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Learn the signs that someone's struggling.
Learn the Signs that Someone's Struggling
We can all use a little support sometimes, whether we're facing a large struggle or an everyday challenge. Learning the signs below can help you identify students who are struggling, offer the level of support you can, and encourage them to get professional help when needed.
Common Signs that Someone's Struggling
Sudden, drastic changes or prolonged difficulties or distress in the areas below can indicate that someone's struggling:
- sleep and appetite
- mood, behavior, and energy
- thinking, concentration, problem-solving
appearance (clothing, weight, hygiene) - attendance
- grades/performance
- substance use
- painful emotions, feeling overwhelmed, feeling helpless or hopeless
- expressing thoughts of hurting themselves or someone else
Signs Immediate Help Is Needed
While everyone experiences ups and downs, there are also signs that someone is in immediate need of help. Stay mindful of expressions of despair, hopelessness, suicidal thinking, or self-harm. Those expression might sound like:
- I can't stand the pressure anymore
- Cutting myself is the only thing that helps
- Everything’s pointless
- Is it even worth being here at all?
- I wish I could just go to sleep forever/not exist
- There’s no way out
- I have no reason to live
- I’m such a burden
- I just want to die/get hit by a car
- Everyone would be better off without me
Options for assistance: call CAPS at 520-621-3334 for consultation and crisis support, community crisis line: 520-622-6000, or call 911 in an emergency.
When you're not sure what to say, remember CARE.