Children's Mental Health Going Into the School Year

Las Vegas was built for stars. And on August 22nd, two of boxing's biggest take center stage. Raleigh Romero never follows the script. This is my game. Tio Fimo Lopez has never needed one. This guy's got a big mouth. For years, they've had plenty to say. All your do is tall. But with world championship gold on the line, can they back it? Tio, I'm here. I'm going all in. It's time to put up or shut up. Raleigh Romero versus Tiofimo Lopez. August 22nd. I'll shut you up. Watch on Dazone, and Dazone on Prime. Video. Nerds! Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. Ever Google a money question and end up 12 tabs deep with 12 different answers? This podcast is your shortcut back to clarity. NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast breaks down financial decisions with a team of trusted journalists. They explain the why behind decisions like investing, home buying, and choosing credit cards with clear research-backed insights. No jargon, no misinformation. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast on your favorite podcast app. Amazon Music, music, podcasts, and now audiobooks, all in one app. Amazon Music Unlimited, audiobooks included. This is back to school time, and it's a time of transition for kids, but it can also be a time of great stress and anxiety. I'm WBBM News Radio's Rob Hart, and this week on At Issue, we talked to Tracy Levine, director of the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute, about what you can do to make sure you stay on top of your child's mental health and how you can be a helping hand in times of trouble.

Tracy Levine, director for the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute. Thank you for joining us today on that issue. Thank you for having me back. Now, before we talk about the mission of the Institute, just tell us who Naomi Ruth Cohen was. Naomi was a young woman who was involved in many different things, had many different interests. Her family describes her as just this beautiful personality. And she struggled with mental health issues. And in 1998, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. And in 2000, she died by suicide. And the family made it their mission to try to reduce stigma associated with mental illness, first through supporting the research and advocacy efforts of others. And then in 2002, they hosted their first annual community mental health conference. What if you're a parent and your child appears to be having a mental health crisis? What do you do? You ask them to tell you what's going on. And it's not just tell me what's going on. It's talking with your child about, you know, what's the worst thing that's happening with you right now? What's the best thing that's happening with you right now? Is there something I can do to help you? And what we want to keep in mind when we're having these conversations is that we're not just bombarding our kids with question after question after question, but that we ask a thoughtful question and wait for that response. We also want to help our children develop resilience and confidence. A struggle is not necessarily an indication of a mental health issue. Struggle is normal. Anxiety is normal. What we want to be looking for is whether that's outside of what... is quote unquote normal for our child. Are they not sleeping the way they used to? Are they not engaging in activities that they generally enjoy? And using that as a place to open that conversation to say, you know what, I notice that you're not really, you know, whatever it is. Tell me about that or tell me what might be happening right now with you. And Also not doing it in a way where we're going to sit down at the kitchen table and we're going to have this conversation. But maybe we're taking the dog for a walk or we're in the car driving somewhere. It's like, hey, I was wondering and that we do it in that conversational way rather than that interrogation way. And we are approaching back to school time. And there are a lot of kids who are just feeling down because summer is over, but there are. a not insubstantial number of students who are returning to school who are genuinely unhappy because they don't want to go back.

There's a lot of things that can play into that as well. They don't want to go back, but they do want to go back because maybe the school is their safe space. There are students who are experiencing changes, right? They may have migrating from elementary school to middle school or middle school to high school. Those changes can feel somewhat overwhelming. And it's important to know that that's all normal, to be anxious about those things, to try to manage those things. It's when it starts to interfere with their daily functioning that we want to be concerned. The need for connection and that safe space and not solving all of our kids' problems for them, but helping them navigate through them. And then how can you, I mean, this is a place where physical health can tie into your mental health as well, because if you're in junior high or high school. You have a schedule of activities that could exceed that of their parents, where you're up at 5.30 in the morning because you have an early practice. Then you have a full day of school, and then you have another extracurricular, and then you have four hours of homework, and you're going to bed at 1130 or midnight, and you're getting no sleep. And that does have a profound impact on your mental health. Research has shown that our teenagers need at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night and that sometimes what we're perceiving in a young person as a lack of motivation or a lack of investment is truly exhaustion. They need to be able to sleep to be able to succeed in all of these other things. And you're absolutely right. Being able to manage that, my daughter was a multi-sport athlete and it seemed like we were always going to practices or games or this event or that event. And how do you map that in? The other thing is we know social media ends up being something that will take our attention. And do we have device-free times in our homes where, you know what, everybody, and that includes the adults, is turning off their device at a certain time and focusing on establishing a nighttime routine, how are we going to relax, how are we going to be prepared for tomorrow, how are we going to get to bed and get to sleep? Now, how can you as a parent also make the determination that various events over someone's teenage life, whether this is bog standard high school stuff that everyone has gone through, and what really is a crisis? It's about knowing your own child or the child that you're responsible for. What are we seeing that might be different? Are they... having the inability to function. They're not able to do the things they do. They don't have enjoyment. They're not functioning at that level that we would expect. Are there challenges that they're not able to overcome? And it's not about removing every obstacle because our young people need to figure out how to solve problems. They need to be able to say, wow, that was hard. But I figured it out. I got through it. I did it.

