Editor鈥檚 note: If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, there is help available. The is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.
When teens in need call the YouthLine, a peer-to-peer , someone like 19-year-old Emma Cooper answers.
They could be calling about a number of things 鈥� from family or relationship issues, to mental health concerns, to contemplating suicide 鈥� but when they reach out to YouthLine, there鈥檚 someone they can relate to on the other end.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so many specifics about growing up, with everything that鈥檚 going on,鈥� Cooper said.
鈥淓ven if we don鈥檛 know how to solve the problem better than the person reaching out, it鈥檚 still a mutual understanding.鈥�
In the last year, Cooper, a lead volunteer for YouthLine, has heard a lot about COVID-19 and its impact. She鈥檚 heard from youth who tested positive for COVID-19, and were afraid to tell people they鈥檇 been in contact with. Some were dealing with anxiety about the virus and possible risks to family members.
She鈥檚 also heard from students struggling with school, or problems at home.
鈥淪tressors of online school not being super accessible to people, or having a really hard time staying engaged,鈥� Cooper said.
鈥淎 lot more contacts about people struggling being stuck in the house with their families, and that causing extra tension.鈥�
Last year, YouthLine had more calls than ever before 鈥� 28,387 鈥渃ontacts,鈥� an increase of more than 8,900 from the year before. That number has been increasing for the last five years in general, but Cooper remembers an uptick when the pandemic started.
鈥淭here was definitely a change in what people are reaching out to us to talk about,鈥� Cooper said.
With school still mostly remote in Oregon, students have been isolated and disconnected from their teachers and peers. In the ongoing, contentious conversation around reopening schools, advocates for returning in-person cite anecdotes about suicide or attempted suicide. At this point, there isn鈥檛 really data to show an increase is happening. Data by the Oregon Health Authority shows there were fewer suicide deaths in 2020 compared to 2019, and fewer suicide-related visits to emergency departments and urgent cares for young people compared to 2019. But students are struggling. What鈥檚 unclear is whether reopening schools is the answer.
Gov. Kate Brown has often pointed to student mental health as a reason to reopen schools. In a statement to OPB, Brown鈥檚 deputy communications director Charles Boyle said the governor鈥檚 office has heard 鈥渃ompelling feedback鈥� about challenges students have faced during the pandemic.
鈥淸T]eachers and educators in schools are often some of the first people to notice and identify child abuse, neglect, and when a student needs help from behavioral health professionals 鈥� something that鈥檚 much more difficult when teachers and students are not in schools,鈥� Boyle said in a statement, pointing to the importance of counselors and other specialists.
鈥淭he educational, social, emotional, mental and physical health of so many students is tied to their schools and to the personalized attention and support that educators provide.鈥�
With Brown鈥檚 March 5 to reopen schools, that help may be more accessible for some.
Emily, a 16-year old student at Lakeridge High School, says she and her friends check in on each other constantly. A recent classmate鈥檚 death by suicide has led to increased conversations around mental health and depression.
鈥淪ocial isolation has been the cause of many of my mental health issues in the past year, as well as being in a whole new routine,鈥� Emily said.
鈥淚 finally realized that I have anxiety,鈥� said Alyssia, a 16-year-old student at Lincoln High School in Portland. 鈥淎t one point in the year I had multiple breakdowns within a single week.鈥�
Alyssia said she has joined a mental health class at school, and started an organization to teach elementary and middle school students about mental health.
Parker Sczepanik, assistant director of YouthLine Outreach and Education, says she sees the pandemic impacting youth who were struggling even before the pandemic.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a really large misconception that COVID equals mental illness, or COVID equals suicide,鈥� Sczepanik said.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing with our contacts on YouthLine is that COVID is intensifying those feelings, and intensifying the mental health challenges we鈥檝e already been dealing with.鈥�
Many youth are struggling because schools are closed. Others are thriving in distance learning.
For Sczepanik, one thing is clear from her classroom visits and outreach to youth: Students don鈥檛 have the direct support they used to have available every day, including trusted adults or close friends.
鈥淏eing out of school is definitely hindering their ability to access the supports that have maybe been really present for them in their lives,鈥� Sczepanik said.
It can be more difficult to ask for help in a virtual school setting.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not as easy to linger in the hallway, and set up an appointment with your counselor, or go see that math teacher you really really like.鈥�
But there is help, and support, whether through school resources, or through places like YouthLine.
At YouthLine, Sczepanik said volunteers don鈥檛 use 鈥渢ips and tricks鈥� to help the youth they talk to. They help them figure out for themselves how to cope and manage.
