Tech companies team up to provide mental health program for teens

Jan. 8—FAIRMONT — According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five adults in the U.S. live with a mental illness, and nearly 50 percent of adolescents have a mental health disorder.

The coronavirus pandemic has extrapolated mental health problems in adolescents because most throughout the country do not have a safe haven such as school, sports, activities or events to escape into when feeling bad.

"We have also seen an increase in hospitalizations of our youth in that same age range," said Ashley Hart, account manager for education technology company EverFi, which is based in Washington, D.C. "They have actually increased by 31 percent in March through October of 2020 in the same months of 2019."

In response to the rising number of people with mental health issues throughout the country, EverFi has joined forces with information technology company Leidos to create a virtual mental health counseling program called Mental Wellness Basics. The program is tailored for students in grades 8 through 10 to give them an understanding about the feelings they might begin to experience and into their future.

Melissa Dueñas, senior vice president of Leidos, said the program is available in Monongalia, Marion, Preston, Taylor, Wetzel, Harrison, Barbour, Tyler, Doddridge and Tucker counties, as Leidos has been doing outreach involving the opioid epidemic in the state in recent years.

"We had been doing a lot of work around anti-opioids and expanding into mental health as we were understanding the root cause of those challenges," Dueñas said. "It's tough, we have seen not just in Leidos but in the country a struggle with increasing rates of addiction and mental health challenges throughout the pandemic. People who might otherwise have challenges are in isolation and there's also challenges with access to care. We do know the connection between mental health and substance abuse is real, and that is really what we are trying to head off at a pass through this education."

According to Dueñas, one of the primary missions of the course is to break the stigma attached to mental health issues. She said if young students think of mental health as a part of overall health rather than as a vice to be ashamed of, they may be more comfortable talking about it when they do face troubling thoughts or feelings.

"The really important part about that curriculum for us is helping reduce the stigma," Dueñas said. "What we see today in the adult population is people are so ashamed of getting help or asking for help, and there is this perception that anyone who needs counseling or mental health services is weak or otherwise disadvantaged. Really, our mental health is just an integral part of our overall health, and we really want students who are just coming up now to understand that and to know that it is OK."

The course tackles several mental health topics ranging from the stigma to mental mechanisms students can use throughout their lives to cope with mental health struggles and trauma. Hart said the program being completely virtual allows students to take it at their own pace and learn in a way that is most comfortable to them.

"Students that go through the program have access to four lessons that they are able to complete independently and at their own pace," Hart said. "Students that go through this are going to learn about topics such as understanding what is mental health, really trying to reduce the stigma around mental health as well; they will have access to lessons that teach them about mental health disorders as well as skills and coping strategies for how to handle difficult situations or challenging situations they may face."

Additionally, students may learn about warning signs of mental health struggles, which could help them identify when one of their family members or peers is going through an internal struggle. They can then implement other lessons from the course in talking to a person who is struggling and help them to cope with difficulties in their life.

"Part of the course helps them identify warning signs when they might need to reach out for help," Dueñas said. "And they can also look for that in their friends or their siblings or other family members, so it just gives them an awareness of what it might look like to struggle."

Hart said several high schools in the counties covered by the program have adopted the course so far, including Grafton High, Hundred High, Preston High and Morgantown High. She said EverFi has representatives working to implement the program into more schools, so more students can have access to the Mental Wellness Basics.

"Since the launch of this program in September, we actually already have four schools that have adopted this program with about 150 students who have already started to link through it which is really awesome to see," Hart said. "We have school implementation managers that really work across the country and even in areas in West Virginia to support local school districts and educators that work there."

Dueñas said she and the Leidos staff would like to see more schools implement the Mental Wellness Basics so more students can learn how to cope with the struggles they have likely faced this past year. She emphasized the importance of having it available now, and said she believes anyone can benefit from a little information on mental health.

"The kids, they're not in school right now, they don't have their sports teams, they don't have the dances," Dueñas said. "There is so much not happening right now that usually helps kids get through difficult times in their lives, so hopefully this does a little something to provide them with tools to get through difficult challenges."

Email Eddie Trizzino at etrizzino@timeswv.com and follow him on Twitter at @eddietimeswv.

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