GREENFIELD — From anxiety over grades and peer relationships, online bullying and the risks of misusing social media, to rising rates of addiction to nicotine products like vape pens, teens can face mental health struggles from a variety of sources.
An event for students and parents Wednesday aimed to provide a space to talk about mental health and connect with potential sources of help.
The fourth Rise Above It mental health workshop, sponsored by Healthy365, was held at Mt. Vernon High School. The workshop focused on reaching students and parents with information about common mental health struggles faced by young people.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe event featured 12 speakers on a variety of mental health topics, including depression, addiction and grief, as well as 53 vendor booths from area organizations that offer services related to child safety and health. Two final question-and-answer sessions, one for teens and one for adults, were held to give participants a chance to connect directly with experts.
Lee Larkin, the lead counselor at Mt. Vernon High School, said the school began working with Healthy365 during the summer to develop this year’s event. He said the high school staff was assisted by teachers at Mt. Vernon middle and elementary schools, as well as other Hancock County school districts.
“We wanted to give our parents and our kids information, to be able to educate them to pick up signs,” Larkin said.
Larkin said the most common mental health issues students face are depression and anxiety, and that school can be a major contributor. Another common problem is addiction, especially to vaping and other nicotine products.
“I think we see more and more kids that are not able to cope,” Larkin said. “They do not have the coping mechanisms that we had when we were growing up.”
Mt. Vernon High School students Mia Wilson and Destiny Huber were volunteers at the event. They said mental health concerns, especially depression and anxiety, are a part of life for many high school students.
“There’s kind of a big stigma, and I know it’s not just at this school but at all schools, about the topic of mental health,” Mia said. “It’s not something that people talk about, so events like this can bring it to the surface, which is really good.”
Larkin has worked on several mental health initiatives at Mt. Vernon, including a partnership with Community Health Network and a program to address the needs of students who miss school due to inpatient psychiatric treatment. He also helped start a school chapter of Bring Change to Mind, a national student-led organization that helps start conversations about mental illness.
Huber said Mt. Vernon High School has taken a proactive approach to addressing mental health, both through Bring Change to Mind and teachers’ efforts to discuss topics like suicide.
“Our counselors are constantly telling us that they’re here for us and we can talk to them,” Huber said. “I feel like there’s never really a moment that you can’t speak to someone in school.”
Destiny said she would want adults to understand that what students are dealing with on a day-to-day basis are real and difficult challenges.
“When I mention to my mom how stressed I am, she always says, ‘You don’t have it bad, because I work,’” Destiny said. “But we go through a lot of stuff in high school. Not only just dealing with the stress of classes, but the stress of our peers. Just constantly having that stress on you, like, ‘I need to do this to fit in,’ it kind of sucks.”
For more information on mental health and what resources are available locally, visit behealthy365.org/mental-fitness. For information on Healthy365’s suicide prevention trainings, which will be offered at all Hancock County school districts in upcoming months, visit healthy365.in/qpr.
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Here are some highlights from some experts who presented at the fourth Rise Above It symposium Wednesday night at Mt. Vernon High School.
Amanda Gittings, a youth educator with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, recommended using news articles as a way to speak with teens about sexting, social media privacy and other tough topics. She said young people are more likely to take concrete examples of consequences others have faced seriously, rather than abstract concerns from parents.
Vickie Dalton, a clinical psychologist with Indiana Health Group, said teenagers may re-experience losses that occurred when they were younger, such as the death of a grandparent, once they are older and have psychologically developed enough to understand what they lost. She said if teens seem preoccupied with a loss or other negative event that happened years ago, parents should give them the space to discuss it and seek help if they need it.
Jennifer Luchtefeld, a licensed clinical social worker with Hancock Counseling and Psychiatric Services, said parents should look at sleep and eating habits as potential warnings that their child could be experiencing clinical anxiety. If a teenager is sleeping very little, having trouble falling asleep at night, or eating an abnormally large or small amount, it could point to struggles with mental health. Missing out on sleep or healthy food can also compound anxiety, so parents who see these signs should make sure their child speaks to a health care provider.
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For more information on mental health and what resources are available locally, visit behealthy365.org/mental-fitness. For information on Healthy365’s suicide prevention trainings, which will be offered at all Hancock County school districts in upcoming months, visit healthy365.in/qpr.
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