Amid youth mental health crisis, Utah teen strives to have a counselor in every school

“I realized there were a lot of mental health issues and people were really suffering in our community. »

It is part of a series interviews with young Utahns making a significant impact on the mental health of their community – and their own mental health. To protect their privacy, participants under the age of 18 are identified only by their first name. Learn more.

Avery, a high school senior from Utah, estimates that she participates in about 12 extracurricular activities at any given time. Between the 4H Club, Future Farmers of America, women's empowerment meetings and more, she had the opportunity to work with Weber Communities That Care, a group dedicated to preventing substance use and suicide among young people.

She says she initially joined the CTC Weber Youth Council because she was told it would look good on her resume.

“Obviously, I’ll join if it looks good on the resumes,” she told The Tribune. “But then I got there, and the people there were really nice, and it was just a great environment in general. Then I realized what was really happening in our community and wanted to make a difference.

She spoke with The Tribune about her work and why it's so important to talk about “heavy topics” like depression and suicide. This Q&A with her has been edited for length and clarity.

Sara Weber: Can you tell me a little bit about the work you do with Weber Communities That Care?

Avery: We organize activities for our youth and our families because we understand that family connections are really important to our community. It's a protective factor, as we like to call it.

We have also noticed a significant increase in the number of Year 6 pupils experiencing mental health issues. What would help us the most is to have full-time counselors in elementary schools. You wouldn't expect them to have all these mental health issues, but they're starting to self-harm and their rates of depression have gone up a lot. What would help us the most is to have full-time counselors in elementary schools. Currently, only a few of these advisors work full time. Some charter schools don’t even have a counselor.

We're talking to legislators and school board members at events and dinners and even in Washington, D.C., to make this happen.

What made you want to get into this type of work?

I realized that there were a lot of mental health issues and that people were really suffering within our community. Weber County is one of the top places in Utah for mental health issues.

Have you noticed an impact on your own mental health from working with all of these programs?

It certainly is, because I realized that these are heavy topics, especially for a young person. I realized that the more we talk about suicide, the more it doesn't make anyone else want to kill themselves. Talking about it really helps [that person gets the support they need].

What kinds of challenges do you face when doing this kind of work?

We certainly face the possibility of people not showing up to our events, but it seems like people want to be involved in their community, they want to feel like they belong somewhere.

What kind of impact have you seen in your community?

There's something called the SHARP survey, and we noticed that students in grades eight through 12 really improved their mental health. Since 2021, there are fewer depressive symptoms, less self-harm and fewer suicidal thoughts.

In your experience, do you think this mental health crisis that people are talking about is unique to Utah? Is this specific to teenagers? Or is it more widespread?

I think it's unique to each situation in general. For teenagers, it's definitely more difficult because we've had to grow up in the pandemic. And the same with adults.

You mentioned the pandemic several times. Can you tell me what kind of mental health impacts you've seen in your peers and yourself because of this?

Just being on social media, it's just kind of withdrawn and not knowing how to talk to people. I think that was the most important thing. It's harder to go to a teacher and say, “Hey, I'm having trouble with an assignment. » Now it's, “Oh, I'll send them an email.” But then I need to get my email proofread. I just don't want to piss them off.

Do you think social media helps or harms mental health?

I honestly think it could be both. It just depends on the sites you log into. There are definitely positive accounts, and then there are bad accounts. It's just how you treat it. I'm a teenager, but I'm on the good side, so I'm not really affected. It's just a fun resource to say, “Oh, I love these prom photos.” You look so good, girl, go away! »

What kind of advice would you give to other teens who want to help others improve their mental health?

Most Utah schools have a Hope Squad program, or you can see if there is a youth coalition you can join. If not, talk to local community members and health department workers to see if you can start one.

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