Youth Evaluation Center in Tulsa opens ahead of holiday season
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Holidays can be a stressful time for everyone with packed calendars, financial pressures, and endless social gatherings.
For students, the holidays mean isolation from their normal interactions for extended periods, which medical officials say can have a negative impact.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 64% of individuals living with a mental illness say their conditions worsened around the holidays.
Matthew Crum, the Director of Child & Adolescent Life Management Center, says for individuals coping with mental health challenges, the holidays can be a lonely or stressful time.
“I’d like to believe it’s a great time of the year," Crum said. "I think for a lot of people it extenuates their isolation. It intensifies their sadness and their sense of loneliness.”
College students often fall victim to these symptoms as they adjust from living on their own to heading back home.
“It's tough when you exist in college and are on your own and you can make a lot of decisions and then you come home and have to face getting back with your parents and to have that influence," Crum said. "My best suggestion I think to parents is to be curious and talk to them.”
According to the Tulsa Health Department, college students often misuse prescription drugs as a way to self-medicate, cope with stress, deal with underlying behavioral health issues, or even as an attempt to enhance academic performance.
Tulsa Health Department officials encourage college students to talk to a professional about ways to better manage stress rather than using substances, and if needed seek advice from a medical provider.
Crum suggests local mental health services, such as the CALM center, the 9-8-8 mental health call-line and Tulsa’s newest addition and first 24/7 mental health urgent care, the YES center.
“We also have this new program called the YES program, or youth evaluation services," Crum said. "They are designed to do that short-term assessment and really determine what's going on they may just offer some support and guidance, offer a safety plan, and help parents to subdue.”
YES spokesperson Samantha Knowlton says it’s important the general public knows of these mental health resources so that parents and caregivers can be mindful of how their youth are doing through the holidays, and if they see any signs of struggle they can call or walk in.