Teenagers and mental health.

 

 Hey guys! So this is a script I wrote on mental health and communication especially for teenagers. It was very well appreciated so I thought to share it. 

I have kept the name of characters as 

A B X Y Z

It's a little long but I promise at the end of the script you all will learn a new lesson. So happy reading :)

Script on Mental Health

*its a bright sunny afternoon, 4 friends are sitting inside a coffee house waiting for their old friend*

X - God yaa, where is y, the woman is always late!

Y -OMG! OMG! You guys, it’s so good to see you after so long!! None of you has changed!

Z - You haven’t changed a bit

A - Do you guys remember how we first met?

B- Yeah…even though we didn’t know each other we felt a strong sense of dislike. By the way, do you guys still remember that counsellor of ours? 

X- How can we forget!!!

*Narration- this story started ten years ago*

FLASHBACK BEGINS…

 

Counsellor ( walks into class)- X Y Z A B.. The following students please come along. 

*Narration- All sitting in an empty classroom with the counsellor*

A-  B !what did you do this time.

B- If I, my corner and my book is  a crime, then yes guilty as charged

Y- why do you always blame others A, maybe it was you

X - Everything exasperates me, the school, this life and everything about it

Z- What if it was all of us

*Narration- everyone gives her a dead stare*

Z- What!! It could be true, who knows

Counsellor-Guys please calm down! A little birdie tweeted that I’m required to speak to all of you. First and foremost, just because I’m talking to you guys doesn’t mean, there is anything wrong. Sometimes, talking to a neutral person can really help put things into perspective, because we don’t have the fear of being judged. So, I would request you guys to talk.

*Utter silence*

Counselor-You knows none of you can leave until you talk right?? If you wanna have a slumber party as you guys call it, please be my guest.

A -Ma’am why don’t we start with Sad Sally right here, she is always crying

Y- Crying to myself is better than venting it out on others. You bully

B- you do realize that not talking about how you feel can affect you mentally as well as emotionally.

X - Well, in that case, B, you are no different. All you do is sit quietly in a corner of the class with your nose in a book.

Z - You guys must take a cue from him. This male version of Sad Sally. Always crying.

X - Excuse me what do you mean by the male version of Sad Sally. I’m not supposed to cry just because I’m a man. In that case, why do girls love Shah rukh khan so much all he does is mope in most of his films like DDLJ, Kal ho na ho and I could give you a list if you’d like.

Counsellor- Now Now please calm down! we’ve broken the ice,  why don’t we talk about what brings us here today?

*Z coughs*

Y- Why in the world would you smoke if it troubles you so much??

 Z- I smoked my first cigarette at the age of thirteen even though  I never wanted to,  all because of not wanting to feel left out. I thought smoking cigarettes will make me popular among my peers and yes.. it did! But later I started to feel really strange, I had a headache on a daily basis, shortness of breath, I used to be tired all the time. Soon... I realised these are the side effects of smoking but I couldn’t stop it I was addicted to it, I knew it was wrong, I wish I hadn’t started it but If I stop smoking I won’t be popular among my peers and I have soo many friends and they won’t think I am cool. Anyways, now my friends are telling me to have a boyfriend because not having a boyfriend or a girlfriend means missing out on all the fun and I don’t want a boring life!

Councillor – Okay so Z let me begin by saying that you don’t have to do anything unless your 100% sure about it and willing to do it wholeheartedly. Like u mentioned before, u never wanted to smoke but just to fell included in ur social group you did it and now you regret it, the same is going to happen if u choose to get into a relationship with someone when aren’t ready for it just for the sake of it.

Y- first of all, why do you care what your "big group of friends" will think? If you know that smoking is not good for you and is affecting your health then you should at least try to get rid of it. if your friends really care about you they will support your decision no matter what. Secondly, if they stop talking to you just because they feel you are not “cool” enough then you should be happy because then you know, that it’s better to have one good friend instead of ten fake ones. Finally, not having a boyfriend/ girlfriend doesn’t mean that you have a boring life. I made the mistake of confusing attraction with love. I fell for a guy who was really sweet, gave me all his attention and he always listened to my problems but when we officially started to date it all went upside down he was not the guy I thought he was, it was just the initial phase before the dating where he was trying to make me fall for him by not being himself. But when I realised it, it was too late. I was so into him that I took everybody who loves me for granted. I was so busy trying to get his attention that I pushed my friends away. He broke my heart, leaving me with no one to share my agony with.

