This is an interesting article: http://usat.ly/1t6BQj0. It discusses the incidence of mental illness for youth. And it talks about the need to provide youth with support through the arts. I have used this forum previously to discuss the role of the arts in exploring the reality of mental illness. The arts reflect life and human experience. They help people to share experiences and potential solutions. They educate. They offer hope. They allow people the opportunity to see themselves as a part of a larger whole, which decreases isolation. And as this article points out, those benefits can help to save lives.
I loved the example of a young person reading about the depression and the desire to die of a character in a book and finding his own reason to live. But it made me wonder whether sometimes reading about the mental illnesses of other young people might lead to the opposite solution. Is it possible that reading about suicide might lead to someone acting on impulse and choosing suicide? We see situations in which young people commit suicides in clusters. So, it's probably very important to use such stories as a tool in concert with other tools. Young people need the same types of support that older folks do: Medical support, family involvement, therapy, a supportive social system, and case management (in some situations). Assisting young people to learn to live with depression and other mental illnesses involves teaching skills and a strong commitment to mental health.
To really deal with the mental illness of young people, we all have to be educated. We need to learn how to recognize the signs that childhood and teenage moodiness are beyond the usual. We need to learn to see signs that a child is in danger. We need to create a system that helps families to recognize and deal with mental illness. And in addition to that, we do need to show young people living with mental illness that they are not the only ones to do so. And the arts can be a powerful way to do that.
For those of you who are struggling with mental illness in a child, take the opportunity to educate yourself about mental illness. Find assistance wherever you can...whether that comes from an understanding doctor, a social service agency, or through the school system. And if one resource doesn't work out, keep looking. Sometimes supportive services are not readily available. But if you need help, one place you can look is through agencies set up to deal with mental illness. One possibility is NAMI. Look it up. Find your local office. Reach out. Remember, I am always willing to brainstorm possibilities with you. You and your child are truly worth it.
I loved the example of a young person reading about the depression and the desire to die of a character in a book and finding his own reason to live. But it made me wonder whether sometimes reading about the mental illnesses of other young people might lead to the opposite solution. Is it possible that reading about suicide might lead to someone acting on impulse and choosing suicide? We see situations in which young people commit suicides in clusters. So, it's probably very important to use such stories as a tool in concert with other tools. Young people need the same types of support that older folks do: Medical support, family involvement, therapy, a supportive social system, and case management (in some situations). Assisting young people to learn to live with depression and other mental illnesses involves teaching skills and a strong commitment to mental health.
To really deal with the mental illness of young people, we all have to be educated. We need to learn how to recognize the signs that childhood and teenage moodiness are beyond the usual. We need to learn to see signs that a child is in danger. We need to create a system that helps families to recognize and deal with mental illness. And in addition to that, we do need to show young people living with mental illness that they are not the only ones to do so. And the arts can be a powerful way to do that.
For those of you who are struggling with mental illness in a child, take the opportunity to educate yourself about mental illness. Find assistance wherever you can...whether that comes from an understanding doctor, a social service agency, or through the school system. And if one resource doesn't work out, keep looking. Sometimes supportive services are not readily available. But if you need help, one place you can look is through agencies set up to deal with mental illness. One possibility is NAMI. Look it up. Find your local office. Reach out. Remember, I am always willing to brainstorm possibilities with you. You and your child are truly worth it.
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