It’s not easy being a teen. It never has been and probably never will be — anxiety and depression are not new phenomena for young people trying to make sense of themselves and the world around them. But as far as Eric Adelman is concerned, this era may be without precedent for the mental health crises that young people are experiencing.
Eric would know. Before becoming Executive Director of Kadima — a local organization that provides comprehensive residential, therapeutic and social services to all people with mental health needs as they move forward in their lives — he worked closely with teen leaders, youth groups and their advisors through BBYO. He knows the pressures teens experience, the high expectations they have for themselves, the competing commitments. And he knows how volatile that all can be when combined with untreated mental illness.
“Unlike a physical illness or mental disability, mental illness can be difficult to understand,” says Eric. “It is harder to see, often difficult to diagnose and certainly easier to mask than a physical illness, such as diabetes or cancer. And, in children, it’s not like a physical illness or a developmental disability that you can recognize early on and that everybody understands what care is going to be needed and what abilities a child will have.”
Identifying and addressing mental health issues would be complex enough without the stigma that discourages people from seeking help or intervening to offer support to others.
Contrary to the changes swirling around them, Eric notes that young people may not realize that the way they are feeling can change — can be changed. Once they push past the fear and stigma of feeling like they are to blame for their own mental state, there are many resources, “through therapy, through medications, through other supports so they can live a meaningful and happy life,” says Eric. “If you’re sick, you go to the doctor, if you’ve got a toothache you go to the dentist … it’s not going to get better on its own.” Medical conditions that were a source of shame can become as socially normal to treat as they are common throughout the population.
Hope, unto itself, isn’t a treatment, notes Eric. But it is something young people need and they community can help provide: “The most important thing we can do to make sure young people have hope is to make sure they know recovery is possible.”
Enter A Trusted Adult. Whether a parent, teacher, clergy, coach or advisor — whether it is for the teen herself or a friend showing signs of sickness — seeking out trusted adults, early and often, can take a crisis out of the pressure cooker of adolescence and into care of mental health professionals the proverbial village it takes to raise a child into an adulthood where she can lead her best life.
As unequivocal as the cloud overhead may be, Eric is just as certain about the silver lining: “Young people need to know that they’re not alone … they’re not alone.”
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