Helpful Information for Youth
HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR YOUTH
Step Up ... Step In ... #BePresent Make a difference for close friends, siblings and classmates!
#BePresent on Facebook
#BePresent on Snapchat @bepresentohio
#BePresent IRL (ask your school or church to do peer-to-peer trainings so that you can learn how to support someone who is struggling with mental health concerns or addiction)
If one of your classmates seems sad, lonely or depressed, or is cutting, drinking or drugging; if you’ve had a suicide in your school, a problem with drugs or addiction in your neighborhood or family; or if you’re generally concerned the emotional health of yourself or another young person, we can help. Here’s where to go:
GET HELP
Crisis Numbers
If you or your friend is in crisis, get help immediately. Call 9-1-1 or the 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Hotline at 1-800-888-6161. Do not leave them alone, and get an adult involved.
Text 4hope to 741 741, the Crisis Text Line anytime
Put these in your phone
Crisis Text Line (text 4hope to 741 741)
Crisis Text Line serves anyone, in any type of crisis, providing access to free, 24/7 support and information via a medium people already use and trust: text.
How to talk to your child about suicide
Talking -- directly, non-judgmentally, and with compassion -- with a child about...
More to Know
Find what you need in Lorain County by searching United Way 211
Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Network
The Truth: Let’s Finish Smoking for Good
View More Helpful Videos
More Helpful Information for Youth
Search Our Library of Information by Topic
Helpful Information for Parents
HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
Things you can do to support the Children or Teens in your life
Need help managing stress during COVID? Find a wealth of resources in our Family Toolkit.
Discover if your teenage child is depressed or anxious. Take our quick online quiz! How Are You Feeling?
Find an agency that serves the mental health needs of children and/or teens in our Services Directory. Or, if you want personalized help finding the mental health or addiction resources you need, call the Navigator at 440-240-7025.
If you or a family member are experiencing a mental health crisis, call 1-800-888-6161.
Register for the next Mental Health First Aid for Youth training or request a basic suicide prevention class. It is completely free, and gives you the skills to recognize a child’s need and support them. View Training Opportunities!
Learn More About Mental Illness and Addicition
Alcohol and Other Drug Addiction
Parents Who Host Lose the Most
Heroin and Opiates in Lorain County
Marijuana Talk Kit: What you need to know to talk to your teen about marijuana
Youth and Marijuana Use – Impacts on Brain, Development and Public Safety DFAA
Project DAWN (overdose prevention and Nalaxone kits)
Hidden in Plain Sight from Power to the Parent
National Night of Conversation Resource Kit
Vaping / E-cigarettes: What you need to know from Kids Health
For more resources, see our full Library of Information by Topic.
More Helpful Information for Parents
Search Our Library of Information by Topic
Morning Journal | October 11, 2019 | MHARS Board expands student-led “You Belong” program to four new schools
The Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County received a record 14 grant proposals from local middle schools to bring the student-led “You Belong” program to their campuses for the 2019-2020 school year, and is honoring all 14 requests.
Four schools applied for the first time, including Avon Lake’s Learwood Middle School, Columbia Middle School, South Amherst Middle School and North Ridgeville Academic Center, according to a news release.
Funded by mini-grants from the MHARS Board, youth leaders and teacher mentors at each school propose school practices or policies to improve the sense of belonging and safety experienced by students, the release said.
“You Belong” was developed five years ago, with a pilot of just 61 student leaders across four schools.
Its goals are to promote positive school culture, increase connectedness and resilience among students, in order to improve overall health and buffer students from the development or exacerbation of mental health symptoms.
“I am already sensing the excitement and energy from our newly granted schools,” said Elizabeth Wolanski, director of Child and Adolescent Services with the MHARS Board. “The students and their adult supporters are ready to bring a youth-led component to their social and emotional programming.”
“The Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services Board is seeing not only a record number of proposals for this middle-school program, but more requests for staff and student mental health education,” said Elaine Georgas, interim director. “We offer multiple well-researched curriculums on mental health for school personnel and students of all ages.”
The 14 awarded schools are:
• First year schools:
Learwood Middle School (Avon Lake City Schools)
Columbia Middle School (Columbia Local Schools)
South Amherst Middle School (Firelands Local Schools)
North Ridgeville Academic Center (North Ridgeville City Schools)
• Second year schools:
Avon Middle School (Avon Local Schools)
Durling Middle School (Clearview Local Schools)
•Third year school:
Keystone Middle School (Keystone Local Schools)
• Fourth year schools:
Eastern Heights Middle School (Elyria City Schools)
Langston Middle School (Oberlin City Schools)
Southview Middle School (Lorain City Schools)
• Fifth year schools:
General Johnnie Wilson Middle School (Lorain City Schools)
Longfellow Middle School (Lorain City Schools)
Midview Middle School (Midview Local Schools)
Brookside Middle School (Sheffield/Sheffield Lake City Schools)
The mission of the MHARS Board is to improve the well-being of our community by establishing and maintaining an effective, efficient and quality system of addiction and mental health services in Lorain County.
Residents will have access to the most progressive mental health and substance use disorder treatment, prevention and recovery support services available.
For more information, visit mharsloraincounty.org.
Morning Journal | October 14, 2019 | Most local alcohol retailers pass compliance checks for underage drinking laws
Fifty-six out of 64 Lorain County alcohol retailers passed the most recent secret-shopper style compliance check conducted by a coalition of health and law enforcement officials to combat underage drinking, according to a news release from the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County.
Multiple convenience stores, gasoline stations, drug stores, grocers and taverns in Amherst, Elyria, Lorain, North Ridgeville and Wellington were in compliance with laws on the sale of alcohol by properly checking the age of the potential buyer and asking for identification, the release said.
