EP 21: We polled our listeners: "Why do YOUths not seek help?"
Hosts: Jade and Deniece
ABOUT THE EPISODE
In this episode, our hosts address mental health with a particular focus on “why youths don't seek help”. They highlight different reasons given by youths and relate these issues to their personal experiences. Jade and Deniece also offer suggestions and tips to handle mental or emotional breakdowns..
A MILLENNIAL MESS
EPISODE 21 PODCAST SHOW NOTES
Episode Timeline:
[01:45] Jade and Deniece have been on a TikTok program called "Youth For Good; Raising mental health awareness" and have been part of the campaign. Today's topic is "Why youths don't seek help" and was inspired by their work on TikTok, and based on a poll taken with the audience.
[02:50] Listeners are encouraged to listen to the collaborative playlist on Spotify tagged "Love your mind", prepared by our hosts to help anyone feeling down, and listeners can also add songs to the playlist.
[07:53] Reviewing some of the responses given to their Instagram story where they asked why youths don't seek help with mental health, Jade highlights one of the responses that youths feel they may look weak and fear judgment too. Another reason cited was that youths are not used to expressing emotions to others. Also, many youths believe adults won't believe them or understand.
[08:45] Jade and Deniece share their experiences with communication at home while growing up. Jade often got told by her parents while in conversation that she wouldn't understand, which affected her motivation to communicate with them since she felt they may also not understand her. Deniece mostly had relationship issues that she could handle herself. Mental issues were not discussed very much because she never had any.
[17:51] Having someone at home when having an attack on your mental health, is crucial. They don't need to say anything at the time but just being there for support is helpful, rather than being dismissive about it.
[19:05] In one of the responses to their question, it was explained that many parents can't relate to mental health because they never had to deal with such issues growing up. Sadly, kids may end up attributing their behavior to a personality flaw rather than the feelings which need to be addressed.
[22:18] Deniece shares that not going to parents may be a good thing. For her, having a therapist was more of a consistent safe space particularly because of the professional relationship involved. She encourages people to start reaching out by trying out on a session with a counselor.
[29:24] Another method is Journaling; writing down our thoughts creates an outlet to release our feelings. Even without any idea what to write, starting the first line will help sort out the rest. Journaling also helps process our thoughts.
[33:57] Remember to breathe: when having any emotional or mental breakdown, it is important to try to consciously control your breathing using breathing techniques. Jade also describes some breathing techniques and exercises including the "5 4 3 2 1" exercise.
[39:18] Focus on the present; don't care about what happened in the past because you can't change the past. Be kind, gracious, and nice to yourself. If you don't accomplish what you think that you didn't accomplish today, then you try again tomorrow.
[41:30] It is also crucial to identify our emotional and psychological triggers, and to get to the root of them if journaling does not help. Knowing the root cause can help us decide on if something can be done about it, and if not, we must let go.
[43:36] We can't control what people say; we can only control how we respond. If people are firing darts at you or you feel that way, just move to the side, let the darts pass. This is very useful especially when there is so much emotion from one person, and trying to get any message across at that time would not be feasible.
[46:35] It has become necessary to take the time to cultivate the culture and habit to know how to be there for someone with mental health issues and reach out for resources. This helps to slowly eradicate the stigma.
[47:14] Listeners are encouraged to talk to contact our hosts if they need someone to talk to or if they need to get linked for professional help.
[48:40] About President Halimah's points on mental health: The President reflects on the events of a student killing another student with a highlight on the mental health of the student which had been previously addressed, and the several challenges surrounding mental health conditions of school children in Singapore.
Keep up with us on socials!
http://instagram.com/amillennial.mess
http://Facebook.com/amillimess
Hosts:
http://instagram.com/jade.kerr
http://instagram.com/deniecefoo