good morning. this is "news4 your sunday." hello. i'm pat lawson today we want to talk about mental health and that of your children and elderly loved ones. awareness al health monday and may 6th is the day let aside to raise awareness about the men health of our children. as part of our changing minds initiative, we'd like to focus on the challeing issues they're facing, awareness and ways to help. our guests are karen duffy, chief development officer for the organization every mind. jennifer dinnell isrector of adult and community services for every mind. thank you both for being here to talk about a very important topic and one that we've been

discussing here at nbc 4 for several years now as part of our "changing minds" initiative. want to start with chdren and young adults. according to the cdc's youth risk behavior survey, suicide ie now t second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 24 as well as college-age youth and teens between 12 and 18. that sounds like an epidemic. is it? >> i think that what we're seeing is an increase, absolutely. i don't know if we an epidemic at this point, but i do think that our children are facing a lot more challenges, maybe, than anything we've ever seen before. and so, they're not connecting neessarily with resources or with the kinds of services that they need. they don't know where to turn to for help. and so, we're seeing an increase in suicidal behaviors. >> jennifer, disturbing numbers also from the journal of pediatrics. we read about this in the

"washington post" this past week, saying that a the p decade, the rate of suicide by poison has more than doubled in young people under age 19, more than tripled for girls and females between the ages of 10 and 24. what are some of the about why these numbers are so high? >> well, i think, you nok one of the things that's important t recognize ishat more and more not onl are our youth exposed tont more conte kind of leading them to suic e, but we also have a lot more access to poiso,us, you know options that our youth mightoose in terms of taking their own life. i mean, one of the othe things, without going down the road of, epidemic, is that more and more these pills are -- and i don't know that that falls under that poisonous category, but in terms of, they're more accessible to our youth. andonhe moreent and social

media and the images that are in our youth's mind, and really so much that they're rading and seeing are leading to these decisions, feeling like they don't have anotherion, which is actually not the case. there is another option. >> so, that's what these numbers say to you? >> they do, yeah. >> a recent report indicated that suicide rates among teens did spike after we saw netflix come out with "13 reasons why," which was a show that aired back 2017, about teen suicide. any thoughts about that? >> yeah, that was a verydi sturbing finding, that the ic deaths by suide spiked after that. and i think what that shows is a concern or an opportunity for us to make sure that our children are getting accurate information bout resources that might be available to them. i think we need to be careful about how we portray suicide anb suicidalhaviors in the media to make sure that we're not

dramatizing, we're not glorifying the act, but also to make sure that there's a conversation about suicide and suicidal behaviors and where you can go to get help. help is available. and we want our students and our young people to know that there are reurces out there, that this doesn't have to be the answer. >> do they tend, jennifer, to talk about it before they carry out the act? >> they do. usually after the fact, if you start asking the friends, even some family members, they h e made mention of whether or not th're feeling sad, whether they're anxihes, whether ty've thought about it, if they ha a plan. definitely our kids are talking about it, but they're talking about it also in other platforms that we maybe as adults are not on with them. tso, one of thends that we're seeing come out of the hotli that see come out on text and chat is that some of our youth are, when they're playing video

games, there is a platform where you can wah other people play a video game. and in this chat form, they're talking about it. they're talking about suicide on this platform. they're talking about depression. but on a positive ante, i wt to say, is tart ther also organizations loking to try and be that voice of reason during that video game, because this is where they're chatting, right? they're finding new platforms. and so, there ze orgaions hoping to kind of break into this video game platform to give solid resources to those kids talking about it. >> so, they're talking about it. are they talking about how to do it oralking about the issues that are leading them to think about this, to consider it? >> ime n, i think both, pro.ably, yeah i think probably down the negative path is that they're talking about ways to do it, they're getting ideas from each other. they're using things like the 1 reasons why, you know. and i think that glofying about what they think others might feel after they take their

life. and i think this is where some of that media that we're not using really good common sense about our media and how our youth really are internalizing shows like that. >> okay. we're talking about mental health. we'll continue our conversation, very important conversation, right after this. e

welcomck. we're continuing our conversation today about mental health, and we're focusing now on children and youth, and then we're gog to talk about the mental health of our elderly residents and family members. i just want to go back to the video game and this chat room that's open for business. >> yeah. >> while our young people are online. now, at your n,organizatioat every mind, you actually are monitoring some of these conversations

