through March 2023. Each session will cover a variety of mental wellness topics designed to help students learn about the complexities of mental health disorders. , healthy coping skills, and ways they can seek help. EVERFI, a partner of the National Football League (NFL), is an interactive digital learning solution that gives organizations the ability to deliver health and wellness education to communities, wherever they are located.
Last season, the Rams partnered with EVERFI’s Character Playbook to kick off the first installment of a virtual mental health series for 575 students in the Los Angeles region. Students (grades 6-9) joined multiple 45-minute virtual panel discussions with Rams players, cheerleaders, Rams Legends, and Carrie Hastings. Students defined mental health, differentiated between stress and anxiety, identified symptoms, and learned tips on managing mental health in everyday life. As part of the league-wide initiative, the NFL sponsored five schools and more than 800 students in the Los Angeles region to have access to EVERFI’s mental wellness curriculum. Schools sponsored by the league included Bell Senior High, El Camino Real Charter High School, Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High, Kern Union High School, and Newbury Park High School.
For more information on the Rams’ community efforts, visit www.therams.com/community.
