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Twice as many teens seek help for mental health

SIRI AGRELL

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 8:25 PM EDT 04/05/08

Stigma associated with seeking help starting to disappear, as young people watch stars struggle with bipolar disorder, depression and substance abuse ...Read the full article

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  1. Golden Crumb from Canada writes: this information is great! teens are a notoriously difficult to access crowd because and they are also a very vulnerable group. i wish teens were exposed to mental health awareness in other ways too (via targeted public heath programs) so that they can get the full scope of mental health awareness.

    yay for awareness! yay for the young people who are reaching out!!!
  2. Wilf Kruggel from Canada writes: When ones sees that mental health problems are on the rise, one can no help but wonder just how much our drug problem has to do with mental health. All the while, driving down the highway, the ditches are linned with cop cars trying to catch the unsuspecting speeder while at the same time our youth are being destroyed by these drugs and drug gangs. Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture? Wilf
  3. J S from Toronto, Canada writes: The stigma may be lessening in the teen age catagory, but as an adult it still exists and is quite strong. The general perception continues to be - life's hard, you're weak and you should just get over it.
  4. JA M from Our Town, Canada writes: "Wilf Kruggel from Canada writes: ... Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture? Wilf"

    Yes it's a simplistic analysis of the situation.
  5. linda sepp from toronto, Canada writes: The growing "mental health" problems are very likely to be caused by environmental health issues. Never before have people been exposed to the number of mind and body altering chemicals on a 24/7 basis. Laundry products and "air-fresheners" are even advertised by showing people inhaling them in ways that any mental health professional would question being "sane". Businesses are adopting scent marketing to manipulate people into buying more. How does this manipulation work if not by affecting brain cells? It then goes to reason that these chemicals also affect brain and body cells in other unintended ways, not all good. If inhaling these products can make one feel "high" or otherwise altered, then they are in fact drugs. If chemicals like BPA and phthalates affect our hormones, and people's behaviours are known to be affected by hormonal changes, why is anyone surprised that kids are feeling the effects? The world is confusing enough without being exposed to inhalants from everyday products. Check Dr Doris Rapp's website for more info on how everyday exposures affect mental health. There are some video clips on the site that are shocking in how they clearly show cause and effect. Take a close and thorough look at drrapp.com It's time to clean up our air, indoors and out. It's time to take questionable and untested substances out of consumer products. It's time to stop treating environmental health issues with more chemicals from pharmaceuticals, which do not address the root cause, but in fact often make things much worse.
  6. Alistair McLaughlin from Canada writes: Linda Sepp, there is no evidence that mental health problems are increasing. They are simply being diagnosed more often because awareness is much higher now. My grandfather was nuttier than squirrel turds, yet was never diagnosed with anything. Only years after his death did some in the family finally start talking about his behaviour and speculate as to what psychiatric disorder he may have been afflicted with. I'm not saying that there are no harmful chemicals in the environment. And the prevalence of endocrine disruptors is certainly a concern. But to draw a causal link between mental illness and environmental chemicals is pure speculation and conjecture - nothing more.
  7. linda sepp from toronto, Canada writes: Please go watch the videos at drrapp.com available from the "Appearances" link at her site. The problems some people are experiencing, which are currently being diagnosed as mental health issues, can all be caused by environmental exposures to everyday products and materials, including some kinds of mould. I'm not saying that all are, but many of them could be. Not all mental health issues would be so easy to treat (by removing the substances that cause the problems) but it is a crime to discount the connection, when getting to the root cause of the problem is always the best way to treat it. The Canadian Human Rights Commission website has a report "the Medical Perspective on Environmental Sensitivities", and CAPE has a section on Children's Environmental Health. Both are well worth exploring. Being mis-diagnosed because doctors don't know what is going on, and prescribed medications that can make your condition worse, creates mental health problems as well as a host of other physical problems. Depression, anxiety and irritation can be caused by environmental exposures to things like scented products, vinyl school supplies, mould, inks from books and copiers... and can also occur from social inequities and seeing there is no way out in our current systems. Medication isn't going to fix that. Dealing compassionately with the root causes will. Schools have been chronically underfunded and are known (by some) to have major indoor air quality issues, many of which do have direct impacts on mental health. It's simply not right to expose our kids to things that make them suffer, and then tell them they are having mental health problems because we've polluted their environments and don't want to clean them up because it would be too inconvenient or costly. Time to stop burying our heads in the sand. Cleaning up our indoor and outdoor air, especially in and around schools, will have a huge and positive effect on both mental and physical health.
  8. Emma Hawthorne from Canada writes: Another self-serving study. I think we can safely assume that teens would have been asked if the treatment they had accessed had helped them if publication of such information would have been in the interests of researchers, unless the researchers merely compiled statistics in which case, follow up studies are needed. It is totally unacceptable to pretend to carry out a scientific study without asking basic questions. This study should be red flagged. Proper studies are needed to determne if teens obtained proper assistance and from what kinds of helpers and with what strategies and treatments. Improvement is a subjective determination. Therefore any CREDIBLE study must have three indices: 1. The teen's own assessment as to whether they were helped and how; 2. The therapist's or counsellor's and 3. the opinion of an independent assessor. I would also suggest a fourth useful index - obtaining the impressions of teachers, family and peers.
  9. graeme charles from Canada writes: i didn't read the comments and i haven't read much of the article.

