Youth Mental Health In Crisis

Mental health and well-being have become a priority in all our lives.

 This comes at a time when we, as a culture and society, have developed more awareness of this more wholistic view of being. Our emotional well-being is directly linked to our physical well-being, and we therefore cannot address one without the other. For youth in BC, the mental health and substance use crisis has severely disrupted lives, with suicide continuing to be the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-24. This has had a deeply negative effect on families and communities. Youth who are struggling with addiction, early onset psychosis, eating disorders, and debilitating anxiety experience this crisis intensely, with many being hospitalized or finding it difficult to leave home. We don’t have to go far to not only read about this issue but see it daily.

Young people aged 15-24 are more likely to experience mental illness and substance use than any other age group.

For most of us, it has touched our own families and we feel the pain deeply. Without early intervention during this critical developmental time in a young person’s life, their adult life becomes a far greater struggle, creating a larger challenge for society.

Take a Hike knows the progress we can make as a community to facilitate growth and healing for youth struggling with mental health. Our model provides developmentally appropriate, relational support that seeks to minimize the disruption in a young person’s life. Because of the day-to-day nature of the program, staff provide consistency of care with a growth mindset. Ongoing healthy relationships are the number one indicator of positive mental health and change. This allows youth to develop their own agency as to how they define personal success and growth goals.

There is a need, now more than ever, for Take a Hike’s unique mental health program to reach across BC and ensure young people have access to the support they crucially need in a barrier-free setting.