SAUGUS — The Prevention Coalition hosted their “Understanding the Teen Brain” event at the Middle High School on Tuesday with the help of Eliot Community Human Services and the NAN Project, an addition of Eliot.
Regional Coordinator of MassCALL3 and coalition member Krystal Mellonakos started by welcoming everyone before speakers from Eliot and the NAN Project began their presentations.
Donna Kausek, a clinical director who works with the NAN Project, spoke about her time working in Saugus and the importance of understanding how teens think and work.
“As a clinician, I had the privilege of riding along with the Saugus Police for about nine months as an embedded clinician. Saugus is really invested in taking care of their folks here. Our hope at Eliot is that we can interact with anyone who has the opportunity to wrap around a child, whether that’s somebody who gets in trouble with the police, teachers, or parents. We give them information to best assist a child, particularly teenagers,” Kausek said.
She explained that there are certain things to look at with children and how they are feeling.
“Living with a teenager is different every single day… They have so much going on biologically and physiologically all at once,” she said. “We want to give them some grace.”
Kausek explained that kids can get stuck in certain feelings like sadness and anxiety, and if it lasts for up to two weeks, this is something that parents should look at and pay attention to.
“They’re very normal feelings. Anybody who is trying out for a team, takes a test, is in a relationship… They are going to be on that roller coaster of feelings, and that is perfectly normal. It’s when somebody is stuck that you would worry,” she said. “Loneliness is now an epidemic within our youth, which I find horrible.” She also linked that loneliness to phone usage.
Kausek also dove into the kids having negative thoughts and showing signs of hopelessness, which parents need to recognize.
“Kids have a great fear of going crazy. Youth are much more knowledgeable about mental health diagnoses than any of us were. They talk about it all the time… and they don’t want to be labeled as that kid who’s going to therapy. There’s still that stigma,” she said.
Kausek also explained that March is one of the busiest months for students due to college acceptance and how kids begin to feel major stress during this time.
She also talked about suicide and how parents should stay aware of how their kids are speaking about themselves, whether it be in person or online.
Eliot’s Senior Director of Community Impact and Development, Liliana Patino, also spoke during the event.
“I want us to think about your own family, and each family is different, and your child is so unique. I think many times as parents we like to compare ourselves and our experiences with their experiences and their needs. Think about how frustrating it is when something is happening to you and you try to tell your friend and your friend says, ‘Oh, hold on, that happened to me,’ Patino said.
She continued that it is important to acknowledge that every family is different giving every person a different perspective.
“We have to be open to the idea that the world they are living in is not the same world that we had. They have social media. I would be in jail if I had social media as a teenager,” she joked. “Think about all of the things that we did. The difference is that no one found out. Or maybe your best friend found out, and then it will go to the grave with them.”
Patino explained how social media affects body image, friendships, and feelings even if it isn’t the reality of the world.
The main lesson given during the presentations was paying attention to your kids’ emotions, listening to what they have to say, and understanding that they are a part of a whole new generation with struggles that never existed before. Both Kausek and Patino also stressed the importance of speaking with clinicians, guidance counselors, and other mental health professionals if children are in need of help.