I'm going to be okay. As we prepare our young people going off to college or moving out of state or going off to start their first job, it's hard as a parent to let go. And, you know, please don't be that parent that calls the professor or calls the RA or calls the new employer. We as parents need to ensure we've provided our kids with a foundation without being the roof. We can't keep hovering over them. You know what, though? That is true. However, as a parent, it's almost like you have to push back. against that instinct because once again we're talking about you know in your in the in the parental mental timeline you're talking about someone even though they might be in their 20s you're talking about someone who was a baby five minutes ago and you want to protect this person I remember when my daughter went for a bike ride for the very first time just around the neighborhood something I did many times as a child and I was fine But I was pretty anxious until she came back. And it's really hard as a parent to turn that protective instinct off. But can you remember the pride that came after that anxiety? that she did that. Yeah, absolutely. And that's what we have to try to balance is can we sit comfortably with our own anxiety to allow our child to succeed and to make it through that struggle? Sending them the message, I'm here if you need me. I'm going to help you figure it out, whatever it is, but you got this. What do you think you should do? What are your options? What would you like to do? Do you want me to just sit here and listen? Do you want me to hug you? Do you want me to get involved? And if the answer is, I want you to get involved, then figuring out what is that involvement? What is that level of involvement? You know, our teenagers can send us mixed messages sometimes. They love us. They hate us. And some things to keep in mind with that is we're the safe people to hate. They can test us. They know we love them unconditionally. And so they can take out some of that. behavior in a space where they know they're going to be loved and accepted no matter what. On the subject of teenage mental health, what are some things you should keep an eye out for in terms of detecting substance abuse disorders? So then when we're seeing behavior changes, are young people disappearing, maybe being... Clearly under the influence is going to be something we're going to ask about. We're in a state where marijuana is legally obtainable, so it makes it a lot easier for our young people. We know it still has an impact on their brains, on their development. Alcohol, binge drinking is still a thing, although I understand it's been going down somewhat. So watching for those changes in behavior is changes in appearance, changes in the way they interact with others.

who they are interacting with, all of those things can be signs that a young person is having a struggle. And if they are having a struggle, what can you as a parent do to be empathetic to their struggle? To try to ask what's going on, to talk very openly about, here are the things that I've noticed. One of the things that we talk about in mental health first aid is we talk about early signs and symptoms, worsening signs and symptoms, and then what to do in crisis. And what we're talking about here is those early signs and symptoms. What are we noticing? Was there some leftover prescription medication in the cabinet? And it's not there anymore. And, you know, it's not that ubiquitous parental question. Is there something you want to tell me? Because the answer to that question is always going to be no. Our kids want to know what we know before they tell us what we think we want to know. to say I've noticed or I've observed or this is happening and I'd like to talk to you about it. And then another part of the developmental process as a teenager is all of a sudden... people, certain people are more attractive than others in your life. And you may discover that if you're a male and other guys are attractive, or you're a female and your female friends are attractive. And how can you navigate the development of your own sexuality? And as a parent, observe this and do it in a empathetic way. Part of it is language instead of saying, so, you know, you have a child who identifies as female instead of saying, do you have a boyfriend, saying, is there somebody special in your life? Making it safe to talk about those relationships and for young people to explore. Who are they attracted to? Why are they attracted to that person? I had somebody. say, ask me about a child who I identified as gay. And they said, well, how old were they when they found out they were gay? And I said, how old were you when you found out you were heterosexual? I mean, it isn't just a magical thing. We develop over time. We develop our gender identity. We develop our sexuality. And that happens all through our lives. You're listening to at issue. Las Vegas was built for stars. And on August 22nd, two of boxing's biggest take center stage. Raleigh Romero never follows the script. This is my game. Tio Fimo Lopez has never needed one. This guy's got a big mouth. For years, they've had plenty to say. All your do is talk. But with world championship gold on the line, can they back it? Tio, I'm here. I'm going all in. It's time to put up or shut up. Raleigh Romero versus Tiofimo Lopez. August 22nd. I'll shut you up. Watch on DeZone and DeZone on Prime Video. Nerds! Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. Ever Google a money question and end up 12 tabs deep with 12 different answers? This podcast is your shortcut back to clarity.

NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast breaks down financial decisions with a team of trusted journalists. They explain the why behind decisions like investing, home buying, and choosing credit cards with clear research-backed insights. No jargon, no misinformation. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast on your favorite podcast app. Amazon Music, music, podcasts, and now audiobooks. All in one app. Amazon Music Unlimited. Audio books included. On WBBM News Radio, I'm Rob Hart. We are talking with Tracy Levine, director for the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and there are programs virtually and in person. Let's go in-depth into this partnership with the Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine because when you go into an organization, especially a med school where people are really driven. and may feel that those feelings of anxiety that they are experiencing over the course of a grueling med school curriculum, that they have to really just power through it or go over it or go around it because that's standing in the way of success. So how are people perceiving your training in these environments? Well, we've had longstanding partnerships with other colleges and universities in the Chicago land area. We're frequently invited back. Staff, faculty, students find value in having shared language, in creating that foundation for mental health and talking about it and knowing where and how to seek resources with the Illinois. College of osteopathic medicine specifically, or the calm as we refer to it, it really started with the dean of the school, Dr. John Lucas, coming to me a couple of years ago while it was still in development to say, you know what? I think that we want to do this. One of the first things we teach medical students is CPR, and the odds of them needing to use that within their cohort, probably pretty slim. But the odds of them needing to interact with a peer or another student who's struggling with their mental health or might be experiencing substance use issue is going to be pretty high because of all of the things that you just named. And so we created this plan. We've been working on it for the last couple of years to make it come to fruition. And I think we trained to 91 students and over 40 staff and faculty all in the same curricula. All know that, and that was a message I was able to send to the students as well. Again, that reinforcement that your mental well-being is just as important as your academic success. Your organization is involved with numerous mental health trainings with organizations and just in the community in general. And what is the nature of some of those training sessions? What can you expect?

if you are involved in one. So we have everything from one-hour style lunch and learn programs on targeted topics specific to people's interests might be something like mental health in the workplace, might be on mindfulness and self-care, might be on understanding trauma, recognizing different kinds of things, neurodiversity. We have, as I mentioned, the two-hour QPR, which is a certification training. That certification is good for one year. We also offer a full spectrum of mental health first aid training, which is training on how to recognize and respond to somebody who might be experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge or crisis. We provide that programming for adults, for adults who interact with youth, and we also have a teen program. Now, the organization has received a grant to provide mental health first aid. As you talk about CPR, let's talk about mental health first aid, especially training. for young adults, along with people who are around teenagers, between people between the ages of 12 and 18. What is mental health first aid? So it actually started in Australia in 2000. It was brought to the U.S. in 2008, and it provides a mental health first aid action plan on how to intervene with someone who might be struggling. Participants learn that not all mental health challenges mean that somebody has a mental illness or a mental health disorder. They learn how to approach someone, assess for crisis, assist them, how to listen non-judgmentally, how to give encouragement, reinsurance, and information. how to encourage appropriate professional help and appropriate self-help depending on the situation. And through the course of the training, we work through various scenarios, we discuss how to apply that mental health first aid action plan, how to use our skills, conversation, all of those things. throughout the training. We start with that foundation of what those action steps are, and then the second half of the training is focusing on various crises like suicide, like non-suicidal self-injury, psychosis, panic attack, and talking through what that may look like and how to get assistance in a crisis situation. The discussion about people being more open and honest about their mental health compared to previous generations. Interesting story that happened this week, and that was Tim Anderson used to play for the White Sox, announced his retirement from professional baseball. And one of the things that he was really open about during his news conference announcing his retirement was his struggles with mental health and that even now he has anxiety just talking about playing professional baseball. If you hear... A professional athlete, if you hear someone who has a great deal of esteem in society talking about their own mental health struggles, does that, could that potentially inspire someone else to either A, seek help for themselves, or B, check on a friend who may be maybe having some problems?