    this may be a little controversial but i think 'depression' is incredible man-made and self-induced.

    i dont' think these teens are being liberated from their own insecurities with all this celebrity-ness; rather, i think it's the same symptom we've witnessed in myriad forms - idol worship. in my mind, it's not teens becoming more secure in themsevles thanks to owen wilson, but emulating owen wilson and the kin of his ken.

    i was a depressed university student once upon a time. and it took a lot for me to go to see a doctor. the last thing on your mind when you're truly depressed is what people will think, if only because you already think/know everyone thinks the least of you.

    any teenager who finds the courage to go see a doctor because of celebrities has problems much smaller and more trivial than a real case of depression
  10. Bert Russell Paradox, BC from Canada writes:
    I shall first clarify that I hope that society may be finally be accepting that mental illness is a disease that afflicts many and that parents are addressing the problem more effectively by seeking help for their children.

    To give credit to celebrities is to much of a stretch - why that would be admitting that violence, smut and porno might desensitize our children to accept it as part of our lives, acting it out in our daily lives!!
    We get enough crap from Hollywood which impresses the young without CTV GM and our media writing senseless articles like this and generally promoting the Tabloid news.
  11. A reader from Canada writes: Much of the blame on mental health problems of youth could be put on their parents. Many are born to parents who have been and still are addicted to drugs , alcohol or cigarettes. These same parents often try to put the blame on other sources when clearly it is their lifestyle that has been the cause.

    Many parents have also raised their children without any coping skills. Whenever their children come upon a roadblock or failure, they jump right in to mitigate the damage. Elementary and secondary school administration also indicate clearly to their staff that they want a 95% success rate and as a result when these little darlings do experience failure or roadblocks, they either become depressed , want to commit suicide or take illegal drugs as a solution.

    I also agree with the comment made by another poster, that is, to draw a causal link between mental illness and environmental chemicals is pure speculation and conjecture - nothing more.
  12. Emma Hawthorne from Canada writes: When I volunteered in a downtown Toronto youth drop-in a few years ago, I was truly shocked to hear of street youth, ranging from average to very intelligent, denied treatment at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto merely because they had missed an appointment. If a children's hospital clinic will not accommodate children in chaos, who will? That said, no one should be sent out of the community for help (to a hospital clinic) when better care can be provided in the community at lower cost. You don't need a PhD in psychology to know that most street youth come from totally inadequate homes, where love was in desperately short supply. In my view, those teens belonged at the front of the list for therapy and counselling. Also, Canadian provinces should adopt laws similar to those in California which require parental supervision and support at least until age 18. Would these drunks drive their kids away if they knew they still had to support them? We also need community assessments of inedequate/addicted/mentally ill parents with programs to teach those who can improve, and support for teens who are de facto orphaned or otherwise inadequately parented. A small investment during the teen years would make a world of difference and might prevent teen homelessness altogether.
  13. A. Nonymous from Treatment Options, United States writes: What we need are more laws protecting the mentally ill children from themselves.

