SAUGUS — Youth Mental Health First Aid trainers Katy Dos Santos and Krystal Mellonakos held a training session Thursday at the library to teach adults how to identify and respond to mental health and substance use challenges in youth.
Dos Santos and Mellonakos are also members of the Saugus Prevention Coalition. Dos Santos has a background in mental health, while Mellonakos is the regional prevention coordinator of the MassCALL3 Youth Substance Use Prevention grant.
Dos Santos explained that the first aid program comes from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and that it originated in Australia.
“It came about because there was a nurse who was experiencing symptoms of depression. She was diagnosed with depression, and she was around medical professionals, explaining her symptoms. None of the doctors really knew what she was talking about… So she created this curriculum so that the everyday person… could talk to someone who was experiencing a mental health challenge,” Mellonakos explained.
A Participant Processing Guide, Youth Manual, and a pre-evaluation were passed out to everyone taking part in the course. They also handed out a resource list with contact info for organizations that provide mental health services.
During the course, people learned how to identify and respond to different symptoms and signs in young people who might be experiencing a mental health challenge or substance use challenge.
“A couple things that I also do want to touch upon is the role that culture plays in mental health,” Mellonakos said.
She noted that this doesn’t just mean ethnicity; it can also refer to the culture of your town. your school system, how it promotes access to care, and early intervention. She noted how some places have a stigma about mental health and substance use.
One thing Mellonakos stressed was how these challenges are spoken about.
“Sometimes there’s a stigma that people who have mental health disorders are violent, crazy, lazy, or that they can just snap out of it when they want to,” she said. “There can also be an internal stigma.”
Another highlight was putting the person before the diagnosis. Mellonakos noted how, when someone has a heart attack, you don’t call them a heart attack. Instead, you’d say they’re a person who had a heart attack.
“When it comes to substance use and mental health, we tend to just see someone as one thing. They’re a drug addict. They’re crazy. They’re bipolar. That really diminishes the whole person that they are… They might be struggling, but that’s not all they are.”
She continued that a person-first language should be used, like “someone with substance use disorder,” or “someone living with schizophrenia.”
Mellonakos then went on to explain how having bad mental health and struggling with a mental health disorder are two different things. She continued that someone with bad mental health might not have a diagnosed disorder, while someone with a mental health disorder might be taking the steps to have good mental health and be OK.
Dos Santos led the group through a section on the impacts of social media, noting that while there are some positive factors, the negatives often outweigh them when it comes to youths being online.
She explained how social media can be isolating to kids, can lead to cyberbullying, and can create an unrealistic view of society.
One of the key components of the program was the Mental Health First Aid Action Plan.
The plan followed the acronym ALGEE (Approach, Listen, Give, Encourage, and Encourage). At the center of the whole plan was the keyword “assess.”
Those in the program were taught to approach by assessing for risk of suicide or harm and to assist. They were told that listening meant doing so without judgment. The next step, though it could be done nonlinearly depending on the situation, was to give reassurance and information. The first encourage stood for encouraging appropriate professional help, and the second was to encourage self-help and other support strategies.
Everyone then walked through a scenario of different approaches and asked which ones they viewed as helpful and which seemed unhelpful.
The course continued to show how teens might behave when they’re struggling, compared to normal teen behavior. One example was a teen wanting to hang with friends more than family, a normal aspect of being a teenager, compared to a teen who is shutting out everyone.
All of this circled around changes that occur in teens: physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally.
Mellonakos and Dos Santos explained that by differentiating between typical teen behavior and warning signs, one can see when a crisis might be starting.
To end the course, scenario cards of different youth were handed out, each facing their own struggles, and the person holding the card would be acting as a coach, parent, teacher, or other figure who might be able to provide help. The key was figuring out how to approach the scenario.
The second session of the training, which will pick up where this one left off, will be next Tuesday from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the library.