tell us how it happens. text and chat. >> yes. >> you have someone who's listening? >> we do. so, we're not in the video game platform in that sense, but we runat the ch and text crisis hotline. so, we have youth who can either text us through their phones or chat with us on the computer. so, we have hotline specialists on the other side who have all r youth every single day.uri and it is o younger -- it's our youngar crowd that reaching out to us on that platform, on text and chat. and we do run the phone hotlineh also 24rs a day. but the text andt cha is really where we'r seeing our -- we've got elementary school, middle school, high schoolers, college students, who reacht to us on this platform. >> is it becoming trendy to talk about it, to experiment with t idea, to carry it out? do young people feelhis is the

only option available to them?on are they doing it because their peers are either doing ico idering it, or talking about it? >> i think a lot of our students and our youth are -- as theyd ten do at this age -- sort of feeling their way and trying tos figure out what' going on -- >> exploring. >> exploring, exactly. and so, some of it's testing to see what kind of response will i get from my peers. some of them really do feel that desperate. and i think what i've been hearing through the work that i do is ourildren need to know where to turn, and they're turning to each other, which is great. they're turning to someone. but we need to make sure that all of them have the resources and know wt to say to somebody who's experiencing that, and most importantly, to talk about it. >> right. >> to talk about i with each other, but to also tell an adult. and i think some more work needs to be done in that area to make sure that our youth know that it's okay to talk about it. we want to do that, but we also need to get help.

.> ye they're turning to each other, jennifer, but we know kids don't always exercise good judgment, so -- >> they don't, yeah. >> when i was a kid, my friends all told me the wrong thing. i mean, i turned to them and they gave me bad advice. >> yeah, yeah. >> well, i thinkoing off what karen said, i think sometimes there's a myth that if -- from parents, i think, there's m ath that if they mention the word suicide or talk about it with their children, it's going to somehow magically put this idea in their child's head to take their own life, which is absolutely not true. like anything, we have to talk about it. the moree talk about it, the lessentigma there is, and th you know that there actually are resources, like calling the hotline. and i think sometimes there's a misnomer that you have to be in a crisis to call the hotline. parents can call the hotline to ind out, like what do i say to my child who's just said something? we have to find the language. and the more we talk abou it, the more we give the language to our youth of how to express what's going on, so --

>> but one of the issues, problems that we know many, you know, people deal with, is stigma. is stigma an issue for a teenager? >> absolutely. i think that there is a sense of i don't want to be different. this is an age where youth just want to be like everyone else. they want to be accepted. but they are facing real challenges. and so, to talk about it with, being able to sort of single themselves out. and that's why we do so much work around education and ad ocacy, to help people unrstand that talking about it, getting it out in the open, it's okay. that's how people get help for any problem that they're facing. >> i have to ask you this. t we knt they're facing all this pressure and that social media has magnified it. aside from taking away their phones, trying to controltheir online activities, what's the best way for a parent to get a handle on their access to t is information? >> so, i mean, i think there's got to be some monitoring.

we have to as prents and community members take some responsibility to monitor -- >> parents have rights, don't they? >> absolutely. t>> absolutely,y do. >> to monitor what our children are looking at online, on social media, on the computers. but i think the other things we have to educate our parents also to ask some of the questions. i think sometimes parents feel like they don't know even what to ask. so, we really -- we have to educate. i thinkthne of things we really try to do at every mind is look at not just educating our students, but educating our parents, but not just our parents, right? o aunts and uncles, our faith-based leaders. it has to come from lots ofre diffe angles so thate as adults are using the right language so that our children feel comfortable talking about it, and that we ask the right questions. we have to ask. and we have to be prepared for what the answer is, right? so, if i'm going to ask you as an adult, you know, what do you think about this show, "13 reasons y"? you know? what is that like to you? i have to be prepared for that

child to say, like, i've thought about taking my own life. and then i have to be prepared with resources, which is we try to give our hotline, and there's a lot of great line resources that we can give also. >> okay. going to take areak and we'll continue this very important conversation in a minute. z388pz z16fz

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we know they are importanid and young >> i think one of the thingsstu any given day and feeling sknow re expressing concerns about whether or not they're safe in the building.

i also haveor wed with some students who are really high-performing youth, and they have a lot of ambition and goals, which is wonderful, but there's also a lot of stress ane pure on them to perform well on tests, get into the right colleges, plus work, plus, you know, all the extracurricular activities that they have to complete. so, there are a lot of different kinds of stressors that they're facing that i know i neve had to face when i was growing up. >> mm-hmm. and we need to be prepared to help them with those i know you'll say. >> we do, we do. and i think going -- i think we've had a lot of requests from schools for kids having panic attacks and such high anxiety based onoan pressures. but yes, i think we need to have the resources really for our ig children rht now because, one, it is anonymous au can get us any time of day, is to utilize o t hotline ando call us or to text us and to chat with us because you don't have to be in crisis.