    Children are given 'rights' to refuse treatment, and there is literally nothing their parents can do.

    I have heard to too many families being broken up by a mentally ill child, exercising their 'right' to refuse treatment.

    Doctors and parents know whats best for the mentally ill children, lets rescind these rights before the next right they know of is the right to remain silent.
  14. linda sepp from toronto, Canada writes: You guys don't know how wonderful it is to hear you say " to draw a causal link between mental illness and environmental chemicals is pure speculation and conjecture - nothing more." The chemical industry has spent millions and millions of dollars trying to convince the world that anyone who does suffer from chemical "sensitivities", (a misnomer if there ever was one) that it is all in their heads, and because of that, the people who do experience neuro-toxicity and central nervous system damage from the chemicals in your favorite cologne or fabric softener, pesticides, inks and or moulds (which also affect behaviour in addition to the respiratory and other distress experienced) have been put on pharmaceutical anti-depressants, which are full of more chemicals, which only results in a further decline in health. Education is required to inform the medical establishment that what to them may appear as mental health problems, could in fact be symptoms of chemical and environmental sensitivities, which are physiological responses to chemicals and other substances common in our environments. See The CHRC site for the report I mentioned before, as well as Dr Rapp's site. Kids in schools are being exposed to all kinds of VOC's in fragranced body sprays, hair sprays, laundry and cleaning chemicals, copiers, PVC products, moulds, etc. Exposure to these substances can create emotional and behavioural symptoms which do get labelled as mental illness unless proper diagnosis is made. Unfortunately, doctors aren't trained to know anything about this because the treatment is avoidance of offending substances and not a handy pill that industry would profit from, so there IS a problem. Unless the schools and mental health professionals understand that this is a serious possible underlying cause to discount before other actions are taken, some kids (up to 15%), families and teachers are going to continue to suffer needlessly.
  15. C C from Canada writes: Linda Sepp, my Mum has sensitivities to something in various scented products, so I know what you mean about them being a problem. She's also sensitive to a host of natural products including gluten, dairy products and tomatoes. This makes things a bit complicated, but we're learning to manage.
    While it is probably prudent to avoid pumping too many chemicals into the body, I think that more research needs to be done to support the claims that have been made relating to the chemicals. One has to keep in mind that some of the world's deadliest poisons and damaging hallucinogenics come straight from nature. One must also remember the other variables that we are dealing with here, ranging from societal stigma to improved diagnostics to changing sociological influences.
  16. SN Dream from Canada writes: Wilf Kruggel from Canada writes: When ones sees that mental health problems are on the rise, one can no help but wonder just how much our drug problem has to do with mental health. All the while, driving down the highway, the ditches are linned with cop cars trying to catch the unsuspecting speeder while at the same time our youth are being destroyed by these drugs and drug gangs. Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture? Wilf
    ------------------------------------------------
    Mental health problems are on the rise??? Where do you see that?? Hmm, I remember "seeing things that doesn't exist" is a symptom of something.

    The current evident only support that current society are more much tolerance towards those with mental health (at least for mood disorder), this make current generation of teenager more willing to seek medical health. Whereas teens in the previous generation just hide their disorder due to fear of discrimination.
  17. Ed Andrukowitcz from Edmonton, Canada writes: From the article "More than half seldom or never discuss problems with their father". Could this be because they don't have a father at home to talk to?
  18. Emma Hawthorne from Canada writes: Hi A. Nonymous. Why not offer efficacious treatment instead? Too many toxic parents and medical practitioners get away with causing harm and trodding on rights. I say give the kids a break, lots of effective, helpful supports and help them remove toxic interactions to replace them with positive ones. As you might have guessed that I might say: the entire family needs help and education, preferably from effective skilled psychotherapists and social workers, and quite possibly treatment to change their own toxic behaviours.
  19. winston freeman from Hamilton, Canada writes: Someone more clever than me once wrote that there are : lies , damned lies , and statistics .

    All research emanating from Toronto's CAM-H is unreliable . Pharmaceutical dealers have too much influence .

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