It’s a whole new world out there for our kids, teens and young adults. How do we possibly keep up?
We all know that our teens and young adults are struggling with mental health in our culture. Suicide is STILL the 2nd leading cause of death amongst teenagers and young adults in America. And this is despite the efforts of awareness, talking about it, of research — and mental health generally becoming a more regularly approached subject. Despite organizations and campaigns, suicide text lines and hotlines. We are still seeing such deep struggle within our youth that they are contemplating, or attempting to take their own lives.
Why?
As a clinician, it is something I see daily. Every single day! These are not novel situations. The Depression, the Anxiety, the Suicide Ideation. And it’s coming in younger and younger.
My experience as a mental health clinician, as well as someone who struggled with significant depression and anxiety as a teenager puts me in an interesting position. I get it, for starters. I truly, right down into my bones, understand the fog of mental illness and suicidal thoughts. I feel this belief, this pain and panic — I have known this. And I also understand the science, the therapeutics, the healing. I’ve studied it, worked with it, and revisited it. It’s a topic I have come to know so intimately, from both sides of the wellness spectrum.
I have written and developed a project specifically for teens and young adults dealing with Depression, Anxiety and Suicide ideation, which focuses on honesty and openness about the subject, as well as coping and healing. And while I believe that on-the-ground work and connection is vital in the approach to mental illness and suicide, I also know that there are larger societal and cultural themes that have to be addressed. There are so many rapidly growing toxic social factors that are negatively impacting all of us. That are making us sick. The difference with kids, teens, and young adults, is that they are still growing and developing as humans. Their brains are so malleable and ready for input. If you consider development in terms of what is being input and inhaled from the external world, where does that leave the baseline starting point of our kids?
Keep reading and check out my latest article up on medium, here!
