Hello, and welcome to this USCCB round table.
There is a significant mental health crisis across The United States, which has been especially amplified in recent years with the impact of the global pandemic.
In an effort to raise awareness of this important issue, remove the stigma of mental health challenges, and advocate that those who struggle receive help, two bishops committees jointly launched a national Catholic mental health campaign last October.
With us today are three people who have been working to mobilize the Catholic church to respond compassionately and effectively to the mental health crisis.
Bishop Robert Barron, chair of the committee on laity, marriage, family life, and youth.
Doctor Young Won from the US state department, and doctor Elena Oriana from Divine Mercy University.
Welcome.
It's good to have you here with us.
Good to be with you.
Yeah.
Alright.
Let's start with you, Bishop Barron.
Could you talk a little bit about the context that young people are facing that led the bishops to start this campaign?
When I became chair of the committee, you know, our committee had looked a lot at at marriage and family issues.
But when I became chair, I said, I think we've we've said a lot of good things about that, but there's a pressing problem.
And I noticed it in my work with young people on the Internet, this mental health crisis.
And it was not just an abstraction because I heard it in people's voices.
I saw it in their commentary that young people were really struggling, really suffering in our culture.
So I said, I think our committee should address that.
And then once we, kinda lift that little spark, it it caught fire because I the bishops realized across the board how important this issue was.
And what are you seeing, Elena, in your practice?
I mean, across my work with students as a professor, but also in my clinical practice, I think this need is quite pressing and people are really hungry for an answer and a solution, particularly one that's in keeping with their faith where both kind of the psychologist and the the church can meet them where they are because children are suffering, but also those children are part of families and families are suffering.
Yeah.
I think that's a really important point that it's not only the individual that's suffering.
What are you seeing in your practice and, with young people in particular?
Yeah.
So while the, psychologist for the state department, but also in my volunteer time, sort of, ended up being a full time job, the blessed serve as the president for the Eucharistic Youth Movement where, with over 25,000 young adults and working with our youth leaders.
And certainly, we've noticed that in the last two, three years, there's certainly been a spike in increase in, mental health, particularly anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.
And, you know, as of last year, if you look at the CDC when they released their, adolescent or youth risk behavior survey, and they sort of, you know, do this on a, longitudinal basis for the last thirty years or so where they study trends and pattern.
And particularly with this last several years, mental health just been, spiking off the roof.
And, prior to this, mental health has always been in in as as a crisis a concern, but because of the recent pandemic as well, the isolation, the stress of the pandemic sort of made it worse for a lot of folks.
Certainly, a lot of our young people are struggling and suffering as a result of a lot of things that are happening.
And so the pandemic kind of intensified something already existing.
That's your experience.
Exactly.
How would you put your finger on that?
So go back behind the pandemic.
Right.
What were the features?
Yeah.
I'm looking at, you know, the social media world and all that, but what's your take on what was prompting this?
You know, as as human being and certainly too from our theological teachings that, you know, God created us and designed us to be sort of social being.
We're, designed to have relationship with one another.
And so when we look at the core of anxiety, depression, and suicidality, sort of the at the crux of it is is lack of meaningful relationship.
And so during the COVID pandemic, you know, because of the social distancing, the strict rules and policies of, homeschooling, what have you, our young teens, young adults, they now no no one have the opportunity to get together with their peer group, recreation activities, outings, and really the result to just what's available on the Internet.
And while it's it serves as an outlet with a meaningful outlet for our young teens to engage in, that's certainly it's a point of concern as well.
I think in some ways, we should we're still trying to answer that question.
We're still trying to kinda figure out what was the kindling that really just took off once the pandemic emerged.
And I think that, you know, we're easy, we tend at least to think social media exclusively.
And certainly we see that how much that impacts adolescents, particularly adolescent girls, who are very vulnerable to what can happen on social media, cyberbullying, all those pieces.
But I I think it's more complex than that because you also see that the family has been suffering for a long time.
