Mental Health & Teens

When working with youth, we all see the kids who fall through the cracks and get lost in the school systems due to mental health problems (and of course juvenile detentions and jails). Though I think prevention and treating mental health problems while people are young is not only more effective and cheaper, it also has a better impact on youth. Here are some ideas I think will help us workers help youth who might be in need or have mental health problems on a day to day basis, as opposed to an instutional reform:

As we work with youth, we should be aware of services that are available to youth for our own training. This also makes it easier for us to understand the process and types of services youth are receiving.

Providing resource information to those we interact with. Please note, I am NOT advocating that we provide direct referrals as that would be completely inappropriate and only a licensed professional should do this. Rather, I am advocating that we make information for resources available, such as a billboard with different flyers for resources and information can be posted.  We can also keep copies of brochures, invite professionals from community outreach programs to attend our programming, and make sure we make positive references to these resources.

We should also be careful not to stigmatize mental health in general and people with mental health disorders, such as not calling people “crazy” or “insane”. By negatively depicting those who are affected by mental health, we are indirectly discouraging people from seeking treatment and degrading  individuals for something they cannot help. Just as we no longer make fun of students who wear glasses for vision impairments, it is just as inappropriate to make fun of someone’s depression.