School puts focus on youth mental health

TOWER- Deb Cavitt knows a lot about mental health issues in teens. With years of experience as a classroom teacher, as a parent to two sons with mental illness, and as a mental health community trainer, she approaches educating both teens and adults about mental health with both factual information and her own personal experiences.

Cavitt now works as a project director for the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health, where she oversees a variety of programs as well as outreach projects.

After a student at Vermilion Country School was lost to suicide last summer, a group of parents approached the school board asking for the opportunity to learn more about what students and their parents could do to help prevent this tragedy from happening again, as well as how to support children struggling with mental health issues. With help from a wide variety of local organizations and individuals, the school was able to fund three days of mental health trainings, two for students at the school, and then a full-day seminar for community adults.

The goal for the students was to present fact-based information on mental health issues, teach self-help strategies, and how to be a friend and support another teen with mental illness. The programming was intense, and some students opted out of the presentations, but for the majority of students the two days gave them a good overview of the variety of mental health issues facing many teens, as well as tools to gain a preliminary understanding of the psychological issues involved.

“Lots of kids have trauma,” said Cavitt, noting that trauma can trigger mental health issues. “And even here, some of the students were triggered by talking about mental health issues.”

“We all have mental health,” she said. “Mental health is not the same as mental illness.”

Cavitt said it is important for teens and adults to have what she called “mental health literacy,” and to understand that mental illness is a neurological illness, and something that you can’t just help yourself out of.

VCS teachers noted that much of the information presented used to be covered in traditional health classes, which are often no longer parts of many junior high school curricula. School staff are planning to build on the information presented during the seminars, giving students time to process what they have learned, and then put some of the strategies learned into practice.

The percentage of teenagers who are diagnosed with a mental illness is quite high, overall reaching 22-percent of the population. Anxiety is the most common, affecting close to 32-percent of teens, though only considered severe in about eight percent of teens.

Cavitt also led an all-day seminar on Saturday, which aimed to give adults the tools they need to help teens struggling with mental health and possible mental illness. The class, titled “Youth Mental Health First Aid,” is a nationwide program that trains adults to recognize the difference between normal and abnormal adolescent behaviors, and essentially create teams of community mental health “first responders.”

Early intervention, she said, can be very important, and in many cases can prevent problems from spiraling into a full-blown mental health crisis.

The class covered signs and symptoms of mental illness, normal development and behaviors for teens, risk factors, protective factors, and how to create a mental health first aid action plan.

Mental health issues in teens can appear differently from in adults. Depression, she said, can often look like irritable behavior in a teen, which is then seen as a behavior issue, not a mental health issue.

She also noted that teens are often not well-informed about mental health issues, and can feel very isolated.

“They don’t know how to talk about,” she said.

Typical teens are undergoing many types of changes, both physical and emotional. They are thinking more abstractly, using more logic and reason, developing their own beliefs, and beginning to question authority. Emotionally, she noted, they are having more intense feelings and reactions, and this can lead to risk-taking and impulsive behaviors, along with handling more complicated peer relationships including romantic relationships. And physically they are dealing with puberty, hormonal changes, and a growing sexual identity.

Signs and symptoms of mental illness in teens can be complicated. They can include physical symptoms such as a pounding heart, chest pain, shortness of breath, along with sweating, headaches, stomach pain, and nausea.

Adults need to consider a physical cause first, she said.

The many emotional symptoms of mental illness in teens were discussed, along with risk factors that can exacerbate the symptoms. Risk factors include stressful life events, an abusive childhood, ongoing stress or anxiety, chronic illness, brain injury, family history, substance abuse, chemical imbalances, and seasonal changes.

Protective factors include a focus on healthy life practices, good problem-solving skills, a sense of control of one’s life, spirituality, avoiding drugs and alcohol, consistent routines and sleep patterns, family support, and a good social support system.

The availability of healthy recreational options, community cohesiveness, and feeling close to another adult outside of one’s family is also very important, she said.

The adults attending the training included a representative cross-section of the community, ranging in age from their 20s to 70s. The group included VCS staff, community leaders, VCS school board members, adults who volunteer with youth, a local pastor, health care professionals, and parents. Many in the group had personal experiences, some with tragic endings, of family members who had struggled with mental illness.

Early intervention and treatment is important, she said, as is the appropriate response. Adults, she noted, have the ability to escalate or de-escalate situations when someone is in the midst of a mental health crisis.

First aid class participants learned to create an action plan when dealing with a teen who may be struggling. Participants learned the signs of a crisis situation, when not to leave a distressed child alone, how to react and listen, and when to reach out for professional help.

“Up to 90-percent of individuals with mental health disorders are treatable,” Cavitt said, stressing the need to give out accurate information, reassurance, and not to try to give simple advice.

Learn more

Mental Health First Aid is an eight-hour course that gives people the skills to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. The evidence behind the program demonstrates that it does build mental health literacy, helping the public identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illness. Trainees are taught how to apply the five-step action plan in a variety of situations such as helping someone through a panic attack, engaging with someone who may be suicidal, or assisting an individual who has overdosed. An important component of the Mental Health First Aid course is the opportunity to practice the intervention strategy rather than to just learn about it. This simple experience can make it easier to actually apply the knowledge in a real-life situation. Over one million adults have been trained in Mental Health First Aid in the United States.

Learn more at www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org.

The Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health conducts this and many other valuable trainings, and is working to establish more online training opportunities for rural residents. Learn more at www.macmh.org.

What can teens do? Want to help get involved in your communities and schools to help advocate for mental health, fight stigma and provide support? Youth MOVE MN is based in the Twin Cities so it’s hard for them to reach greater Minnesota and they need your help! With their support you can start a chapter in your school or local community. Here are some ideas if you are not sure where to start, http://youthmovemn.org/get-involved/.