And what family connection means and what family purpose and values mean has been, a question mark in a place of confusion and injury pre pandemic.
And then Yeah.
The pandemic compounded that kind of destabilization that was there.
But the other thing that I think is really important that, we talked about that Jean Twenge highlights is that when you're on social media, that there's risks associated with that, but you're also not doing things as an adolescent that you need.
She really emphasizes sleep and how we know that sleep is essential to good mental health and sleep is a common symptom in most mental illnesses, or poverty, sleep, or difficulty with sleep.
But also socializing, discovering other interests, discovering who you are in the world.
These things don't happen when we're on social media or on our phones.
And so it's it's quite complex all the pieces that came together.
Doesn't she say as well that kids are growing up slower?
You know, that what kids used to do when I was 16, on my sixteenth birthday, we all did the same thing.
We got our driver's license on our sixteenth birthday.
And she was saying how younger kids now, they don't do that at all.
They they wait till much later.
Right.
Or things like dating and a lot of forms of socialization that we were doing much younger, they're they're waiting.
Adulting becomes a a later thing.
The screen time dimension, there's a whole world of social interaction that's now happening through the phone, through social media, other pieces so that there's less motivation to go meet your friends in person.
Yeah.
And you kinda sit it's almost like parallel play for which is classic of an earlier developmental stage, but you sit and you kind of are on your phones next to each other, whereas you might actually interact interact more and more meaningfully through the Internet.
So your motivation to get your license, pretty darn low.
Yeah.
And if you're already anxious, driving is fairly intimidating, you know.
And and so what you often see with with what mental illness and how it starts to progress and really pervade is that when anxiety breeds avoidance and avoidance becomes the primary coping strategy, mental illness starts to take a deep root.
Yeah.
And part of, like, classic treatment, regardless of your philosophy or your kind of approach, is to overcome that avoidance and to increase manageable and, like, the dose has to be right, manageable reduction in avoidance and tolerance of anxiety.
And I I personally think, that one of the main issues with phones and things is that they dull the effect of that anxiety.
Right?
It is anxiety to answer the phone, to knock at the door.
You never quite know.
How do I address you by your first name, by mister Smith, whatever?
But if I can just text you, it's easier.
Right.
Or if I'm anxious socially and the conversation drops, you know, you have to kind of wrestle with that moment or you can go on your phone.
And and I think that kind of capacity to kind of disengage and to lower the anxiety has this really, the word nefarious is coming to mind, effect where it teaches us that we can't tolerate it.
And that and I think that's really dangerous because in fact, human growth and growth of our caricature and our sense of confidence and our sense of connection comes from pushing through those moments, pushing through fear for some good that's only achievable if we tolerate that fear.
Like, that's the heart of courage.
And so when when we have an easy way to not take those risks Mhmm.
The danger is that you start to learn that you can't.
Yeah.
Right.
No.
I can add on to sort of, like, a condition response over time.
As they're starting to spend more time on screen, screen time increases, sort of becomes part of sort of their normal day to day routine.
So now they constantly are turning into it.
Then over time, so because of that condition response, sort of generates this comfort zone where they are so much more comfortable.
They're they're well equipped and adapt in the virtual world where they can text, send emojis, and communicate with us than sort of being in a face to face one on one interaction where it relies on social skills, emotional quotients.
That then it's outside their comfort zone.
And so they then tend to kinda revert back to what they sort of felt the the norm and the comfort zone that they have.
It's an easier world, but it's psychologically dangerous world because it's such a mediated experience.
And we need those direct experiences with with other human beings to know how to, interact, and then we, as you say, grow from that experience.
You know, people teenagers, they're on social media because they want connection.
And they want meaning and they want value and they want to pursue something excellent and worthy.
And all of those things are the things that any of us long for, and that's what their parents long for.
And so I think trusting in human nature, trusting in God's design, it's about helping people recognize that the answers to all the longings on their heart are available to them in many different spaces.