鈥淲e see a lot of contacts finding their own way by the end of the conversation, which is so hopeful to see them be able to recognize that this is what they need,鈥� Sczepanik said.
Emma Cooper is a suicide attempt survivor herself, and she uses her own lived experience in her conversations with the people who reach out to YouthLine for support.
鈥淚 believe in peer support so strongly, Cooper said. 鈥淚 think lived experience and the perspective of lived experience is so important.鈥�
She recently shared her story as part of an MTV called 鈥淓ach and Every Day,鈥� which featured young people from around the country who are suicide attempt survivors or have experienced suicidal ideation.
鈥淥ne of the biggest things I took out of my experience is I always wish that people would鈥檝e just trusted me, or trusted my word, or just listened to me,鈥� Cooper said.
鈥淚 tried to bring that knowledge into my conversations with other people and try to empower them to come to their own conclusions about what鈥檚 right for them.鈥�
It鈥檚 been weeks since high school students in the Bend-La Pine schools have been back to classes in person. The largest Oregon district east of the Cascades has its oldest students come to school two days a week.
Rayne Cedergreen is a student success instructor at Bend Senior High. The job is a new one in the last year, and meant to support mental health needs of students.
鈥淚t鈥檚 new and exciting, and the timing could not be more appropriate,鈥� Cedergreen said.
Cedergreen was just getting started in the role when COVID-19 shut down schools last March. Like many educators, she worked to keep students engaged in school both academically and socially.
鈥淭hey are so phenomenal in terms of the way that they continue to move forward and adapt and grow during difficult circumstances,鈥� she said.
But her students have felt disconnected, and isolated. Like Cooper and YouthLine, Cedergreen said she didn鈥檛 use any special 鈥渢ips or tricks鈥� when it came to offering support.
鈥淭here was nothing miraculous that we were doing as a support team,鈥� Cedergreen said. 鈥淥ften it was really just helping the students to tap in to that inner strength and keep pressing on even when it was really difficult.鈥�
Even as the uncertainty over the pandemic鈥檚 end date continues.
鈥淭hat uncertainty is really particularly difficult, I think for young people, because their frontal lobe is really not as developed as an adult,鈥� Cedergreen said. 鈥淏eing able to, think of those things in a rational way, is more challenging and they鈥檙e really in that emotional part of their brain.鈥�
Now, as an educator at one of the largest districts in the state with high school students returning to school, Cedergreen can see how in-person contact has been beneficial.
鈥淭hey need that feedback, that regular interaction, and they need the level of support that they can get by being in the building,鈥� Cedergreen said.
But it鈥檚 been an adjustment. Cedergreen said the school continues to assess what social emotional skills students need, and help them with what they鈥檙e going through. At her school, staff are working on lessons to help students build skills like mindfulness and emotional regulation.
At the same time, she said it can be hard enforcing COVID-19 regulations like keeping students six feet apart from each other.
But she鈥檚 seen attendance 鈥渉ighly above鈥� what it was before, including for students who were typically disengaged.
Cedergreen said she also has a deeper relationship with her students now 鈥� she鈥檚 more vulnerable and authentic in conversations. She hopes that continues.
鈥淚 am very transparent about my feelings about all of this because I think it helps for them to have that model 鈥� that this is a struggle for adults too, and we can have a lot of hope and be challenged,鈥� she said.
For Summit High School student Hannah, she鈥檚 back to some in-person school. She enjoys seeing her friends in class, but 鈥渢here鈥檚 also a lot of downsides,鈥� she says, including anxiety and students testing positive for COVID-19. after closing for several days, because of a COVID-19 outbreak.
Some students in Bend are choosing to stay home. Cedergreen said she鈥檚 grateful a district like hers offers that option.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a tough balance between social and emotional health, physical health ... everybody鈥檚 circumstances are really different,鈥� Cedergreen said.
Lakeridge High School student Emily said a return to in-person school would mean additional stress and a disruption to her current school routine.
鈥淲e won鈥檛 really be able to interact with our peers or teachers in the same way,鈥� Emily said.
Additionally, she鈥檇 like to see her school district, Lake Oswego, take student voice and feedback into consideration.
The reopening conversation continues, with some folks ready to go back and others wanting to wait.
For those who help young people work through their stress and anxiety when it can feel overwhelming, the pandemic has opened more discussion of mental health 鈥� and that鈥檚 a good thing.
鈥淓veryone has struggled with their mental health at some point鈥︹�� YouthLine volunteer Emma Cooper said.
鈥淛ust opening up a conversation about mental health however you can, wherever you can, is so important, and something everybody can do.鈥�
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