Absolutely. The professional athletes are Olympic athletes who have come forward. We've had various artists share their mental health struggles or substance use struggles. All of those help to normalize and destigmatize the conversation around mental health, around seeking help, around that it's not, there's no simple band-aid that's going to just fix this. It's okay. not to be okay and it's okay to talk about it and seek help for it. There may be a natural inclination if someone says, I've been very anxious all the time. I have had these feelings for a very long time that maybe you as the person listening can get defensive. It's, you know, what have I done to create this situation for you? So what is active and intentional listening and how could it help in these situations? So sometimes it's as simple as the difference between saying, what's wrong with you and saying, help me understand what's going on right now? How can I help? What can I do? Is there anything that you might need in this situation? Well, I think there are some people who can just get really down. And they do. They do for maybe a couple of days or a week. And then they pop back up and they're fine. And let's talk about that word fine, where you say, how are you doing? You don't seem like yourself. You've been down for a couple of days. Is there any way I can help? And then they say, I'm fine. And that's the end of the conversation. How can you get around fine? So we do this in our trainings, and we talk about how fine can stand for feelings I'm not expressing. And that's something a student shared with me a few years ago. And we talk about the difference between saying, I'm fine. School's good, family's good, others good, maybe not today, but in general, right? I'm fine. It's good. No worries. Or is it, I'm fine. I'm fine. I said I'm fine. And what we encourage our participants to do is to leverage their relationships. Is this the kind of relationship where we can say, no, you're not? I know you're not fine. You know you're not fine. I'm going to sit here with you and I'm going to be with you and I'm going to help you figure this out. Or is it the kind of relationship where you have to respect that boundary and literally maybe take a step back and say, okay. But I want you to know I'm here if you need someone to talk to or I'm concerned about you. I reserve the right to check on you later. And on the subject to being more open and honest about your own mental health struggles, and a lot of, and we mentioned this before, is that a lot of people who maybe in high school or are in college now or are recent college graduates kind of grew up in that era of honesty because they're safety in numbers. You see people on social media. You see people over the course of your digital life who are sharing their own stories. But the...

the other side of that coin, unfortunately, is that someone or a group of people can weaponize that honesty against you and use that as part of the digital pylon. There's... always that fear as to who will tell your secret or share your secret or how will that be exposed? And social media is certainly one way that that happens. People having the courage to own their struggles and to seek the help for the struggles and to not get caught up in what might be out there or what might be publicly focusing on what do I need to do for me. while usually you try to stay away from that whole I'me mind, right? But sometimes that is important to put yourself first and try to find support that overcomes some of those other challenges. If we are moving towards a world in which mental health is at parity with physical health and how you assess it and treat it. What would that look like? Because when you're talking about physical health, you get a physical at least once a year. You go to the doctor and they, you know, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, they tell you how you're doing physically. And if you have any ailments, there are concrete therapies for them and there's medication to address it and insurance takes care of it all. What would regular mental health checkups look like? Well, there should be the same thing, just like you would have an annual physical. You would have an annual mental health evaluation that would be separate from that physical. We're fortunate in that medical doctors, osteopaths, other medical professionals are... doing more screening when they're doing those annual physicals. They're asking questions of doing depression or anxiety screens or screens for intimate partner violence. But that's just a five-minute piece of paper that maybe you're filling out a checklist versus really sitting with someone and talking through various. symptoms of anxiety, of depression, activities of daily living, daily functioning that might be impacted in a way that you hadn't realized. Talking about being unable to sleep, is that a physical condition? Is that a mental health condition? Is it both? And in Illinois, we do have an act where there are insurance companies that cover... annual physicals also need to cover an annual mental health assessment. How successful that is, I'm not really sure. Yeah, what is the status of insurance coverage when it comes to mental health treatment and screening? Because there's, as you point out, there are some policies who have a fairly robust mental health policy, and then there are others that don't. And is there something that can be done to address that?

