Bryan Health will be hosting an interactive Facebook Live event that will focus on teens and their mental health on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. It will be hosted by Dr. Dave Miers, senior director of behavioral health services at Bryan Medical Center and Andrea Ruiz, therapist at Bryan Counseling Center.
The broadcast is for parents and their teenagers and will feature an interactive community discussion to build self-confidence in teens, identify warning signs and when to seek help and share ways to connect with teens.
Miers and Ruiz will also answer viewer questions live. According to the Centers for Disease Control nearly 45% of high school students across the country felt persistently sad or hopeless and over one-third experienced poor mental health.
In Nebraska, over 22,000 youth were diagnosed with depression in 2021. High school students with mental illness are twice as likely to drop out as their peers. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Nebraskans age 15 to 24.
“The adolescent years are truly a transformative time in a person’s development,” says Dr. Miers. “Our youth are living in an age with many challenges, the pandemic, emergence of social media and increased substance use. It’s important we remain connected and provide guidance and resources.”
Miers says he hopes the Facebook Live event will be helpful to parents of youth in our region. You can watch the broadcast on the Bryan Health Facebook page. To learn more and submit a question in advance of the event, click here