Mental health: Leander High School students start club to advocate, raise awareness

The backstory:

LEANDER, Texas - Mental health illnesses have become a topic many teens are starting to talk openly about, especially in the high school level.

Leander High School sophomores Aarna Singh Gowrinath and her partner Vaishu Nudurmati started a club called CO DA (co-occurring disorders awareness) at their high school to spread awareness and advocate for students who may be dealing with mental disorders.

What they're saying:

"If you didn't know what co-occurring disorders are, it's basically so we know what substance use disorders are, which are things like alcoholism and drug use. And we also know what mental health illnesses are like anxiety and depression. Well, co-occurring disorders are basically those two combined, and the symptoms clash with each other and create a new condition overall," says Nudurmati.

"I know it's 2025, but there is still so much stigma around mental health. And speaking about mental health really encourages people who are struggling to speak up and find treatment and people that can help because there are people that can help," Nudurmati adds.

Dig deeper:

The Harris Project works with school districts to create the CO DA awareness events to talk about the relationship between mental health/wellness and substance abuse/addiction.

In a recent study made by Mental Health America, 9% of youth in the U.S. reported a substance use disorder in the past year. 

Seeing how this is affecting many young adults, Gowrinath and Nudurmati want to help educate their classmates on what the Harris Project is and how they can identify mental disorders.

"Being high schoolers, it's really easy to be exposed to harmful substances like drugs and alcohol and kids who are struggling with mental health often resort to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism," says Nudurmati.

What you can do:

With this being a new club at Leander High School Aarna and Vaishu want to get more people involved.

"We're also doing a lot of TED talks in the school. We did one last year, which had a lot of followers and also participants. And people from New York actually came to attend our event. And we are just looking to grow the club even more from there," says Leander High School sophomore, Aarna Singh Gowrinath.

On top of having open discussions with students, Aarna and Vaishu have a petition up to advocate for students in Texas to have three excused mental health days. But they need people to sign the petition so they can take it to the government level. 

"I just I would really like their support, especially in this cause, because I know it affects many people and like of all ages, especially high schoolers, though, and it can affect them in later life, too. So, I would love to have their support in this petition," says Gowrinath.