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By Chantal Wagner

mental health support

School psychologist encourages parents to set time aside to talk with their kids

Sep 8, 2020 | 4:22 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Many in the community have been personally affected by tragedy and loss due to mental illness and suicide over the past few months and last week.

Prairie Rose School Division Psychologist Greg Godard says this is a sensitive but vital topic and talks about what you can do to support the mental health of kids and young adults during this time.

Godard says there may be signs when kids might be considering suicide.

“The first and most obvious is that if they’re talking about it and telling you. Kids will often call for help first. So if they’re talking about suicide or say they’re thinking about suicide or maybe they’re harming themselves or thinking about that and sharing it, that’s the first thing to obviously keep the radar out for.”

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Godard adds if someone is moving to a path of suicide, you’ll often see rapid changes in behaviour. They may have gone from a bubbly person to a quiet person or sometimes vice versa.

But oftentimes kids won’t show it, “One of the problems with depression or with despair is that it causes you to pull away from people. So sometimes we just won’t see it. And so parents need to be intentional about connecting and checking in,” Godard says.

Adding that parents need to be intentional about carving out some time and turn off their phone like they would at a concert or event.

“Setting time aside to say this is for you, and we’re going to talk a little bit. And then having a clear, candid, open conversation about suicide, about sadness, about connection, and the importance of being together, about love, and hope.”

Godard says emotions are heightened, particularly now, and there are a lot of teenagers who are feeling the heaviness about what’s going on.

“Especially for those who are already sad and feeling anxiety, and many of them are experiencing increased sadness and anxiety.”

Godard says it’s primarily because of a lack of connections and a decrease in the connections with their peers and others that love them.

“And there’s despair anytime kids hear about or are connected to suicide, It causes them to feel great sadness and can sometimes lead those who are already thinking about it, closer to something like that.”

Godard says it’s easy to focus on fear and anxiety, and it’s important to skew more toward hope and the good things that are happening in our kid’s lives.

“What we focus on tends to grow. So I’d like to encourage parents to focus on hope.”

For more information from Godard, please see the embedded video from Facebook below.

For more community wellness and mental health supports and phone numbers visit this link from Medicine Hat Public School Division.

And/or this link from Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education.