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Mental Health For Youth:
Here’s a mind map rendition of what Mental health for youth looks like.
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Map Explanation Summary:
“Mental Health First Aid” is a toolkit designed to help identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in children and adolescents aged 12-18. It covers common signs and symptoms, how to interact with a youth in crisis, and how to connect them with appropriate help. This training is recommended for various adults who work with youth, and the “ALGEE” action plan outlines the steps to take in a mental health emergency.
Interesting Connections:
1. Expanded Content: The training has expanded its focus beyond the core mental health challenges to include topics like trauma, substance use, self-care, and the impact of social media and bullying. This suggests a recognition that these factors are closely intertwined with and can significantly influence the mental health of young people.
2. Age Range: The training is designed for children and adolescents aged 12-18, which corresponds to a critical period of physical, emotional, and social development. Addressing mental health during this stage can have a profound impact on an individual’s long-term wellbeing.
3. Broad Audience: The training is recommended for a diverse group of adults, including teachers, school staff, coaches, camp counselors, youth group leaders, parents, and other adults who work with youth. This indicates the need for a comprehensive approach to mental health support, involving various stakeholders in a young person’s life.
4. ALGEE Action Plan: The “ALGEE” acronym provides a structured, easy-to-remember framework for responding to mental health crises. By focusing on assessment, listening, providing reassurance and information, encouraging professional help, and supporting self-help strategies, this action plan aims to empower individuals to take appropriate and effective action in a time of need.
5. Mental Health Statistics: The sobering statistics presented, such as the fact that 50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14 and 1 in 5 teens and young adults lives with a mental health condition, underscore the urgency and importance of equipping adults with the knowledge and skills to support young people’s mental health.
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50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14, and 75% by the mid-20s.
Source: Archives of General Psychiatry; Kessler, R., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K.R., Walters, E.E. (2005, June). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry. 62(6); 593-602. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593
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Urgent Mental Health Resources
TXT 4 HELP – National Safe Place: TXT 4 HELP is a free service offered to all youth in crisis. Text4Help is available 24/7 365 for school students.
https://www.nationalsafeplace.org/txt-4-help
On your mobile, type: Text4Help
Text 1-844-201-9946 to be connected to a mental health professional.
Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers:
https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-resources/talking-to-children-about-violence-tips-for-parents-and-teachers
Find out other Mental Health Resources HERE.
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For Your Spiritual, Mental And Psychological Wellness
Here Are Free Resources For Children, Teens, Adults And Parents
Unlocking Moksha-Sannyasa Yoga: The Final Path of Letting Go for Today’s Teens
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Homesick for the Stars
When I stumble into landscapes like these, I can't help but laugh at the audacity of man — thinking we can tame this beastly beauty of nature and dare to call it "mine." Let everything happen to you: Beauty and terror. So I do. I stand still in trembling reverence at...
The String of Pearls: Deep Connections And Friendship in the Digital Age
- Picture This Whether you know me or you're a stranger reading this, I want you to picture this. We're standing across from each other and holding hands. We smile at each other and look around us. Once we decide on a direction, we start walking together. That...
Arrested By Your Gravity: A Philosophical Freefall Into Desire {NSFW}
Want To Listen To The Article Instead? Listen to it HERE. - I hope you know by now. I’m crushing hard on you. You are the shiny object I'm trying to get away from, yet there’s nothing else in the world that commands my attention the way you do. And I’m...
On Living Out Loud – Read by Rachana
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Stop Waiting For Permission: How To Live Out Loud And Become The Carpe Diem Type Person
Listen to the essay here. - Cynics and the Hype Squad I've always found energy to be contagious. Imagine you're getting into a metro train where the mood is somber, you'll also tend to become silent and serious yourself, just minding your own business. But if...
Why I Really Have 3,452 Friends: The Quiet Ethos of Enduring Friendship
- Fun days are when I meet many brand new strangers and also have a chance to invite some of them to my home. Yesterday was one such day. I was witness to an event where two friends who had never met after 7th grade, but had stayed in touch, met in person after...
AI Chatbots Are Being Misused to Create Child Sexual Abuse Material. And It’s a Wake-Up Call
- Parents, Here's The News Coming From The IWF For the first time ever, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has confirmed something deeply disturbing: AI chatbots are being used to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This isn’t just a hypothetical risk...
I Crashed a Wedding in Seville. Sorry, Curiosity Got the Better of Me.
- I have so much to write about Spain and its aura, but where can I really begin? I’ve already written about an Indian wedding in the heart of Sitges, and a child who was a cutter at the Mirador de San Nicolás in Granada. I also wrote about how Spaniards camp...
Babysitting and Brain Rot Stations: What Kids Can Teach Us About Living in the Now
- Last week, one of our funniest Swamijis (Ramakrishnaji) was in town for a Satsang, so I was assigned the task of babysitting kids at a local chapter of the Chinmaya Mission. As I got on with the task of monitoring what I wondered would be a wolf pack of...
When East Met West Under the Georgia Sky: A Fusion Wedding at Serenbe
Two Worlds, One “I Do” What can two families born 8000 miles apart yet raising their kids in the deep south of the US have in common? Their children, who inspite of cultural differences, might go on to make promises to love each other forever. And that's what I...
What Marcus Aurelius and Kahlil Gibran Can Teach Us About Surviving (and Thriving) in the Age of AI
- The Poet In My Memory "In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness, and that longing is in all of you." Kahlil Gibran wrote in his seminal work, The Prophet. The first time I came across the name Gibran was in my childhood when my mom would read...
Choosing Growth Over the Easy Win: How to Navigate Life’s Crossroads
- That Y In The Road As a student (indirect) of Swami Chinmayananda, his teachings have had a profound impact on how I live my daily life in a personal capacity as a mother, wife and friend. I also try to imbibe Guruji's teachings in how I interact with my...
Ancient Dreams, Modern Wake-Up Call: What Buddha and Rama Teach Us About Life Today
Challenging Our Heroes With Prompts On a prompt challenge from a friend, I asked ChatGPT questions on what Buddha and Rama would have been thinking at times of extreme turmoil in their lives, especially during some inflection points in life like when Siddhartha...
When AI Becomes More Human Than Humans: Relationships, Intimacy, and the Age of the Promptstitute
- Erotica, Intimacy And AI It feels like yesterday we were seeing huge societal changes happen in the way Gen Z is turning to AI for emotional support instead of actual dating. I had written about it here. And just this summer, I was whining about how adults...
When Home Is Still Here And We Aren’t – A Poem By Rachana
https://youtu.be/PDINhtHzvNI - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Unlike refugees, who don’t have a home behind or infront of them, we have a home. But, Will it remember all those mornings that the woodpecker made mating calls from...
They’re Touching Grass! Small Joys of Parenting Gen Z in a Screen-Obsessed World 📵🤳
- The Small Joys of Parenting Gen Z Yesterday, my 21 and 17-year-old were part of a music pop-up show in Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Daniel Caesar, the Canadian singer, was performing for a group of young adults. And the best part, they were touching grass! Too...
Why Vulnerability Is the Ultimate Superpower in Life and Leadership
- Discovering the Power of Vulnerability A few years ago, when I discovered Brené Brown through her books and her podcasts, something shifted in me. I had been asking myself a lot of questions on staying true to my nature and finding alignment in how I acted in...