Mental

 

Depression in children

(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

“Here in Israel, we are seeing more anxiety and stress since Oct. 7 among adolescents and teens than ever before,” says Yael Avraham, a social worker and manager in the trauma field at ELEM.

Israelis are a resilient people. Despite Oct. 7, sirens, terror attacks, harrowing red alerts with missiles flying overhead, and COVID isolation, which all took tolls on our well-being, somehow we are still going about our lives, fighting, and serving our country. We are even the fifth-“happiest” country of the 143 countries ranked in the World Happiness Report, a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

But for some people, happiness is a transient state that comes and goes; and for those in a never-ending battle with depression, the clouds seldom, if ever, dissipate. In writing this article, I found that our “happy” country has parents, doctors, and healthcare providers who refuse to go on record about the state of mental health in Israel.

As I write this, parents in Karnei Shomron are reeling from a teen suicide, one of several within several years, and are asking what they can do to assist their youth through the labyrinth of hormones, situational pain, and mental anguish that make youth want to give up and end their lives.

The mayor of Karnei Shomron, Yonatan Kuznitz, declined to comment, saying the feelings are too intense and raw.One Israeli doctor I interviewed refused to be quoted on the record, calling the mental health system “outrageous.”According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that worldwide, 4.4% of 10- to 14 year olds, and 5.5% of 15 to 19 year olds experience an anxiety disorder. Depression is estimated to occur among 1.4% of adolescents aged 10-14 and 3.5% of 15 to 19 year olds, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death in older adolescents and young adults (15-29).

“Here in Israel, we are seeing more anxiety and stress since Oct. 7 among adolescents and teens than ever before,” says Yael Avraham, a social worker and manager in the trauma field at ELEM, Israel’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to treating troubled and at-risk youth. “Our kids are more afraid. More parents are reaching out for therapy. Our clinic has become a full-time job.”

MENTAL ILLNESS requires constant self-care and positive choices. (credit: YOSSI ZAMIR/FLASH90)

If you add bullying and social media pressure that comes with a click of their cellphones, fragile, sensitive youth, particularly those with mental illness, face a greater risk of suicide, she says.It’s a story that many do not want to talk about, but one that must be told.

Many myths about mental illness must be addressed. These include the following:

Mental illness manifests only in adults.

This is not true. There is evidence that mental illness can surface even in very young children and throughout their teenage years. Many young people who have bipolar disorder (manic depression) are initially diagnosed with ADHD, according to psychiatrists I spoke to. The problem is, that when a child is medicated with stimulants like Ritalin, in some cases the drug can have dangerous effects and can even cause psychosis.

Mental illness is not like physical illness.

This is false. What many do not realize is that mental illness is a physical illness – the result of unbalanced brain chemistry, which can become exacerbated as hormones shift in a growing child or teen.

Mental illness is a direct result of bad parenting.

False. While behavioral symptoms can be triggered by events or family issues, the most predictive factor for mental illness is often a family history of mental illness. Is it triggered by nature or nurture? Most doctors believe that mental illness is a genetic hand-me-down, like diabetes, hypertension, or any other family trait that is transmitted from one generation to the next. While external conditions can trigger the illness, the genetic predisposition must be there. In Israel, where Jews marry mostly Jews, genetic conditions are likely to be expressed more consistently.

RABBI SHALOM HAMMER, a former educator, lecturer at the IDF, and hesder yeshiva teacher, established the organization Gila’s Way (www.gilasway.com) after his daughter Gila died by suicide several years ago. He began speaking about suicide prevention just three days after getting up from his daughter’s shiva, and helping others became his life’s mission. He was brought to Karnei Shomron the night after the fifth anniversary of Gila’s death to speak to the parents and grandparents of the town, who were naturally concerned.

“You can have mental illness without suicidal ideations, and you can have suicidal ideations without having mental illness, but often they are intertwined,” he says.

“Life took a 180-degree turn for me,” he explains. “I had to somehow make sense of Gila’s death in order to help others understand the complexities and possibly save lives.”