Mental health and youth ministry

Last year a college student that I only knew briefly in high school committed suicide. Last month a young man that I knew much better when he was in high school also took his own life. (I was on vacation when this happened and couldn’t bring myself to write about it, but I very much appreciated this reflection from my friend and colleague Beth Merrill Neel.) I currently know two other young people who have either contemplated or attempted suicide within the past year. Add to these tragedies and near tragedies the increasing number of students dealing with anxiety, depression, eating disorders and other issues and you can understand why I’ve been thinking more about mental health and youth ministry lately.

So I jumped on the opportunity for my church's youth ministry staff to take a training recently on Youth Mental Health First Aid. The curriculum is designed to help youth workers provide first response care for young people demonstrating signs of mental illness or crisis. I found the day to be generally helpful, and the book they provide will be a good resource for further study.

Perhaps more than anything, the training has prompted me to think more about my role and the role of our youth ministry in mental health care and crisis management for the young people we work with. It seems to me that there are two primary functions.