“The numbers are staggering”, according to Carrie Cadwell PsyD HSPP, chief clinical officer for Four County Counseling Center. “There are over 4 million youth with serious emotional and behavioral difficulties for which maybe 20 percent get identified and treated. It is important to highlight that we are not including here youth with more moderate or mild challenges”.

Krysten Hinkle, Four County Community-Based Services director for Pulaski County, agrees. “A recent report indicated that approximately 40,000 teens in Indiana ages 12 to 17 experience significant depression each year and of these only about 12,000 receive treatment. It is time for us to speak up for these and all youth. Just as important is providing support to family members so they know the signs and where to access local resources for help.”

Families often want to know what they can be doing on a daily basis to be present, hear, and support their children as it may not always be so clear when their child is struggling. Four County offers these tips to families to help children manage stress and create positive, stable foundations:

• Lifestyle - Ensuring adequate sleep, exercise, and healthy eating can play a large role in how well-equipped a youth is to manage stress
• Communication - Create opportunities for one-to-one time with your child where communication can occur. Engaging them in activities they enjoy can create a shared space in which they may be more likely to open up.
• Balance - As adults we need to work at modeling for our youth how to balance schoolwork, relationships, self care. Youth will imitate more of what they see than what you tell them.
• Rituals & routines - Having dinner together, “game nights”, other consistent family rituals create a safe harbor for youth. The more stable and predictable home life is the more resiliency kids have.
• Media downtime - Create unplugged times at home and set limits with phones and social media. Creating these times can help youth and families tune in to one another rather than tune out.

While the above are important foundations, professional help can sometimes be needed. If someone suspects a child is struggling or distress is causing problems in school, with friends, and family and it persists or worsens, contacting a mental health professional can help. 

For further information and to find support visit http://fourcounty.org/

Four County Counseling Center is a non-profit 501(c)3 and designated by the state of Indiana as the Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) of four northern counties: Cass, Pulaski, Fulton, Miami Counties. We have been providing quality, community-based substance abuse and mental health services since the mid 1970’s and reach nearly 6000 clients annually.