Email | Print

Though talk is cheap, it is an important first step to taking action toward helping people of all types in mental distress.
At the Mental Health Association of New York State’s (MHANYS) annual conference this November, workshops provided a forum to discuss the issues of youth mental health, the mental health needs of the gay community and the mental health needs of veterans who have experienced the traumas of gunfire, witnessing death and bloody violence.
We learned from the youth workshop that young people ages 13 to 20 require a lot of support as they transition to adulthood in our society where the tough decision of who and what they want to be in the world is made extra challenging due to the abundance of influences that can rip a young person apart. Should I be a doctor? Should I be gay? Should I be married? Should I go to college? Should I take street drugs? Should I trust anyone? Why have my parents betrayed me? I am a loser. I am lonely. I wish the world were different. Why are people so cruel? I need friends right now. Why doesn’t anyone understand me? Is this life worth living? I don’t know what to do with myself.
We learned from the workshop on veterans’ mental health that a large and growing of returning soldiers from Iraq have developed mental problems. They have nightmares. They are jumpy. They are mistrusting. They might be violent. They are ill at ease. They have been traumatized by the violence of gorilla warfare. Many of them have looked death in the eye. Though their bodies have survived, their well-being has become unstable. This is a mental health crisis for them. They require assistance from society because they put their lives on the line as per their orders.
The workshop that dealt with the gay community included an extensive manual to help mental health providers to be more sensitive and more effective with their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered patients. The process that everyone—no matter whether you are straight or gay in society—goes through of figuring out what your sexual orientation is can be very traumatic, especially for young people who have not seen much of the real world aside from television. It is no secret that little children still make fun of each other with terms like “fag,” “faggot,” “sissy,” and “wuss” when someone acts against behavioral norms. For example, if little Peter brings a doll to school, he may be the subject of ridicule. Peter will secretly harbor feelings for the same sex and the opposition to this natural way of being will be his peers, his parents, his church and who knows who else. Peter will need support because though his body is safe, his mind is in crisis. That is why the mental health community must take a stand that homosexuality is natural, we have removed it from the DSM and we need to help those who are coming to terms with their nature. If this does not happen, the suicides, the pain and the isolation will continue and society will miss its chance to absorb talented, loving people.
MHANYS is aware of the trends in mental health as they should for their survival as an advocacy organization. Therefore, their conference featured the workshops discussed in this article. We hope that the voices from the gay community, the young people and the veterans will be more vocal in putting their mental health needs before the decision-makers and explain what should be done.