{"id":449043,"date":"2026-05-28T06:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T06:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/449043\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T06:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T06:57:08","slug":"how-akron-families-are-talking-more-about-youth-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/449043\/","title":{"rendered":"How Akron families are talking more about youth mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline), chat 988lifeline.org<\/a> or text anonymously with a crisis<\/a> counselor at 741741.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sarah Jackson often overhears her 14-year-old twins discussing struggles affecting their friends and classmates. That\u2019s why she brought them to the MayDay for Mental Health Suicide Prevention Symposium in Akron.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jackson said she hopes her children gain a better understanding of how to recognize when someone may be struggling \u2014 including themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want them to know how to recognize signs if somebody\u2019s in trouble,\u201d said Jackson, 48, who lives in Louisville. \u201cOr if they themselves are in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

That message resonated throughout the event, where families, students and mental health professionals gathered at the Akron-Summit County Public Library\u2019s<\/a> downtown branch to discuss youth mental health, suicide prevention and warning signs adults should not ignore.<\/p>\n

Connection, conversation and early intervention can become lifesaving during moments of crisis, said Ciara Dennis-Morgan, chief clinical and wellness officer for the Minority Behavioral Health Group.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to break that stigma of people not being able to talk about it,\u201d said Sherry Blair, youth suicide prevention supervisor at Akron Children\u2019s<\/a>. \u201cIf a child is struggling, they should feel like they can go to their parents instead of feeling like they\u2019d get in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

The symposium was organized through a partnership between Summit County Court of Common Pleas<\/a> Judge Kani H. Hightower<\/a>, NAMI Summit County<\/a> and the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Summit County<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe MayDay for Mental Health Suicide Prevention Symposium in Akron was divided into two separate sessions. Parents attended a panel where doctors discussed how to open conversations with their children about mental health, while students (pictured) participated in youth-led discussions facilitated by NAMI Summit County. (Shams Mustafa \/ Signal Akron)<\/p>\n

What does mental health really mean?<\/p>\n

\u201cMental health deals largely with mental stress,\u201d Blair said. \u201cIt can include mental illness, but it doesn\u2019t mean somebody is ill. Sometimes we\u2019re distressed, and people just need a little grace and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can Akron residents help reduce stigma around mental health?<\/p>\n

Blair said reducing stigma is key to opening more conversations about mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we can break the stigma around mental health,\u201d she said, \u201cthe more we can open conversations about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

How are coaches reducing mental health stigma in sports?<\/p>\n

Jamie Messenger of NAMI Summit County said some coaches are allowing students to take mental health days without jeopardizing their positions on sports teams, a shift she said stood out to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times in the high school space there\u2019s pressure to perform and not miss practice because you could lose your starting spot,\u201d Messenger said. \u201cBut coaches are actually checking in on their mental health and wellness and making sure things are going well for them outside of the sports space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Signal<\/p>\n

Young people speak openly about mental health struggles: \u2018You\u2019re not alone\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Depression and anxiety among young people increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC<\/a> stated that 44 percent of high school students reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021.<\/p>\n

Among them was Phoebe Boyd, 22, a Missouri native who moved to Cuyahoga Falls about 10 years ago. Boyd took the stage May 1 at the symposium and spoke about her experience with depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really want to be here anymore,\u201d Boyd told Signal Akron after the event. \u201cI felt like everything my family was going through was more important than what I was going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

After nearly a year in therapy, Boyd said she learned how to better understand her emotions and navigate difficult moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really helps having someone talk to you and help you through everything you\u2019re going through and help you understand different angles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Youth discussions highlight bullying, warning signs and barriers to care<\/p>\n

The symposium was divided into two separate sessions. Parents attended a panel where doctors discussed how to open conversations with their children about mental health, while students participated in youth-led discussions facilitated by NAMI Summit County.<\/p>\n

Several local mental health organizations also set up resource tables for attendees, including Portage Path Behavioral Health<\/a> and Greenleaf Family Center<\/a>. Materials included information on warning signs of mental health concerns and hotline numbers for immediate support.<\/p>\n

In the youth breakout sessions, Messenger said students raised concerns about bullying and the lack of mental health support in schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cBullying is a problem,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t think the schools are handling bullying well, so that would definitely be a space that we want to try to address.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mental health warning signs can include changes in behavior<\/p>\n

Messenger said changes in behavior are among the most important warning signs adults can look for in children.<\/p>\n

Students who are typically punctual but suddenly struggle to get out of bed or attend school can be showing early signs of distress, she said. More serious warning signs include talking about hopelessness, feeling unheard or making statements about not wanting to be alive.<\/p>\n

Early conversations matter because some youth feel their struggles are not being recognized by adults in their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust having the courage to say, \u2018Hey, I noticed a change here. Is there anything I can do?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cost and access are ongoing barriers to mental health care. The changes in federal health care tax credits have increased insurance costs for some families enrolled in the marketplace, causing some people to delay or go without care, Messenger said.<\/p>\n

Akron police officers trained to respond to mental health emergencies<\/p>\n

Akron Police <\/a>Officer Melanie Bailey said the department has expanded its response to mental health crises through specialized programs and training.<\/p>\n

One of those programs is the department\u2019s Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, which responds to calls involving people experiencing mental health crises. Officers assigned to the team receive training focused on de-escalation, communication and connecting individuals with medical care.<\/p>\n

Bailey also highlighted the department\u2019s SCOUT team, which pairs police officers with social workers, paramedics and nurses to follow up on nonviolent mental health-related calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times they just want someone to hear them,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cYou just sit there and let them talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said officers regularly encounter residents struggling with mental health issues, with some voluntarily asking to be transported to a hospital for evaluation while others may require emergency intervention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see someone in a mental health crisis, call and try to get someone to help them as quick as possible,\u201d she said, encouraging community members to provide dispatchers with as much information as possible during emergency calls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 (National…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-449043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}