Overlooking treatment for trauma and other mental health related illnesses often causes society to not only be uneducated on important issues, but can rupture and damage how our youth will begin to develop in the world.

Dr. Janet Stier,  a psychologist with a doctorate in clinical psychology and master’s degree in developmental psychology, joined KHTS on the air during The Insight Treatment Hour and spoke with Jennifer Campoy about global and local Santa Clarita related events that the youth may have trouble coping with and how it could be affecting their mental well being in the future.

Dr. Stier was one of the resources for Santa Clarita during the Saugus High School shooting.

The Saugus High School Shooting

When the campus of Saugus High School was first trying to recover, many students still sustained the trauma it had violently inflicted upon them. Dr. Janet Steir saw an example of how that trauma can be stored in someone and then triggered once again when events or actions bring back emotions and stress the body and mind previously experienced.

Related Article: Insight Treatment Center Talks With ‘Teen 4 Teens’ About Teenage Mental Health

The event that triggered the trauma was a simple water bottle being accidently run over by a school faculty cart. This small action to many would have gone unnoticed, but the response that the pop sound gave to a group of students who had just gone through a shooting was anything but unnoticeable. The response the students reported to Dr. Jane Stier after the sound of that bottle their muscles were tense and they were not able to relax, such extreme responses due to the extreme event they had to go through.

The COVID-19 Lockdowns On The Youth’s Mind

Due to not being able to partake in things Dr. Janet Stier explains as “protective, healthy, and social” such as enjoying school activities or having lunch with their friends, a student may feel their thoughts start to run more during this remote learning era.

This overthinking is a form of anxiety and is very common in students who are now realizing they have more time on their hands away from friends and activities than they’d like. However, it’s so important to stop these persecutory thoughts a student may conjure during their new free time.

Students with ADHD too are finding their share of remote learning struggles. Due to the difficulties of having to sit in front of a single screen for a multiple number of their classes all week, focus is lowering and isn’t as managed as it would be in a regular classroom setting.

This pandemic has affected a wide range people on the mental health spectrum, not just teens. It’s important to start to identify ways we can engage with our youth and others around us on the mental health side of things to not just mitigate harmful ways of thinking but harmful ways of coping with our mental well being as well.

Insight Treatment Programs is an outpatient treatment program for teens and their families. The program treats teen mental health issues and teen substance abuse. Mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, ADHD and more. Rehab services are also offered to help teens with drug and alcohol abuse issues. Insight Treatment Programs also offers academic services for teens who have had their school life affected by mental health and substance abuse issues.

Insight Treatment Programs

26330 Diamond Place, Suite 120/130,
Santa Clarita, CA 91350
(661) 765-8445

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