Transcript*

Hello dear friends,

As many of you are aware, our children are increasingly struggling in our modern world. This time of year, tension is especially high due to the additional demands of back-to-school combined with troubling world events and the impact of technology. With all these burdens, parents, teachers, and kids are being forced to deal with so much more than the back-to-school jitters, packed schedules, and academic pressures.

If not appropriately addressed, these chronic, excessive stressors can have negative emotional, mental, and physical health ramifications. Unfortunately, because children’s brains are still developing, they are at an even higher risk of experiencing these detrimental effects than most adults.

This is why I believe that offering additional supportive mind-body approaches, that can be used along with conventional psychiatric care, is crucial to intercept the mental health crisis we are facing.

So, in this week’s clinical tip, I will offer you information and resources to help support parents’ and children’s resiliency and mood balance. These include:

  • some updates on statistics related to the state of our youth’s mental health
  • how to calm the brain using naturopathic medicine mind-body techniques
  • a review of my integrative mental health guide that offers a compilation of resources to support brain balance
  • a powerful podcast interview with a holistic pediatrician on the connection between the gut and mental health

It is my hope that these tools can assist you in taking empowering action to support your children, teens, and yourself in navigating the changes and upheaval our future generations are up against.

As always, all the references and links will be available in the resource section at the end of the transcript to the video.

So, let’s get started.

 

Our Kids are Suffering

I recently came across some truly sobering statistics regarding our children’s mental state. They were from Mental Health America’s Youth Ranking 2024 which comprises of 15 measures. These are based on the percentages, or rates, for each state collected from the most recently available data, primarily through 2022. The results stated:

  • Approximately 20% of youth (ages 12-17) reported suffering from at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year. That’s one in five children!
  • 15% of tweens and teens experienced a MDE with severe impairment, enough to negatively interfere with their work, school, and home life.
  • About 9% of youngsters in the U.S reported a substance use disorder in the past year, approximately 3% had an alcohol use disorder and a little over 7% had a drug use disorder.
  • Around 13% of youth (over 3.4 million kids and teenagers) are experiencing thoughts of suicide.

This trend upward is concerning. Although there were different measures used, according to the CDC, adolescents (12-17 years old) in 2018-2019 reported about half of the substance use disorders in 2022, both illicit drug use and alcohol use disorder. Furthermore, 15% vs. 20% had a MDE a few years ago.

This is alarming. These startling statistics seem to be worsening, and our youths’ state of mind is digressing. We need to have better, holistic solutions. That’s what this tip is about.

 

Three Integrative Medicine Resources for Balancing Stress and Emotional and Mental Health

Below are three integrative brain health resources. They aim to help with soothing stress, balancing emotions, and supporting mental health.

 

1. Soothing Stress on the Brain

First, let’s talk about taking steps to tame our racing thoughts and soothe our overwhelmed brains.

In my quick 11-minute video on my naturopathic medicine emotional toolkit, I review:

  • why it is imperative to pay attention to our self-care and mental health.
  • solutions on how to calm the brain and body using some of my favorite holistic modalities. These are appropriate for all ages and include essential oils, deep breathing, mindfulness, and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).
  • the importance of being compassionate with yourself and others during these challenging times.

 

2. An Integrative Mental Health Resource Guide

Next, I want to bring attention to my Integrative Mental Health Guide, where you will be able to access another video and additional resources. Topics include:

  • How to cope with mental health on top of school stressors
  • The Mental Health America Toolkit for various youth and teen mental health issues
  • Resources for dealing with the typical back-to-school issues, including:
    • integrative mental health support for those with learning and behavioral issues
    • naturopathic and integrative tips for stress relief
    • cognitive and brain health support
    • additional mind-body medicine tips to ease stress
    • essential oils to help balance emotions, mental health, and revive the body

 

3. An Empowering Podcast for Parents and Kids

Finally, I was fortunate enough to interview Dr. Song, a prominent integrative pediatrician, on the Essential Oil Revolution podcast. This podcast can offer you additional natural and integrative strategies to support your children’s and teens’ physical and emotional health.

Dr. Song and I discussed how the gut microbiome is a key player to our children’s health state. She also provided us with amazing, actionable holistic health tips from her book, Healthy Kids, Happy Kids.

 

Bonus: Supporting Mental Health and Hormonal Harmony in Naturopathic Medicine Practice

As a bonus, I also offer a free video series on how I use essential oils in my practice to support brain health and balance hormones. You can access it here.

 

Hope for Our Kids’ and Our Own Mental Health

I know this is a lot of information to take in, so it may be best to bookmark this page and come back to it as needed, just as I suggested for my keeping it green series.

Yet, the good news is there is a lot we can do to support our children and start to change this concerning trajectory of declining mental health at earlier ages.

If you need additional support, it may be best to consult with a naturopathic and functional medicine doctor who specializes in brain health. I know for me, it is an honor to help my clients navigate through what is best for their emotional health and what resources are available for their children.

I also want to let you know that I am continuing to work on my transformational life and brain health program. In it, I will be guiding a group of individuals on how to reach their wellness and life goals by breaking through the blocks and barriers that hold them back. By combining brain health with emotional and transformational lifestyle shifts, one can truly support lasting change. If you are interested, please stay tuned for more information.

Let’s do this together, let’s save ourselves and our future generations from being a sobering statistic.

Please share this information and comment below!

 

If you like this content, please help me spread the word by sharing the links to my YouTube channel and newsletter. This will help us reach more people and empower them with natural health information and safe and evidence-based essential oil education.

As a subscriber yourself, you’ll stay up to date on my latest clinical tips, blogs, news, and podcasts. You will also be the first to hear about the release of my upcoming brain health program!

If you haven’t yet checked out my free resources and additional educational tools, click here.

 

Resources:

*Transcript has been edited for grammar and ease of reading.

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Disclaimer: This material is for information purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any illness. You should check with your doctor regarding implementing any new strategies into your wellness regime. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. (Affiliation link.)

This information is applicable ONLY for therapeutic quality essential oils. This information DOES NOT apply to essential oils that have not been tested for purity and standardized constituents. There is no quality control in the United States, and oils labeled as “100% pure” need only to contain 5% of the actual oil. The rest of the bottle can be filled with fillers and sometimes toxic ingredients that can irritate the skin. The studies are not based solely on a specific brand of an essential oil, unless stated. Please read the full study for more information.

Thanks Pixabay and Canva.