“Preventing underage substance misuse is a major local health priority,” said Elaine Georgas, interim director of the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services Board. “Early alcohol or drug use can prime a young person’s brain to be more likely to experience addiction later in life.”
Area police departments, the Ohio Investigative Unit and the MHARS Board with the Sober Truth On Preventing Underage Drinking Task Force (STOP Task Force) partner to conduct these compliance checks on a regular basis to help combat underage drinking, the release said.
In Lorain County, more teens in sixth through 12th grades report using alcohol than any other substance, according to 2017 STOP surveys, the release said.
Also, over one-third of young adults ages 18 to 20 reported frequent use of alcohol.
“With local law enforcement, we conduct random compliance checks across Lorain County, to help ensure that our community is supporting a drug-free culture for our kids,” said Deborah Kelley, who coordinates Communities That Care, Lorain County’s Drug Free Community Coalition.
If a retailer does not pass the compliance check, the arm of law enforcement that is onsite immediately issues a citation to the clerk who made the sale.
Alternately, local police departments can send the complaint to the Ohio Investigative Unit for review to issue a citation after the fact, according to the release.
To help vendors become or stay compliant, the Underage Drinking Task Force and MHARS provide merchant education and training on responsible alcohol sales and are working to develop and disseminate tool kits and resource packets to alcohol retail outlets, the release said.
Certificates of appreciation are being presented to compliant businesses by members of the Underage Drinking Task Force this week.
The mission of the MHARS Board is to improve the well-being of the community by establishing and maintaining an effective, efficient and quality system of addiction and mental health services in Lorain County, the release said.
Residents will have access to the most progressive mental health and substance use disorder treatment, prevention and recovery support services available.
For more information, visit mharsloraincounty.org.
Solace Lorain County holds its last meeting
SOLACE will no longer be meeting as of Wednesday, November 13, 2019. SOLACE Lorain County began in 2012 due to the impact of the opioid epidemic. It was inspired by the SOLACE groups that formed in southern Ohio to provide comfort and support for families who lost loved ones to opiates and other drugs. The Lorain County group morphed to become more of a support for families with loved ones still in active addiction and in early recovery. The leaders of this group also poured their hearts into advocacy by manning information tables, telling their stories and comforting family members who didn’t know where to turn. While the ending of SOLACE is bittersweet, it is wonderful that many other supports have developed to meet the needs of families struggling with addiction, recovery and loss. A sincere thank you to all who were involved in SOLACE, held a hand, told a story, and shared strength. You paved the way. You reduced stigma.
If you are in need of support related to a loved one’s addiction, please consider the following resources:
The LCADA Way Family Education and Support Group: (440) 989-4900 (loved one does not have to be a client of LCADA)
Let’s Get Real Family and Kids Group (runs concurrently): (440) 963-7042
Al-Anon: www.ohioal-anon.org
Families Anonymous: www.familiesanonymous.org
Recovery Rocks
Recovery Rocks at FireFish Festival Get messy and show your support for addiction and mental health services by painting a recovery rock. Schedule of all events here: http://www.firefishfestival.com/
Learn More
Lorain El Centro Block Party
Here at Lorain El Centro’s Block Party with our amazing lead Navigator. Think you might need a mental health service for you or your child? Call the Navigator non-emergency line at 440-240-7025. English or Spanish speakers.
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Steps to Overcoming Teenage Anger
Everyone feels low from time to time, so it’s not always easy to know when it is part-and-parcel of daily life, and when it’s time to seek help. In most cases, it is short-term and self-correcting, but for a significant minority this is not the case. For those individuals, it is important to seek treatment just as you would any other health condition. Here we discuss six warning signs which, together, might indicate that it’s time to seek professional help.
What are the signs?
- You’ve been feeling low or irritable for most of the day, every day for two weeks or more. You might have found yourself worrying about past or future events for long periods of time, or simply feeling sad, cross or tearful. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize a gradual change – have others noticed that you don’t seem your usual self?
- You’ve lost interest in activities that you used to enjoy. Perhaps you have been seeing less of your friends or family recently, have stopped going to the gym, or cooking balanced meals. This is really about recognizing changes in what’s normal for you – no one is saying you have to exercise five times a week or eat your greens, but changes in your routine can offer concrete indications that your mood is changing.
- You are struggling to concentrate. You might notice that you struggle to focus when reading or watching television, for example, or to follow the thread of a spoken conversation. This could be affecting your performance at work, or limiting your ability to perform routine tasks such as food shopping. Again, we are looking for a change in what’s normal for you, so if concentration has always been something you find tricky there is little cause for concern.
Bear in mind that no one of these signs is in itself indicative of depression, and there are other, perfectly good reasons for each of these symptoms occurring. It’s also important to know that there are several types of depression and each can present in different ways – read more about types of depression. A GP is always a good first port of call, as they can signpost you towards more specialist services if necessary. Otherwise, if you are sure you’d like to see a mental health professional, consider making an appointment to see a psychiatrist who will be able to give you a diagnosis and advise you on which treatment might work best for you
A GP is always a good first port of call, as they can signpost you towards more specialist services if necessary. Otherwise, if you are sure you’d like to see a mental health professional, consider making an appointment to see a psychiatrist.
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.
– Robert Frost
Can depression be cured?
Depression, like many mental health conditions, follows ‘the rule of thirds’: One third of sufferers will make a full recovery, one third will partially respond to treatment, and one third will not benefit from treatment at all. Your age, the duration of your symptoms, having a family history of depression, and co-occurring mental or physical health difficulties might all affect your prognosis. Some researchers believe that there is evidence for a ‘scarring’ effect, where the likelihood of suffering from a relapse in depression increases with the number of episodes you have already had. There is also an increased risk of suicide associated with severe depression.