we can talk to you any time about if you're just stressed about a test, if it's a relationship issue, just having a bad day and you want to talk to us at 2:00 in the morning, we will answer the phone. >> okay. and why don't you give us the ht number r now in case somebody wants to call right now. >> absolutely. 301-738-2255. >> you also have a national suicide prevention lifeline number. >> yep. so, that is -- i don't know that number off the top of my head, but the national suicide prevention lifeline, we answer that linel.s wel it is an 800 number. >> okay, just in case someone watching now needsthat. want to switch gears now and talk about older adults, because a study last month indicated that one in five adults who need assistance with their daily living experiences a lot of anxiety, that they're experiencing and reporting symptoms ofderly anxiety. what are some of the factors that increase the risk of suicide in this population? >> so, i think big thing for

our older adultser to rememb is that, one, depression is a not normal sign of aging. i think sometimes that is e misnomthat, oh, you're getting older, so certainly you're going to be going through some depreson, but statistics show that that's noy actuall the case. one of theiggest things that we look about in our older as ts is that it comes out physical complaints -- headaches, stomach aches. they go to eir doctor. and then gemetimes it ts dismissed as, oh, that's normal part of aging. so, it's really important for our older adults to feel like they're being heard from their doctors, because there is depression in older adults. we are seeing our older adultst aking their own lives for so various reans, but it doesn't have to be a normal part of aging. >> what are some of the other factors? is it, you know, growing older and having to deal with physical issues and illness, but also dependence or losing their independence? >> losing independence.

and i think just isolation that comes with, as ,u age you start to lose your spouse, close friends. you're losing those aund you that have been your socialup srt network for a long, long time. so now you're. isolat you may have some mobility fe y to go out and be with otthers, t's sort of a hard thing to overcome if you can't really move easily. so, we're seeing that a lot of the depression a also stemming from just feeling socially isolated. >> jennifer mentioned symptoms. one of the symptoms may be man fessing itself as physical symptom, an ache or a pain, but how would a family member knowa an elderly loved one iser considing this? >> yeah, i think we seear simil signs, that withdrawal, that staying at home more and more, really not being willing to do other activities that they used to enjoy, which is why we really promote trying to get out, and,

like, volunteer, give back, because you need to keep that ocial network so that people are checking you. but i do think we see a lot of people rawithdw. and typically, not always, ba s we age, we're taking more and more medicions, and then there can be complications. there can also be really, like odd side effects from those medications. but i think the withdrawal and really not enjoying activities that they used to enjoy. >> that's a warning sign. >> yes. >> a red flag. >> a red flag,ye ah, definitely. >> all right, we've got to take another break, but we'll be right back. we see two travelers so at a comfort innal with a glow around them,ng so people watchivelers so awill be like,nnal

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welcome back. jennifer and karen, if we notice symptoms in someone who is older, what are the best steps caregiver, healthpractitioner,

a fknow, counselor. most important thing is ur provider, anddot let t dismiss it as signs of aging or as the natural course of aging. if that is not -- if that is unusual for you -- >> don't take that as an answer. >> -- don't take it as an dswer an't be put off, because you don't have to live with sort of the psycl emotional painy, and certainly e it.o and we have tpu we have to help elderly people push f they needdeserve. >> there's been so mental health, the need for awareness, the need to erase stigma. are we maki progress? >> i think that we are making progress. i know it -- ii we're nohe are a ton

ofthere. we've go some seeing more and awareness and ability help, and i think more people h. there's a great be the one website, which actually offers tons of great resources and really shows -- because we're also including o youth in some of that and our older adultsh t k we're making programs that you mind? >> one ofreally essential is th health first aid itn to teach the erso how to recognize warning signs and symptoms of a pending mental health crisis and then what to do about it. and the brilliance behind mental health first aid there's modules th address di so, there's alr adults, there's.

every mind ihink it real makes feel capable and competent if they're confronted with someone in crisis. >> i know every mind is located in montgomery unty, but you rtainly serve anyone who comes to you. we're going to put o available o thank you so much fus. >> such a pleasure. >> jennifer grinnell ofmb for the national 1-800-273-talk. that's 273-8255. call that number if you need some help. and thank you for being with us today. to see any "news4 your sunday" program, log yur website omnity" i'm pat lawson mu

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