But sometimes we have to be courageous to pursue it, to pursue I mean, the act of pursuing therapy and pursuing treatment for me is one of profound bravery.
Mhmm.
To kind of say, I I want more for myself.
I want to heal.
I want I don't wanna feel this way anymore.
I think that when people are put in touch with sources of true meaning, sources of true connection, they are willing to leave the impoverished versions of them.
Yeah.
But but that's very hard and and I think it has to start just the way that therapy starts with a relationship.
That's my first task as a clinician is to for me, Helena, to come to know who you are and for you to know me.
And that, if I don't accomplish that step, we can't do anything.
We can't do anything.
I would take some hope in that the church can really play a role in trying to draw young people back into that deep connection that they really want.
And as a psychologist, that's my hope.
Like, when when I'm when I'm working, yeah, like, we know that part of what is driving this mental health crisis is all of these factors that make us feel, like, impoverished and anxious and depressed and that there isn't a future and we don't have meaning.
But at the same time, the other side of that coin is that people are not accessing the sources of stability, meaning, purpose, and just outward focus that have been so psychologically stabilizing.
Yeah.
And religion, from the the time that we began to study it as a field, has always been a stabilizing force.
And I think that's part of why this conversation is so powerful because I can't do that.
Yeah.
As a clinician with forty five minutes once a week in my office, that I I'm desperate to help my clients find friends, find community, and not just the individual in front of me, but also their family.
Parents need help with this.
Parents need support.
Parents need to hear from other parents, the creative ways, but also just that understanding, that normalization.
And I think this is an incredibly the church has always met human need on the human need level.
Right.
And that's where that's where Christ meets us, but also that's where you can begin to have the conversation about the ultimate source.
We're we're the first actually, this is the first generation arguably in human history that's growing up with without a strong sense of religion.
Go across time, across the cultures.
One of the the stabilizing elements is a sense of the spiritual, the transcendent.
Yeah.
We're like the first generation ever that is saying, yeah.
I can be perfectly happy apart from God.
Are we surprised that there's a psychological crisis when when that underlying philosophy is at at play?
Look.
We we do have these words that have fed people for millennials that speak to the deepest part of the soul, you see, my generation got the church trying to be relevant, you know, and trying to kinda dumb itself down and accommodate itself to the to the secular world.
That was a big mistake.
It's had nothing but negative, consequences.
I think the right answer is a confident proposal of the great teaching of the church with regard to God, with regard to society, with regard to the body and sexuality, everything else.
So we should do it with confidence.
Paul VI, now St.
Paul VI, said, The Church is an expert in humanity.
I've always liked that, you know, that two thousand years of dealing with human beings, you know, in their grace and their sin.
We're experts in humanity.
We're like soul care of souls.
Well, that's that's what people are crying out for.
They want their souls to be addressed, to be cared for.
You know?
I think that mental illness needs mental health care.
And I think oftentimes, even working within the Catholic population, one of the things I have to overcome is the the perception that what they're undergoing is because of a spiritual failure.
Yeah.
And to kind of attend to the the the psychological need as being a faith filled act.
Right?
To go to therapy, good therapy, is really difficult.
I think it's much closer to physical therapy in the level of complexity and endurance that you have to go through and so I think that what underlies all suffering is a deep cry for meaning.
Mhmm.
A deep cry for healing and for understanding of why is this happening to me?
Who who does god care?
And how does he respond?
Yeah.
And the church has the fullness of that answer, which is that he yeah.
He himself suffers because he sees you suffer.
He meets you there.
Yeah.
And you still can get treatment.
You can still get care.
Like, I think we can reduce it down to I think people often do.
Like, we'll just go to therapy, fix it that way.
Mhmm.
And and I think that's an important step, but it also means and go to church and go to the sacraments and connect with your community and enrich your family.
That, and this is what it means to have a full picture of human nature, is to realize that you you can't just take one piece in isolation and Yeah.
Help the whole person.
You have to think much more at a much more complex level.