COUNSELLOR - well in ur case Y, I would say heartbreak are good, you get to learn a lot from it. Yes, initially they do hurt a lot and yes there’s no running away from it but gradually over time you will get over it and realise and learn so many things from ur past relationship which will help u a lot moving forward positively. It takes time I understand but I am always here for u.

B- At least you guys had someone to share your feeling with, imagine having to deal with something I like to call social anxiety that was caused due to my inability to accept myself for the way I am, this made me extremely self- conscious, develop stage fright and also made my grades drop because I  was spending most of my time and energy in things which now seem trivial but were super important at the time. I began hating myself because I had given other people and the situation the power to control the way I had felt. This meant I agreed with people every time I was made fun of just because I was the peach in a basket full of apples, I was the quieter one, the type that thought more than she spoke, which doesn’t make me a “weirdo” as I was made to feel just because I was not the typical teenager, that loved to party, get high, have boyfriends, etc.. I got so sick of feeling lonely, not wanting to go to school, I missed being happy and cheerful. I realised that I didn’t wanna let the world have this power over me. So here I am.  

COUNSELLOR - B I’m ready glad that you have realised u don’t want to feel that way anymore and ur here, that’s a first big step towards change and kudos to that! Self-acceptance and self-love is something everyone should cherish and absolutely believe in.

*Room fills with silence*

A- I know you all won’t believe this, but the reason why I am like this is that *takes a deep breath*I am a coward. Every time I bully someone covers the fact that in reality I just feel like a loser. A baby with zero confidence in her life has now become a bully. I am ashamed to call myself bipolar as well. Sometimes I cry for hours, freeze, and don’t come out of my blanket for days. I don’t even talk. I don’t feel normal.  And that is a weakness. I don’t want people to take me for granted or take advantage of the same. For the first time in a long time, I feel a little light-hearted. For the first time in 18 years, I finally have talked about this. Am scared but a little relieved. Baby steps maybe?

COUNSELLOR - A, I really appreciate you finally accepting urself and being able to be vocal about it. I know it takes a lot of courage to do so but yes this is definitely ur first positive baby step towards change and a much better and grown version of urself!

X- - You think calling someone sad Sally is funny? Something bad happened to me I lost a part of my self. The days were bad. I can't sleep. I can't watch TV. Everything in the world seems to remind me of bad things happening every second. You are literally at the edge of sanity. I lost trust in myself. I lost good people in my life - but I can't really blame them. You become emotionally numb. You come to know how weak you are. Depression and despair are understatements. The twist with my story is that - It made me a better person. Yes, those days of nightmares, self-pity and adrenalin rush were stressful. I don't think I am over it completely because I don't think I can ever be. My past is a part of me and I know I will never get over with it - but the good thing is that I have accepted it. What I am trying to say is everyone has a story to tell, everyone has been through or lived through something they never intended to be a part of but finally accepting the facts and letting of it is the major upward scale for an individual. Yes, I will be difficult in the beginning but you just gotta push yourself through it if you want to change. And this doesn't happen overnight it will take time but it is for our good isn't it? Wait a minute did you guys realize we just helped each other even though it was completely unintentional! Look it's that simple every time you have an issue all you have to do is talk. Talk to anyone you trust and who will hear you out. Talk to someone you feel safe with. And remember I am always here for you! 

COUNSELLOR- everyone has a story to tell, everyone has been through or lived through something they never intended to be a part of but finally accepting the facts and letting go of it is a major upward scale for an individual. Yes, I will be difficult in the beginning but you just gotta push urself through it if u want to change. And this doesn’t happen overnight it will take time but it’s for the good! Did you guys realize you just helped each other even though it wasn’t intentional? Look it’s that simple!! Every time you have an issue all you have to do is talk. Talk to anyone you trust and who will hear you out. Talk to someone you feel safe with. And remember I am always here for you!

Narration- exactly! The grass is not always greener on the other side This idiom encapsulates the human quality of always wanting something different than what you have. It assumes that your neighbour’s yard is greener than yours, when, in reality, they are the same or your neighbour is actually coveting what you have. and they might even be in a worse situation than you are in so be nice you never know what the opposite person is going through! 

Thank you...

The End