The Youth Mental Health Crisis is Happening Right Here, Right Now

WRITTEN BY JOHANNA BERTKEN AND MANDY ST. AUBYN

Content Warning: Discussion of suicide.

The Youth Mental Health Crisis is here. You may have already heard the headlines: “Teen Mental Health Issues on the Rise” or “It’s Life or Death: The Mental Health Crisis Among U.S. Teens.” These warnings are more than just fear-mongering or click bait. Young people around the country are reporting increasing feelings of persistent sadness, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), increases in mental health challenges reported by teens had risen by 40% in the decade before the pandemic. Depending on who you ask, those trends have been exacerbated in recent years or at the very least remained on the same concerning trajectory.

Rising rates of depression and other mental health issues are especially troubling in Montana, which has the grim distinction of being among the states with the highest suicide rates in the nation for more than four decades. In Montana, suicide is the leading preventable cause of death for children ages 10-14 and the second leading cause of death for those ages 10-24 (MT DPHHS, 2022) The impact of this crisis is also being felt here in Gallatin County. According to the 2021 Youth Behavior Risk Survey, more than 20% of high school students in Gallatin County reported seriously considering suicide within the last year, and almost 15% reported having made an attempt. Just imagine for a moment what those statistics actually look like...

In a typical classroom of 30 students, it is likely that FOUR or FIVE of them have attempted suicide.

While it is deeply disheartening to learn that so many of our young people are struggling, we do know that there are professionals working together to help address this crisis. It takes a village and many partners in the community.

We would like to highlight one of those partnerships here in the Gallatin Valley. The partnership between the Bozeman Public Schools (BSD7) and the Help Center, a local nonprofit, has existed for over a decade in order to provide immediate services to students in crisis. While BSD7 has multiple levels of support in place for students to meet their needs at school ranging from wellbeing initiatives and prevention all the way to individualized mental health care, those services can have limitations. Many families need something outside of, or in addition to, schoolbased services. These families often face barriers that make accessing care too alienating, too difficult or too expensive. The Help Center provides the school district, students, families and other members of the community a vital option. They offer 24/7 immediate, accessible, nonjudgmental services; they offer support in navigating confusing mental health systems; they offer care for the individual and their loved ones; and they offer effective collaboration with schools and local therapists so that the individual receives the ongoing care they need.

Let us take you through a hypothetical scenario that a student and their family may experience if the former is at risk of suicide: Cameron, a Gallatin County middle school student, shares with a friend on social media that he is struggling to get out of bed and feels like no one would notice if he were gone forever. The friend, concerned for Cameron’s well-being, urges him to speak to the school counselor and offers to accompany him. Cameron agrees and, during the conversation with the school counselor, mentions that he has contemplated suicide and considered taking some of his father’s pills the night before. The school counselor takes Cameron seriously when he mentions having suicidal thoughts. Cameron’s dad is informed and comes to school to meet with the counselor. Upon the school counselor’s recommendation, he transports Cameron to the Help Center where they meet a crisis counselor who performs a comprehensive suicide assessment and helps create a safety plan. Cameron’s dad removes anything that could be used to harm him and receives referrals to mental health professionals to help Cameron address his depression. The Help Center stays involved by informing the school of their assessment results and creating a follow-up plan. At school, Cameron’s school counselor creates another plan to help make Cameron feel more comfortable in his classes and coordinates with his teachers so that they know when to check in or when he may need to visit the counselor’s office. The school counselor checks on Cameron throughout the year. The school continues collaboration with the Help Center so that Cameron and his family can respond to any changes in his mental health. Cameron doesn’t feel alone anymore. He knows he has support from his family, school and the Help Center.

If you are a parent or caregiver reading this, you may feel that this could never happen to your child. However, we encourage everyone to have a plan and ask themselves, “What would I do if this happened to my child?” It can be distressing for a parent to see their child in pain and be unsure how to assist them. Please remember that your child’s school and the Help Center are there to support you as the caregiver as well.

The partnership between the Bozeman Public Schools and the Help Center is an excellent example of how school and community partnerships can work together to achieve positive outcomes for children and families; however, the challenges presented by the youth mental health crisis require that we all rise to the occasion. We can all do something to help. By recognizing signs and symptoms of mental health challenges, knowing how to respond compassionately and encouraging help-seeking behaviors we can save lives. Both the Bozeman School District and the Help Center provide community education opportunities on topics like mental health and suicide prevention for those in the community wishing to help. To learn more about these opportunities and what else these organizations do to support youth mental health, you can visit the Help Center website at bozemanhelpcenter.org or the BSD7 website at bsd7.org.

If you are having suicidal thoughts or worried about someone, please call the Help Center 24/7 at 406-586-3333 or at 988.

Johanna Bertken is the Student Assistance Coordinator for Bozeman School District #7. Mandy St. Aubyn is the Communications Coordinator for the Help Center, Inc.