But what is spiritual is also psychological, and what is psychological, when healthy and when good, is spiritual.
Helena, I'm thinking of, a lot of people bring anxieties to the confessional, you know, and the parish peace priest is probably hearing some of those mental health struggles in addition to the sins that the individual has committed.
What are some ways that that pastors, priests can deal with with that struggle that people are facing?
Well, you know, I I'll speak as someone who did full time pastoral work for a while before I went into seminary work and now administrative work.
But, yeah, when you're hearing confessions, someone's coming for the healing of the soul and healing from sin and so on, But you can hear sometimes the overtones of really deep psychological, suffering.
What I always had was somebody in the parish that I knew, a really good psychotherapist or psychologist.
And when I felt it was appropriate, I would recommend you know, I think it might be wise for you to see somebody, and I could if you wanna see me afterwards, I can give you the name and phone number.
So I always had kind of in my, in those days, Rolodex, you know, the name of a good psychotherapist.
Because what I like when you were saying is it's very Catholic.
You know, grace builds on nature.
Yeah.
And it's not one or the other.
It's a both and proposition.
And, sometimes nature has to be healed in a fundamental way before grace can really build upon it.
Right?
So they're always inter interrelated.
But that's what I did pastorally.
And I think it's great that you are gonna have to have resources within your past, and I'm just sort of, you know, thinking on a macro level, would would that be something that we as the church can sort of have put in that direction where sort of, this, you know, having a mental health provider within each diocese where then we potentially can also help, you know, pre seminary and religious, but also youth ministry members sort of just understand the basic of of mental health or mental health first aid, to that extent.
When they they see or hear symptoms, they can then recognize, and be able to direct those to to whom they may need.
Now some of the challenges, particularly within our community, because we're still ultra conservative and, the the concept of understanding of mental health, there's a a profound stigma.
I mean, in the Vietnamese community.
Correct.
Or with other Southeast Asian community.
Okay.
Certainly within, the West is much more widely accepted.
But even for some where, mental health can still be a taboo topic to discuss, and they're more likely to seek spiritual guidance, spiritual help.
And when we have a a priest religious who then recognized too, not just the the the nourishment for the soul, but also sort of the psychoclinical Yeah.
Symptomology that we can refer for help.
I I would bet that we'll we'll be in a greater shape to sort of nurture and provide the resources and support to our community.
Yeah.
We're off to the front lines.
So people might come to the priest first.
Yes.
Exactly.
They're seeking they know they're suffering and and they're seeking help, but the priest can be a a means then to get them help in a wider sense.
Or, you know, with, SAMHSA, they, release a a sort of an evidence based practice program on sort of peer companion equivalent or sort of bystander intervention somewhere within the Department of Defense where, they would train community volunteers just on, you know, basic understanding of of mental health, how to provide empathy, how to communicate, how to engage and recognize because these are the community members who are trusted.
There's a rapport, there's a relationship with which you spoke about, and those are already established.
And now to be able to then just kinda accompany them in a direction where help may be needed.
Once in a while now in my Internet work, you know, I'll put a video up for something and people can comment.
And it doesn't happen all the time, but you'll get a really heart rending comment.
Something like, I just feel completely lost or I'm I'm so depressed.
And, you know, I don't know the person from Adam or Eve at that point.
You know?
What I usually say though, and I I'll try to respond, you know, briefly, is something like, I really do think it's important for you to, you know, to see somebody, you know, close to home, whether it is it might be a priest, it might be a counselor, but you see somebody.
Then I usually say, can I recommend in the meantime, perform every day the simplest act of love?
And, you know, love willing the good of the other because I think it's it's the ultimate answer, you know, but it's what gets you out of yourself.
But it's it's now pastorally how I would I would meet people who are in great suffering.
And I can't really do much though.
You you can't throw up a comm box, you know, give good psychological advice.
But urging them to see someone who can help them.
But in the meantime, perform a simple act of love.
Thank you.
And definitely, Bishop.
