Teen mental health seminar sells out

BRACEBRIDGE - A parent-oriented seminar aimed at addressing a silent problem among teens got a resounding response at the Turner Centre this week.
Over 140 parents packed the Taylor Road facility’s main hall on the evening of Tuesday, May 8 for a “child and youth stress, anxiety and depression” workshop. Run by the Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) parent council, the event was aimed at raising awareness and understanding of mental health issues in youth among parents, and had a further 35 people on the waiting list.
“It’s an area that is kind of foreign to a lot of parents,” said parent council chair Don Evans.
Suzanne Witt-Foley, district manager of mental health services for TLDSB, said one in five children and youth suffer from mental health issues. Common problems can include anxiety disorders, depression, psychosis and schizophrenia, and learning disorders.
Not all mental health problems, however, are easy for parents to accept or identify. One example was Alicia Power, who was one of the first students to enrol at the new Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School (BMLSS) when it first opened
During the Tuesday event, Power — who suffers from Asperger Syndrome — drew a resounding round of applause after performing a guitar solo for the sea of attendees. By contrast, her first days at the new school did not go as smoothly.
“She was filled with absolute terror,” said Witt-Foley. “She would hide, she would run out of the building to the point she could not attend school.”
At first, Power’s grandmother, Iris Gammon, said she didn’t quite know what to make of the symptoms.
“I thought she was just a spoiled little girl,” she said.
Eventually, Power was taken to counselling services, which allowed Gammon and other family members to fully understand and accept the symptoms as not an attitude problem, but as a medical condition. As more people around Power began understanding her symptoms, coping became progressively easier.
“I don’t know if I’ve been more accepted, but I’m more accepted by myself,” she said.
Jake Knowles, a Grade 9 BMLSS student, also gave a speech on his experiences with anxiety problems and panic attacks. Knowles said his anxiety problems began at a young age, when his family moved from a smaller house where he felt safe, to a newer, larger home.
“I could remember waking up at ungodly hours of the night only to discover I was completely alone in my bedroom,” he said. “I would call out to my parents until they eventually became fed up with me and gave me their unwelcoming or an angry response.”
Knowles’ problems continued as he grew older.
“Sometimes I have difficulty breathing when I’m around groups of people,” he said.
“It’s not to say that a certain amount of anxiety is unnatural, it’s only when you’re not able to control them that concern is necessary.”
His father David said he originally wasn’t aware his son’s problems were a medical condition. Many parenting techniques, he said, stress a need to take a tough stance against such behaviour from children.
“I think a lot of self-help books say ‘deny the request,’” he said.
In his own youth, he said many people weren’t aware that symptoms like panic attacks or anxiety could be medically related.
“It would be perceived as ‘get a grip’ or ‘get a hold of yourself’ (or) ‘what’s your problem?’” he said.
He would, however, go on to accept Jake’s symptoms as characteristics of generalized anxiety disorder — the diagnosis given after a visit to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Through counselling that has given him coping and control strategies, Jake has largely improved his ability to manage the condition.
“Each and every day, I continue to use the strategies given to me,” he said.
The event also included the showing of three films by the National Film Board of Canada that focused on mental health issues in youth, and parents were provided information on how to build health relationships with teens.
The workshop coincides with the creation of a mental health pilot project by the TLDSB and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.
Both school boards are working together with mental health services in their communities to make them more easily accessible to area youth.

Small - Large
|
Print
|
Email
|
|