Mental well being considerations amongst youth are on the rise, mentioned Laura Lupo, Meridian School District’s psychological well being coordinator, who has obtained over 100 referrals from college students this 12 months looking for counseling.  

“There’s definitely a need, “ Lupoi said. “We need services, [but] there’s a long waiting list. If someone’s seeking outside services, it can sometimes take 10 weeks or more.” 

Lupo moderated a panel Wednesday, May 3 at Whatcom Community College, hosted by Whatcom County’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), aimed to shine a highlight on youth psychological well being. 

Around 75 individuals sat in attendance for the occasion, which additionally included a partial screening of Ken Burns’ docuseries “Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness.”  

The panel included audio system from quite a lot of psychological well being backgrounds — from therapists to these with lived expertise coping with their very own psychological well being situations.  

 Attendees go to cubicles that provide psychological well being assets earlier than the movie screening. (Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)  

The shared sentiment amongst panelists was that youth psychological well being is a essential concern in the neighborhood, however there are main obstacles in the way in which of fixing the disaster; mainly, the stigma that surrounds looking for therapy for psychological well being situations, and an absence of assets for individuals who finally do search it out.  

“NAMI Whatcom is trying to get our community talking more about mental health conditions,” mentioned Kim Brown, NAMI Whatcom co-president. “There’s so much stigma — people just don’t want to talk about this topic — which makes people living with mental health conditions feel all the more isolated.”  

NAMI Whatcom brings its 50-minute presentation “Ending the Silence” to varsities all through the county in hopes of beginning conversations round psychological well being within the classroom. 

The presentation permits NAMI Whatcom volunteers to share their very own psychological well being journeys with college students.  

“When they see those with that lived experience, not only do they see validation in their own experiences, but they also see they’re not alone, and it gets better,” mentioned Briley Taylor, NAMI Whatcom peer coordinator.  

 Laura Lupo, Meridian School District’s psychological well being coordinator, moderated the panel. (Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)  

Fighting previous the stigma and looking for psychological well being therapy is just the primary piece of the puzzle, Taylor mentioned. The second half is definitely having the ability to discover care.  

“It’s very difficult when we do these presentations and have students come up to us and actually ask us directly, ‘Where can I go? I have something I don’t know how to cope with and I’m having difficulty finding a therapist,’” Taylor mentioned. “The unfortunate reality is there aren’t too many resources out there at the moment.”  

Even for adults, Taylor mentioned psychological well being care might be laborious to entry as demand will increase. NAMI Whatcom hopes to bridge that hole any method it will probably, whether or not or not it’s by means of one among its many assist teams, or by merely lending a listening ear. 

“We get a lot of folks that say [NAMI Whatcom] is the last person they call, but we’re the first that answered,” Taylor mentioned. “Even if we don’t have the exact answer for them, or exactly what they’re looking for, just speaking to them from compassion can go a long way. Folks are a lot less likely to give up when someone just listens to them, so that’s a huge part of how we [try to address] the shortage of resources in the community.”