Why is sleep important to mental health? Why is adolescent mental health more vulnerable to being negatively impacted? How can we support the young people in our lives who’re struggling with mental health? These are some of the questions that were top of mind for the St. Michael’s Hospital Youth Advisory Council, a group of volunteers in their teens to early 20s who offer our family care team insights about what youth services are needed and where improvements can be made.

Approximately one in five children and youth in Ontario has a mental health challenge and about 70 per cent of mental health challenges have their onset in childhood or youth, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. Experts say early identification and intervention is critical and can lead to improved health outcomes.

For Mental Health Week, youth council members and university students Christina, Griffin, Vanessa and Seojin, asked a pediatrician for the scoop on mental health education, support and impacts. Dr. Jessica Malach, a pediatrician at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, who is also running a study on whether a virtual therapeutic improvisation class can decrease anxiety symptoms in kids ages 9-13, shared her insights. Here’s what she had to say.

Christina: What are some ways that we can help the youth in our lives, like our friends and our family, to better support them when they’re struggling with their mental health?

Dr. Malach: We worry so much about what to say and how to say it that sometimes we don’t say anything at all. The best way to help support a youth in your life who’s struggling with their mental health is letting them know that you’re there for them.

Reaching out to a friend, asking them a question or listening can go a really long way. If you’re really worried about their mental health, there’s a number of resources that are available through apps and online. One website that I really like is AnxietyCanada.com.

If you’re worried about the mental health of someone in your life, it’s important to encourage them to reach out to a trusted adult. People can see their family doctor or a pediatrician if they’re worried. And their primary care physician can be really helpful by connecting them with resources.

If a youth in your life is really struggling and they’re not willing to talk to a trusted adult yet, there are a number of more anonymous agencies, for example Kids Help Phone, that are available for kids that are struggling. There are also a number of local mental health agencies that will see kids without a physician referral.

Griffin: What do health providers do to stay up to date on the mental health needs of children and youth?

Dr. Malach: The world of medicine is always changing, and it’s up to us as physicians to stay up to date. Even once we graduate from medical school we still have so much to learn and we have to do our homework.

The first thing that we do is we read. For example we read journals. I was just reading an article called ‘Protecting children and adolescents against the risk of vaping.’ We attend rounds. Rounds is just a fancy medical word that means a lecture or a talk. So we have regular rounds once a week, once a month, and quarterly where we discuss a variety of different topics. For example, just last week I attended a city-wide rounds where all of the pediatricians from the city came together, and we spoke about borderline personality disorder and kids.

Finally, I talk to my patients. You know, I learn the most from my patients. If they ever ask me a question that I don’t know the answer to, I go to my journals or online resources. If I still can’t find the answer, then I reach out to my colleagues who are a wealth of knowledge.

Vanessa: Many people just do not have enough sleep at night. Why is it so important for us to ensure we get lots of sleep in order to maintain our mental health?

Dr. Malach: Sleep is a vital function of our body. It allows our body to repair itself, restore and recharge for the next day. Sleep impacts both our physical health and our mental health by impacting a number of hormones in our body. For example, growth hormone, which is responsible for our bodies growing and changing, and cortisol, which is responsible for our stress response.

There is a lot of data that show that poor sleep impacts our cognitive scores. For example, how we do in school, and also our emotional regulation and our mental health. For these reasons, sleep is essential in allowing both our body and our brain to recharge.

Seojin: Why is adolescent mental health more vulnerable to being negatively affected?

Dr. Malach: Adolescence is an extremely exciting time, but it is also a time of a lot of unknown and questions. Adolescents are trying to find themselves to figure out who they are, what they’re interested in and what the future holds. They may be applying to university or college and deciding what their future will look like. They’re finding themselves in their group of friends and figuring out what their interests are.

As a result, this is a really stressful time. Stress and mental health go hand in hand. Adolescents are pushing boundaries and trying new things. They may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol, and we know for example, that certain substances like marijuana, increase risk of certain mental health presentations like psychosis.

Finally, social media plays a huge role of impacting the mental health of our adolescents. It’s really important that adolescents have a strong support network, and that we’re asking them and checking in on them of how they’re doing.

The Youth Advisory Council is part of the Family Health Team at St. Michael’s Hospital. The council was formed out of a desire to have young patients inform the Family Health Team about what youth services where needed and where improvements could be made.

To learn more about Dr. Malach’s study, please email kidsimprov@unityhealth.to

By: Marlene Leung and Ana Gajic

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