Marcie Camarillo- Young Adult Mental Health

Hi this is breathing welcome to the Salvation Army's words of life. Welcome back the words of life. I'm Bernie Dick and I'm sure as we continue our highlight reel one of our favorite series was one on mental health that was launched in August 2019. We are joined by counselor who has worked alongside the Salvation Army for many years.

Pollyanna Dawkins. I remember doing the interview right here in our studio and she such a beautiful person is doing incredible work, so we thank you all the other for all that you do for the Salvation Army on this particular episode from that series. We were joined by another guest Marcy Camarillo. She was a Salvation Army officer for 14 years before launching into a full-time career as a mental health counselor. In this episode she and Lori Miller discussed depression in the mental health of young adults and teens. I live in Northwest Arkansas. I have spent time in full-time ministry my husband I were Salvation Army officers 14 years and did only benefits what I do today.

Definitely say say what you do today Cassie, that's perfect. Tell us what you did today so I had an epiphany about 14 years ago and you know the Lord really spoke to me about the skills I already had to get that back. I went to grad school and got my Masters in counseling and so on. The mental health counselor on them. Also a place therapist and I am licensed to supervise the new counselors and those in training for play therapy so I do numerous trainings see you're busy it's busy. I am glad to hear all of that because you come to us right at the perfect time because we really enjoying this series on mental health. Any think it's really really important and it's so nice to get a perspective from a professional who's been connected in some way to the church as well tell him welcome really excited that you're here and I know that today we really could've wanted to start a really dig into the mental health of adolescents and teenagers and when I was researching a little bit. I read that in the past decade that clinical depression among adolescents.

I guess you would say probably 12 to 17 has gone up quite a bit yes and down. I'm just wondering what your experiences been with that is that something you've seen in practice is something that yes definitely the last year in year before that. Before I I was an administrator I was a clinical manager and I also had a caseload right and I did a lot of hospital discharge as they were all adolescent between 12 and 17 with a variety of experiences. Some of them had experienced a lot of home distress has some had had multiple factors impacting why they ended up at the hospital pulling distress at school, schoolwork academia.

Some had emotional issues that had started very early on in childhood, all of them had trauma everyone wondering.

I know it's difficult sometimes to gauge what is normal hormonal sure adolescents yes versus actual depression I was reading that out of all of those teens who do suffer serious depression will not 9% actually get treatment. So when I interviewed parents. I'm trying to get a baseline of what the last normal was and then discuss the changes that have occurred so with depression and foreseeing symptoms yet have lasted more than a few weeks than were starting to consider okay this may be something related to their mental health and not to their attitude so that's part of the difference having an attitude that parents don't like or teachers don't like that that's not necessarily depression that could be that there are learning about themselves in learning about the world in the teen years there gaining independence and that's what we want for them for them and from them is their display of independent skills so when we see it veering from that if children or adolescents display symptoms that are a little bit more troubling their their conversations change they withdraw, they may appear to pull back from interests that they had before eating may change sleeping may change that when we are adults need to be concerned about that checking on them. Some thinking from a parental perspective. Yes, I have it one time had five teenagers in my house and I know that you know sleep yes is a very valuable thing right for them and so you know gauging between what is normal and what is not sleep wise and what is normal listen is difficult.

So is good to its helpful so this is true of all of us. There are levels of sleep that we all need to achieve from the cradle to grave. But for teenagers there actually in their last growth spurt physical growth spurt that they they all need more sleep than they realize.

Probably need between eight and 10 hours which is more than an adult and in the world we live in. That does not support that night many hours of sleep with screen time and all the technology around us is difficult for them to unwind. Just like for adult difficult 100% of all the teams that I did these interviews with fewer hospital discharges had sleep disturbance and so the brain is not able to function. We have plenty of research that supports the necessity of sleep for proper brain function just like rebooting a computer and it's just not happening for a lot of people were tied to our telephone yes and I'm wondering that the impact or not you as adults we can we can sort of manage that.

But I wonder about the impact on the adolescent breathing and I'm thinking about things like Instagram that paint such a perfect picture they're all looking my daughter constantly looking for the perfect picture and they're all watching this happen. Yes, and thinking that everyone else's life is perfect and that it opens up a world of hurt for people to comment and say whatever they'd like because there's this level of anonymity so I am wondering about the impact of social media pass in depression and anxiety sure adolescents Are methods of communicating our more complex. In some ways and yet the more shallow another ways and so reality is not the basis on which adolescents may make decisions about themselves and others and the world and that can be dangerous. The way their parents interact with them and interact with social media is important I think parents are the starting point for that setting some parameters around that modeling it themselves they have to practice what they preach for that before. The kids will buying and do it tonight so your what would you suggest for.

It's just at this stage of life.

This far is allowing for independence but also maintaining the structures that it seems they need so outside of modeling it themselves. Some very strong conversations expectations that start super early long before adolescence arrives night, if parents haven't had conversations by then it it just becomes so much more difficult lives in children addicted to technology and don't think that it's not like drugs and alcohol and other things that it is very much like that. So that conversation with them. Very early on in the relationship. The relationship will win the day. I'm curious about the connection between parental mental health and mental health. Children and adolescents is their connection. They are so II would say that parent mental health sets the stage for the child's good mental health so good strong mental health now it is on a continuing insurance on a continuum because we all have had season rises and falls in our mental health.

Just like anything else, I had the flu. How many times in my life in so have experienced some anxiety had a couple of times on a bike. I've experienced depression. Now I can look back and say I'm thankful to that I experience that so I can know the physical symptomology and say that I really know it because I experience it think it would II would think and you can correct me from wrong but it would be valuable to model that in life we have seasons.

Yes, you know, and I think sometimes maybe in the church that we portray what we expect is is happy perfection, and particularly teenagers and tag you praise and worship and we smile assured raise our hands and were dressed nicely in a I wonder if that's a disservice sometimes wears if we can have conversations at home or in the church with her own children about yes this is life. Okay, it's normal to experience deep sadness. It is life because you look at Scripture yet look at David yes aluminum you can hear it all over there so I think I wonder what your perspective is on that in regard to modeling.

Yes, normal ups and downs of life and how we deal with and in the church that the conversation has to be there yet except it needs to be there after a tragedy, or in the midst of the trauma will hear people say I wish I'd known then how terrible our wish I'd known how to help. It is important that we open up the conversation there. The Salvation Army's mission doing the most good is helping people with material and spiritual needs to become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and love to hear from you. Email us radio USS.Salvation Army.org or call 1-800-229-9965 colitis PO Box 29972, Atlanta, GA 30359 tell us how we can help share prayer request or share your testimony. Would love to use your story here.

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