Well, there is a lot of advocacy. There are a lot of organizations that are working together to try to have influence on that. It is our industry as a whole. Different insurance companies provide different levels of coverage as employees that are able to choose insurance packages. Somebody on a high deductible health plan might have mental health coverage, but only after they've paid $6,000 out of pocket. And if you can't afford that, then having that mental health coverage is almost meaningless. So to me, in a perfect world, insurance companies would just cover it. And you wouldn't have a deductible. You would be able to go to therapy if you needed to go to therapy, and they would pay for it. In the meantime, there are resources available, hotlines, warm lines. There are places that provide services on sliding scale, different ways to get those needs met. You're listening to Add Issue on WBBM News Radio. I'm Rob Hart. We're talking with Tracy Levine, director for the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute about suicide prevention and the numerous programs they run to really help people who may be in a mental health crisis. We talked a little bit about the partnership with the Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Chicago School. And... There's a much larger issue, too, in society, and that is a physician shortage. We're getting older. We're all developing ailments as society gets older, and there are not enough physical doctors to address this older, larger aging population. What is the mental health clinician situation? How many mental health professionals exist to service society? Not enough. The numbers are that about half of the U.S. population lives where there is a mental health services shortfall. I think here in Illinois, it's at least 50%. Depending on where we are in the state, where there are services here in the city of Chicago, we have... Lots of service providers, but that doesn't mean there aren't waiting lists, that there are enough therapists on staff at practices. The other thing is funding. that in order to provide services, a lot of organizations depend on various funding sources that may be questionable right now and are looking for other ways to keep their services going. Now, let's say you're listening right now and you really are having a hard time and you want to seek help. What does help look like? What does mental health treatment look like in the initial stages and then follow up? Is it going to see a therapist? Is it going to a doctor to be prescribed and antidepressant? What, you know, kind of walk us through the process of what mental health treatment looks like? It's going to look different for everyone. And there are many ways to start. It may be starting with talking to your primary care physician.

Say, you know what, I've really been struggling with anxiety. I think I'm having panic attacks. Can I get a referral? Can I, you know, what do you think I should do in this situation? It may be talking to a friend or family member that you're aware had some experiences. What resources did they use? Who maybe they are aware of? In Illinois, we have Beacon, which is an online system for families to find resources for... youth and children. We have the Illinois warm line that a lot of people don't know about, that people can, any resident of Illinois can call and have a 20-minute conversation. So maybe you can't afford to go to therapy, but you can call a warm line, you can call a hotline, you can, there's the 988, you don't just have to be in crisis, 211 or 311 in the suburbs. are ways to get connected with behavioral health resources in your community. 988 can also help you get connected resources. You don't have to be in crisis to call that number. Tracy Levine, director of the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute. Thank you for joining us on At Issue. If you want to learn more about the organization or want to find resources, you can do so at naomi-coen Institute.org. Girl, let's get real. Some pads are just diapers with a good PR team, but not the new Kotex BioCare. That's because Kotex BioCare helps defend against odor and inheritance. And it's the first and only pad with this pH-proactive system that helps optimize the pads pH. Just think of it as self-care for down there. Check out Kotex.com for more details on the all-new Kotex completely redesigned to meet your needs. You asked, we heard. Las Vegas was built for stars. And on August 22nd, two of boxing's biggest take center stage. Raleigh Romero never follows the script. This is my game. Tio Fimo Lopez has never needed one. This guy's got a big mouth. For years, they've had plenty to say. All you do is tall. But with world championship gold on the line, can they back it? Tio, I'm here. I'm going all in. It's time to put up or shut up. Raleighamero versus Tiofimo Lopez. August 22nd. I'll shut you up. Watch on DeZone, and DeZone on Prime. Video. Nerds! Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. Ever Google a money question and end up 12 tabs deep with 12 different answers? This podcast is your shortcut back to clarity. NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast breaks down financial decisions with a team of trusted journalists. They explain the why behind decisions like investing, home buying, and choosing credit cards with clear research-backed insights. No jargon, no misinformation. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast on your favorite podcast app. Amazon Music, music, podcasts, and now audiobooks. All in one app. Amazon Music Unlimited. Audio books included. Presented by Team Mobile, the official wireless partner of Odyssey Sports. With an awesome network and great savings, there's never been a better time to join Team Mobile. Visit your neighborhood store to make the switch today.