Blessed Youth Survival Guide

Sarah Griffith Lund

• Publisher: Chalice Press
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9780827203242
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Today's youth need to hear the message "It's okay to not be okay." They need to know hope and help are always available. A companion to the book Blessed Youth (9780827203204), Blessed Youth Survival Guide offers the tools youth need to survive when they are feeling disconnected, confused, and alone. This survival guide is specifically for youth and covers topics that today's youth will undoubtedly face such as anxiety, sadness, depression, phobias, OCD, panic attacks, PTSD, trauma, and therapy. Blessed Youth Survival Guide helps youth recognize when they are experiencing an issue and encourages them to tell a parent, doctor, or another adult who can help them receive the appropriate care. Youth are encouraged to be proactive with their mental health by developing good overall health practices and taking a Safety Pledge — a pledge to promise to identify three people who they can contact if they begin having thoughts of self-harm and/or suicide.

Getting Help for Depression, and Helping Yourself4

1. Let someone you trust know how you feel.

2. Reach out for help from a doctor or counselor who knows all about depression.

3. Take steps to live a happier life through therapy or medicine.

4. Make positive and simple changes such as:

• Eat healthy foods
• Get sufficient sleep
• Walk, play, or find another way to exercise every day
• Take time to relax
• Take time to pray
• Take time to notice the good things about life, no matter how small
• Journal about your feelings
• Talk to a friend about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful

What to Do If You Are Thinking About Self-Harm or Dying

In my family, sometimes depression can lead to thoughts of self-harm. This is hard to bear. If you have thoughts of self-harm, you are not alone and you are not a bad person. These thoughts are your mind’s way of asking for help. Thoughts of self-harm come from a place of pain. As soon as you begin to have thoughts of self-harm, tell a trusted adult right away.

Self-harm is tricky. It tricks your mind into thinking there’s no way out and that nothing will ever change or get better. That’s a big old lie. Self-harm is not your friend. Self-harm is the bully in your head. You need to get that under control as soon as possible. You don’t want the self-harm bully to beat you up. This is why you’ll need some help. Feeling depressed is not your fault. You are loved and you are not alone.

Thoughts of self-harm are a medical emergency.

Get help right away.

Self-harm can lead to death by suicide.

I am feeling suicidal, what do I do?

If this is you, tell someone how you feel.

Contact your Three Safeties (3S).

Ask an adult for help.

Visit a suicide help site, like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, or call their helpline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Call 911.

Go to an emergency room.

Reach out for the help you deserve.

People on lifelines, helplines, and at emergency rooms are trained to help you feel better.

You will be ok.

This terrible feeling will not last forever.

Stay.

We want you to live.

You are loved.

Say this out loud, “I am loved. I will do my best to stay.”

One Youth’s Story About Self-Harm and Calling 9115

This is the story of someone who felt like harming themselves and called 911.

(calls 911): “My name is Kim and I’m not feeling safe. I am having thoughts of hurting myself. I need help. My address is 123 Rainbow Road. I have a plan for suicide, but I am scared.”

911 Operator: “You did the right thing by calling. Stay on the phone with me and I’m sending someone out to you right now. It will take a few minutes, but someone is one their way to help you. Just stay on the phone.”

“ok. I am really upset (crying). I don’t know what is happening.”

“You are going to be ok. We are going to keep you safe. Is anyone else in the house with you?”

“No. I am alone.”

“ok, someone is on their way now.”

“ok.”

“Did you go to school today?”

“No, I stayed home sick.”

“Where are your parents?”

“I just live with my mom and she’s at work.”

“What is your mom’s name and where does she work?”

DING DONG—the doorbell rings—

“That’s the door.”

“ok, that’s the emergency response team. They are here to help you.”

Every situation is different. When you call 911, it’s important to share that you or your loved one is having a mental health emergency. Ask for a trained Crisis Intervention Team or someone trained to help people in a mental health crisis. Depending on the situation, the emergency responder may stay with the person until someone else returns home, then talk with a caregiver about next steps. If the person experiencing an emergency is an adult and does not have a caregiver, the team will try to de-escalate the crisis and help the person feel more stable. Then the emergency responders can help connect the person with a care provider or get them to an emergency psychiatric facility.

Mental Health Survival With Therapy

I dream about a world where every child and teen have a mental health therapist. A therapist is a person trained to work with you and your brain as you develop and grow. Talk therapy entails meeting with a person who listens to us and asks questions about our life. Therapists help us find healthy ways to cope with stress and difficult problems, make big decisions, and find joy in life.

Most people only see a therapist after there’s a big problem. Or their teacher makes them go talk to the school counselor because they’ve gotten in trouble. But this doesn’t make sense to me. Mental health should be part of our preventive care system, and healthy brain development should be something our schools take care of proactively.

Sometimes your pediatrician or nurse will ask you about your home life and how things are going at school, or they will have other “screening” questions at your appointments to help them decide whether they should refer you for mental health care. This is good, but a lot of people stop going to the doct...

Table of contents

• This guide will give you tools to survive when you are feeling or thinking
• My Story About Mental Health
• What You Will Find Inside
• A Love Letter to You from Your Blessed Mind
• Pick Three Safeties (3S)
• Take The Safety Pledge
• Mental Health Crisis Resources
• Self-Care While Helping a Friend
• Y CARE: A Tool to Help Others in a Mental Health Crisis
• Expressing How You Feel and Making the Body-Mind Connection
• Your Brain and Body Are One
• How Do I Know If I Have Depression?
• Getting Help for Depression, and Helping Yourself
• Please Bring Suicide Prevention Education to [School Name]!
• Things to Remember
• A Letter of Hope
• Resources