Stress is a guaranteed foe to succumb to, especially when in the midst of the teenage years. Which consists of the sheer volume of homework assignments that ignites, to extracurricular activities ensuing a toll upon one schedule, to the pressure that comes in seamlessly maintaining your homework assignment and extracurriculars, all the way to feeling ostracized from your surrounding peers.

Guilt is a detriment to one’s own mental health. Ranging from the pressure of school work to extracurricular activities to feeling a facade of hollowness and emptiness, all of these emotions can create inner turmoil. 

Inner turmoil that winds up nestling someone into dreaded seclusion of bleakness, that in other words poses itself as being the real world.

However, there is always a way to cope and escape from the real world: escapism.

Escapism provides a much desired state of leisure, whether it be playing video games, reading, spending time with friends, watching TV and much more. Ideally, it involves rehabilitating one’s mind to dissipate inner turmoil.

When feeling distressed, the most feasible way to break away is to deviate your mind. Your mind’s deviation from stress improves the overall well-being of your mental health.

Escapism appears to be underutilized, likely because of our workload and overcommitments. While hard work and dedication should be celebrated, this does not negate one’s need for tranquility. Clinging to that need to work for a lengthy stretch of time leads to fatigue, which also jeopardizes one’s overall mental health.

For those worried that their overall work will suffer by taking time to rest, do not become entrenched in this belief. Everyone, regardless of the magnitude of their workload, warrants the right to rest, to revitalize. Escaping your mind through relaxation creates more benefits than anything. It refreshes one’s mind quite thoroughly, which leads to greater productivity and higher quality work in the long run. 

It is time for more, specifically CHS students, families and educators, to acknowledge the importance of escapism. It is the key source in having a healthy mindset and mental state. 

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