But first, really, thank you for this wonderful opportunity to, not only to be here, but also thanks to you and USCCB in bringing this very important topic to to the forefront.
And then to all of our young people, you know, sort of stress is inevitable.
All of us sort of encounter certain stress in some different phase and moment in time.
But know know that you're not alone and that there are resources in that.
You know, when we we turn to prayer, when we turn to good deeds, when we turn to gratitude, when we turn to sort of the resources that are available, we often can channel in and find degrees within about to continue on.
And for all of our parents and and and those, working with young children often engage with our, young adults.
You know, often the relationship that we talk about, which is at the core of a lot of these different mental health concerns, often that's missing.
And so when we engage with our, young adults, then we're more keen on in the, when, sort of any behavior that may be deviated from the norm.
And that's your key.
That's your cue.
That's our young people reaching out and calling for help.
And the more we recognize that, the better it is that we can accompany and connect and, refer to, resources as needed.
But thank you for the opportunity, Bishop.
Yeah.
I Any closing words you'd like to add?
I wanna echo the gratitude for just how important I think this conversation is and this kind of demonstration of, this dialogue between psychologists and the church and, psychologists in the church.
I think there are kind of two things that stand out to me that I want people to know.
The first is that healing is possible.
I think that is one of the deep sources of suffering, of mental illness, is this you know, for us, it's a symptom.
It's diagnostic.
Is there a hopelessness?
And and that is the fruit of an of acute suffering.
And I always wanna be clear that we have made incredible strides in the field of psychology.
We're working other things out, but that depression, anxiety, that suicidal thoughts, suicidal attempts, these are all treatable.
And it it's and it's an honor to be part of that process and see that people can really make incredible progress.
But the other thing that I want them to know, maybe two other things.
First of all, that that each of those adolescents and their, like, they're necessary.
They are you are incredibly necessary, not just to your family, which is hopefully quite obvious or can be made more obvious to you, but you are vital for the church.
We need each person.
Each person has something that only they can offer.
And and I think that if we can help people attend to that reality, it it's just transformative and it really moves us through suffering in a way that nothing else can.
And that that is how Christ made you is is, because you are necessary.
But the last thing I'll say is, the the honor of being a professor is I have this incredible, position where I get to see all these people who are responding to the suffering that that this crisis that we're talking about.
I had interview day for applicants to our program a couple days ago, and people who come because their friends have been suicidal in high you know, it's not just each person is suffering, but also then their friends are witnessing this and that's damaging.
But people are responding to this call.
People want to enter into this work.
There are Catholic therapists who care deeply and want to minister to those who are suffering and their families.
So you can heal, you are worth it, and you have something to offer, and people are there to accompany you who care deeply about you and wish to see you heal, and then the church as well as part of that same community.
Bishop Aaron, any closing words for us?
I'm tempted to say amen to what my two of the families have just said.
I agree with all that.
You know, only in God is the soul at rest.
The Bible says, only in God is the soul finally at rest.
Everyone's hungry for God, ultimately.
And so those who are suffering, yes, there's hope.
You're right.
And there's a there's a way forward.
The deepest answer is always god, and god is love, we say.
And that's why.
That's precisely why.
It's not just a little technique.
That's why I tell people who are in great suffering, perform the simplest act of love because that connects you automatically Yeah.
To God, to the deepest source of meaning in life.
And you might not feel it at first.
It might just be a little trickle of meaning.
But every act of love, that's the little flower, that's the little way, is every moment, what's the opportunity of love?
Take it.
There's there's an opportunity to love, opportunity to become caved in on yourself.
Take the opportunity to love, and that will connect you to the deepest sources of meaning to God.
So that's my last word I guess is, love is the deepest answer because we're wired for God.
Alright.
Thank you very much Bishop Barron, Helena, and Young for starting this important conversation.
We look forward to talking more about the importance of mental health here in the Catholic church.
Thank you all.
God bless you.
Thanks.
Yeah.
Thank you.