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By: Chloe Rocha

In life people will experience many different kinds of emotions, they may have their ups and downs. Sometimes when they are down it can be hard to find the right words to say to them. I myself have been on both ends of this situation. When you find yourself upset about something, sometimes there is a specific set of words that you really need to hear at that moment. Those words can vary from person to person, there isn’t a set sentence that can make everything better. But on the other side of the situation, when you see someone upset, people can tend to freeze up and not know what to say. This article is a guide to help you find the right words.

If they are struggling with depression it can be hard to identify that. Here are some common signs and characteristics of depression:

Feelings of hopelessness.
Negative thoughts; this can include about yourself or the world.
Difficulty doing regular and daily activities.
Sleep or appetite problems

Here are four things you can say that might help more than you expect:

‘It’s okay to not feel okay’
It can be common for a person to feel like something is wrong with them for feeling a certain way. That’s why saying “it’s okay to not feel okay” can reassure them in their feelings.

‘Your not alone’
When experiencing feelings of sadness, the person may feel as though they are alone or as though they should isolate themselves from others. Just those three words can help someone feel very loved and cared for.

‘I’m here for you, no matter what’
If your friend or a loved one is feeling like a burden or unworthy, saying this can help remind them that you’re going to be there for them, not only when things are bad, but for the good as well.

‘Help is available’
When someone feels hopeless, it becomes hard to see the good things, or that things can get better. There are many treatments for people who need it, so reminding them when they aren’t able to think straight can help clear their mind and make a huge difference.

According to Healthline, at least 21 million Americans have or are experiencing depression. If you or someone you know or love is a part of the statistics, there are many resources available to help.

A helpline that you can text is 741-741, text HOME and an automated message will be sent right away as they are assigning someone to your text message.

If you would prefer to call the national suicide hotline it is 988.

By: Abisola Dosunmu

‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’, is a prequel to the four-part ‘Hunger Games’ movie franchise that’s set “64 years before Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen ever drew breath”, which means there are several serious changes. The known antagonist, Coriolanus Snow, who was played by Donald Sutherland in the previous movie, is now an 18-year-old kid played by actor Tom Blyth. Actress Rachel Zegler replaces Jennifer Lawrence as the female protagonist and plays one of the vital main characters, Lucy Gray Baird.

The movie was authored by Suzanne Collins and, like the ‘Hunger Games’, centers on a fight to the death/survival-of-the-fittest type reality show that only leaves one victor. For context, the games were invented as a punishment by the Capitol of Panem as payback to the 12 districts who dared to rebel against the Capitol. Every year on a specific day since that, a boy and a girl, relatively in their teens, are chosen from each district to fight to the death in a televised gladiator event.

Lucy as a character is already shown throughout the movie to be a different character to Katniss. She, like the title of the movie, is a songbird with a guitar and in a traveling band called the Covey. Strangely enough, the movie isn’t told from her point of view but from the younger Snow struggling to make it back to the top after losing everything. Lucy is his way back to that life, so he takes advantage of it and with that, the Hunger Games begin. Without giving away spoilers, I’m just going to say it gets pretty predictable from there.

So, what did I think of the movie? Well, it’s been a long time since I watched and read the ‘Hunger Games’, so basing it off of that it’s a refreshing and new take. It was interesting seeing young Snow and his motivations and aspirations and how the Capitol was the same but different a few decades ago. The actors had a lot of chemistry and the only bad thing I would say about the movie was that there wasn’t a lot of screen time for a lot of characters to develop the way there was in the book, so some characters felt rushed and not properly fleshed out. All in all, I’d give this movie an 8/10.

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