I.30.2019 - Child & Youth Mental Health
We have made significant progress raising awareness about mental health in the past five years. The campaign has been multi-faceted including TV, print, social media and, most importantly, face-to-face conversations that have included patients, mental healthcare providers, physicians, corporate representatives and politicians. The most remarkable and visible initiative has been 
#BellLetsTalk because they have provided a platform for people from all walks of life to tell their stories in an effort to de-stigmatize mental health and emphasize that help and hope exist. One of my favourite quotes is by Team Canada’s Olympian champion, Clara Hughes who pointed out the gap between well-meaning advice and help when she said, “When someone tells me to get outside to feel better, it does help me to feel better, but I need a lot more than that.”
Coincidental with the #BellLetsTalk campaign, Whitesell & Company is in the midst of finalizing a report for an organization called, Wellkin, following a year-long study focused on the mental health services that the agency provides to children, youth and their families in Oxford and Elgin Counties in Southwest Ontario. In 2016, six young people in Oxford County died by suicide in a tragedy that has been described in a variety of ways including ‘suicide contagion’ in an effort to explain the inexplicable. The TV series, 13 Reasons Why, attempted to create a dramatic narrative around youth suicide that was intended to help the viewing audience explain the circumstances that could make taking one’s life an appealing solution to emotional pain. A lofty goal but the series was a simplistic presentation of the root causes of depression and anxiety among Generation Z (born 1995-2015). Jean Twenge, PhD crushed millions of data from valid and reliable surveys of youth that supported her conclusions about the correlation between the advent of smartphone technology and increases in child and youth depression and anxiety. Twenge captures the findings in her book, iGen, Why Today’s Youth Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy – and Completely unprepared for Adulthood.
We have a long way to go to provide mental health services at the same level that the healthcare system has achieved in Canada. But there are some positive changes happening. Primary care physicians are collaborating with mental health professionals in their communities so that their patients receive the help they need as quickly as possible. The same can be said about social workers, guidance counselors and teachers in our school system who are trained to be responsive to signs that students are in a vulnerable state. First responders such as police and paramedics are involved with community mental health tables. The amount of time that children and youth dedicate to screen time is definitely a factor in their mental wellness but, on the flipside of that coin, technology is helping their families connect to mental health services through KidsHelp phones, online services, text and tele-psychiatry. And, when children and youth access the mental health system, they are treated by dedicated therapists with the skills and tools to respond to the needs of their young clients. Borrowing a term from economics, there are many “green shoots” in our mental health system but we also have plenty of room for improvement. Eliminating the stigma for those children, youth and families experiencing mental health challenges is the right, first step. #BellLetsTalk is an initiative that continues to bring the conversation to the surface where it belongs. That’s where hope and help begin.