Waterbury Youth Services, Cheshire Academy Join National Pilot Program Promoting Teen Mental Health
/Two Connecticut organizations that focus on youth - Waterbury Youth Services in Waterbury and the Cheshire Academy in Cheshire – have joined a national pilot program being run by the National Council for Behavioral Health with support from Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. The initiative - teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) – was launched in a limited number of schools around the country earlier this year, with another 20 high schools added this fall.
The innovative new peer-to-peer program empowers young people to support each other in times of need or crisis. It is the teen version of the Mental Health First Aid program that has been provided to adults throughout the U.S. and internationally for more than a decade.
tMHFA is an in-person training for high school students in grades 10 to 12 to learn about mental illnesses, including how to identify and respond to a developing mental health or substance use problem among their peers. Similar to CPR, students learn a 5-step action plan to help their friends who may be facing a mental health problem or crisis, such as suicide, and highlights the important step of involving a responsible and trusted adult.
Addressing the mental health needs of teens is critically important, officials point out. Half of all mental illnesses begin by age 14 and three-quarters by the mid-20s. Left unaddressed, mental health issues can lead to serious consequences for a young person’s well-being, including increased risk of dropping out of school or experiencing homelessness. Tragically, suicide is the second leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, according to representatives of MHFA.
“teen Mental Health First Aid is a logical next step in the Mental Health First Aid program,” said Betsy Schwartz, vice president for public education and strategic initiatives at the National Council for Behavioral Health. “It’s so important that teens have the skills to help each other in the language that they use every day – that is the power of peer-to-peer intervention. This innovative new program will help us reach more young people in need as we break down misconceptions about mental illness and grow our family of 1.7 million Mental Health First Aiders.”
The course is designed to be delivered in high schools or other community sites by a trained teen Mental Health First Aid Instructor in three interactive classroom sessions of 75 minutes each or five sessions of 45 minutes each on non-consecutive days. The course is based on guidelines developed through the expert consensus of people with lived experience of mental health problems and professionals.
“It’s not really ‘normal’ to talk about mental health with people. Being able to help everyone know about mental health and the real struggles that everyone is experiencing is important,” said Drew Voris, a recent graduate of Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Mo., one of the students who nationally completed the pilot program. “Nobody says, ‘I can’t go to the party because I had a panic attack.’ They’ll make up an excuse. To be able to openly talk about being on antidepressants or dealing with anxiety, to have that awareness and to have that normal talk about mental health is really important.”
More schools are recognizing that they have a lifesaving role to play and are training school staff to help students with Youth Mental Health First Aid, an adult-to-adolescent program. While this is an important step, research has shown that many adolescents turn to peers for support, making programs like tMHFA that prepare youth themselves for these situations is critically important. Youth Mental Health First Aid is taught to adults who work with youths, while the Teen curriculum is designed for teens to take themselves. Youth Mental Health First Aid is often, but not exclusively taught in schools, to teachers. Connecticut has had 31 classes of Youth Mental Health First Aid so far in 2019, and 80 courses in 2018.
“With teen Mental Health First Aid, we like to say, it’s okay to not be okay,” said Lady Gaga, co-founder of Born This Way Foundation, onstage at her Las Vegas concert as she spoke to 16 students who had just completed the first tMHFA pilot in eight schools across the country. “Sometimes when life gives you a million reasons to not want to stay, you need just one person that looks at you, listens to you, helps you get help and validates how you feel.”
Run by the National Council for Behavioral Health and supported by Born This Way Foundation, teen Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based response to the mental health challenges encountered by one in five American teens. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health are currently doing an initial evaluation of the tMHFA pilot. High schools, youth serving organizations/ programs or organizations in partnership with a local high school are eligible to apply.
The National Council for Behavioral Health is the unifying voice of America’s health care organizations that deliver mental health and addictions treatment and services. Together with 3,000 member organizations serving over 10 million adults, children and families living with mental illnesses and addictions, the National Council is committed to all Americans having access to comprehensive, high-quality care that affords every opportunity for recovery.
The National Council introduced Mental Health First Aid USA and more than 1.7 million Americans have been trained. For more information, visit www.TheNationalCouncil.org and www.MentalHealthFirstAid.org.
Led by Lady Gaga and her mother Cynthia Germanotta, Born This Way Foundation was founded in 2012 to support the wellness of young people and empower them to create a kinder and braver world. To achieve these goals, Born This Way Foundation leverages evidence-based research and authentic partnerships in order to provide young people with kinder communities, improved mental health resources and more positive environments – online and offline.
Lady Gaga Photo Credit: Shadille Epstan
