Youth Ministry and Mental Illness

Yes it is important to respond to mental illness among adolescents as they will be the next set of parents but if we understand adversity in childhood and work with families on prevention and health, rates of adolescent mental health concerns would plummet. A dual approach recognizing and mitigating mental illness, addiction, suicide, family and community violence is the most effective way to gain major change and give so many hope!!!! Dr. Heckman really focuses on this for example early childhood education won't provide the payoffs it could if we could also improve adult capacities to care 4 children. Harvard center for the developing child and their frontiers of innovation project also realize this. Workin with adolescents can be a two generation approach as adolescents will become the next parents and I would like the goal to be to break the trans-generational transmission of mental illness, childhood adversity and trauma! Also there is a lot in the article about working with mental health professionals but to be honest 80 percent of psychotropic meds are prescribed by primary care physicians and In many areas psychotherapy is either unavailable or not affordable by many. I wish it weren't this way but the simple fact is that it is so working with physicians also would be helpful and promoting a culture where physicians get the training they need to be effective in this area is essential too... General docs don't have the training, most psychiatrists only are given 10 minute appointment slots to prescribe medication and manage meds and it is very unclear that meds can treat the experience of childhood adversity and trauma.  Thanks for all the awareness building work!!!!