Growth, Gratitude and Values

Hello friends and welcome to the first email of Rethinking Youth. I would love some back and forth on the issues I write about, so feel free to reply.

🔎 On the mental health of teens

Teenage life has always been a challenging time. Unfortunately, the modern teen is particularly struggling with their mind and emotions. Over the past five to ten years, adolescent mental health has become a critical issue in the world of youth work and education.

As we launch into 2023, I don't see an end to the mental health crisis. It may very well get worse before it gets any better. However, I do think we're beginning to get a better grasp of (1) the problem and (2) how we might be able to more intentionally support the young people in our reach.

In this post, I want to share one relevant insight that comes from a Kenyan-based adolescent mental health intervention that I came across recently.

But first, a quick reminder of the mental health crisis

• Globally, one in seven adolescents experience a mental disorder.

• Depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents.

• Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for adolescent boys and girls, after road injury, tuberculosis and interpersonal violence.

If you're a data lover, I'd recommend UNICEF for global statistics on adolescent mental health. Data for the USA only can be found here and data from UK, here.

💡 Spotlight on The Shamiri Intervention

Now to the Shamiri Wellness Intervention, which deserves attention.

While huge investment has gone into the likes of talking therapies, mindfulness interventions, public health initiatives like the Take 5 Steps to Wellbeing, and drug treatment, researchers in Kenya have developed a simple intervention that aims to improve mental health by strengthening character.

The Shamiri Intervention does this by encouraging students to reflect on their ability to grow, reasons for gratitude and perhaps most importantly, their own values and core beliefs.

Here are a few excerpts from a 2022 review of the approach, featured in the science journal Nature (Free access article here):

Following the success of this 4-week intervention, the approach was trialled as a single-session focusing on one of the three themes.

Again, from the Nature review:

My Take:

Building teen character is key to improving teen mental health. This isn't a surprise to me. Throughout history people have learned to face difficulties by drawing strength from their beliefs and by seeing tough times as an opportunity for growth.

In an increasingly secular society, we are in danger of losing the value of Values. We need to encourage young people to talk about their own values, their faith or beliefs – and then empower them to align their actions and responses to those beliefs.

For those working alongside young people, the Shamiri approach is worth adapting.

One of the most effective things we can do to help tackle the mental health crisis is to simply create more spaces where teens can (1) learn about their ability to change and grow (e.g. the growth mindset), (2) appreciate the good things in their life, and (3) reflect on how they can live out their own values and beliefs.

If you know friends who want to become more intentional in how they support young people, please share this newsletter:

https://rethinkingyouth.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Finally, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how we can practically encourage young people to think about growth, gratitude and values. Send me a reply!

Until next time,

Stephen