Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, this is Lindsay Young. I'm a staff writer
Speaker 1: and assistant editor here with the Minnesota Vikings. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for tuning into another segment of our Getting
Speaker 1: Open series, which focuses on all things mental health. Over
Speaker 1: these past several weeks, we've talked to a number of
Speaker 1: players about their personal experiences with mental health and what
Speaker 1: those journeys have looked like. We've also talked to Chief
Speaker 1: Operating Officer Andrew Miller and General Manager Rick Spielman about
Speaker 1: not only their personal experiences, but also an emphasis that
Speaker 1: they place on mental health within the Vikings organization. Last
Speaker 1: week we talked to kay fans Chris Hockey, who really
Speaker 1: continued to open up about his mental health journey. He
Speaker 1: has overcome OCD and he continues to navigate depression and
Speaker 1: uses a number of techniques to navigate that on a
Speaker 1: day to day basis, and so really appreciate hearing from him.
Speaker 1: And today I'm really excited to sit down with Adam
Speaker 1: and Caitlin Feeling. They're going to talk about the work
Speaker 1: that the Feeling Foundation does around mental health and specifically
Speaker 1: youth mental health, which tends to be an overlooked area
Speaker 1: of need. We'll be talking to the Feelings and also
Speaker 1: to doctor Jessica Ceci, who is a child psychiatrist within
Speaker 1: the m Health Fairview Network. Thank you guys so much
Speaker 1: for joining us. I guess the first question would be
Speaker 1: directed to really either or both of you, why do
Speaker 1: you think that mental health is an important topic to cover? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I think just to it's kind of the
Speaker 1: reason why we end up choosing, uh, you know, youth
Speaker 1: mental health to start our foundation is the first thing
Speaker 1: that we kind of partnered with at the Masonic Chilln's
Speaker 1: Hospital because it just gets overlooked and there was a
Speaker 1: need there for help, for resources, really just time and
Speaker 1: energy from from you know people to show that they
Speaker 1: care and that it is UM, it is normal. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of people that are going through what
Speaker 1: these kids are going through, UM, and so I think
Speaker 1: that was the big reason why we started in that direction.
Speaker 1: And then since then it's just UM had just a
Speaker 1: ton of things UM that have kind of correlated in
Speaker 1: our personal lives and have made us even stronger UM
Speaker 1: to want to UM give back in that area, but
Speaker 1: UM just to just to normalize it to people, make
Speaker 1: people understand that that there's other people that are going
Speaker 1: through the same thing you're going through, um, and that
Speaker 1: you're not you know, different, and that you can open
Speaker 1: up and talk about it and and be okay with that,
Speaker 1: you know, Adam. We've talked to several of your teammates
Speaker 1: at this point, Eric Kendricks, Tyler Conklin, Jalen Holmes kind
Speaker 1: of kicked off the whole series, and all of them
Speaker 1: have talked about their personal experiences and like some of
Speaker 1: them have been more childhood, some of them have been
Speaker 1: you know, over their whole life, Like everybody has had
Speaker 1: a different story. But I guess, just for you, what
Speaker 1: do you appreciate about seeing your teammates being well to
Speaker 1: share these stories that are pretty personal things but they're
Speaker 1: wanting to share to make an impact. Yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: it's been pretty cool to hear their stories, to see
Speaker 1: that that they're open with that, and I think the
Speaker 1: impact that that will make will be just uh, it'll
Speaker 1: be bigger than that they'll ever can imagine or we
Speaker 1: can imagine, just because I think if one, two, three
Speaker 1: kids see that and say, wow, like that's exactly what
Speaker 1: I'm going through, and it just it just creates a
Speaker 1: more comfortable setting for them to be open and honest.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's with their family or with friends to be
Speaker 1: able to get help, or just to sometimes just to
Speaker 1: be able to talk about it. Um is enough help
Speaker 1: and and really to get them in the right directions.
Speaker 1: So UM, it's really been cool to see these guys
Speaker 1: do that and will be a huge help to a
Speaker 1: lot of people. One of the things that we've talked
Speaker 1: about throughout this series is the stigma around mental health
Speaker 1: just in society in general, but um, maybe even at
Speaker 1: a deeper level with an athletic and obviously you guys
Speaker 1: are both athletes. M keitlan, I'm wondering just your perspective too,
Speaker 1: just within athletics, why you think that might be a
Speaker 1: little bit more of a stigma. Um. I just think that,
Speaker 1: you know, being an athlete, maybe you have that mental
Speaker 1: toughness that you don't want to, you know, open up
Speaker 1: and be vulnerable with people, your teammates, your parents, coaches, whatnot.
Speaker 1: So I think, like Adam said, with these players speaking
Speaker 1: up about their experiences, I think that that just goes
Speaker 1: to show that anyone can deal with certain types of
Speaker 1: mental or behavioral health and that it's okay to be
Speaker 1: open about it. It's okay. You don't have to feel
Speaker 1: like you're less than even if you are an athlete,
Speaker 1: a professional athlete. It's you know, these professional athletes are
Speaker 1: talking about it. So I just think that it's such
Speaker 1: a good conversation that they opened up about. Adam. How
Speaker 1: have you guys seen the stigma starting to change within
Speaker 1: the NFL or national sports And we've talked a little
Speaker 1: bit about like UM, Kevin Love and the NBA sharing
Speaker 1: history and a few players in the NFL. I guess
Speaker 1: just how have you from your perspective, how have you
Speaker 1: seen that that stigma breaking down a little bit? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I think just the resources now, the amount
Speaker 1: of resources that teams are putting into it, UM shows
Speaker 1: that it's a it's a big deal and it is
Speaker 1: a game changer. Four teams to have those resources and
Speaker 1: have UM the opportunity for guys to be open and
Speaker 1: to be you know, to say that hey, I have
Speaker 1: I have an issue with this and and can you
Speaker 1: help me? And when when that happens, it just creates
Speaker 1: a better culture in the locker room. It creates a
Speaker 1: more open atmosphere and guys realize that they're not alone,
Speaker 1: that that maybe there's five six guys feeling the exact
Speaker 1: same way that you are, So when you open up
Speaker 1: about it, well now they want to open up about
Speaker 1: it and they want to get help. So um, you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's been it's been really cool to see
Speaker 1: that go through our locker room and just see guys
Speaker 1: um transforming and really just changing not only their lives
Speaker 1: but other people's as well. Adam, you mentioned about how
Speaker 1: mental health, especially the area of youth mental health, has
Speaker 1: been overlooked. Is that an area that you guys were
Speaker 1: sort of aware that that was an area of need?
Speaker 1: Was it something where you started digging into possible areas
Speaker 1: of need with your foundation and that came to light?
Speaker 1: Just sort of wondering how that came about that that
Speaker 1: you're focusing on that area. Well, we were kind of
Speaker 1: in search of, you know, different areas that maybe overlooked,
Speaker 1: and then when Masonic you know, came to us kind
Speaker 1: of with the Behavioral Mental Health Unit, we were like,
Speaker 1: that's a no brainer. I felt like God was calling
Speaker 1: us to kind of spotlight that, especially with the platform
Speaker 1: Adam has and how many youth and adults struggle with it.
Speaker 1: We were like it was just a no brainer for
Speaker 1: us to try and use our platform and whatever resources
Speaker 1: we can to help help this hospital, help these kids,
Speaker 1: and just help make mental health behavioral health just broadcasts
Speaker 1: to more people. Especially you know, we have really close family,
Speaker 1: family members and friends who deal with significant mental behavioral health,
Speaker 1: and so it really hits home to us to be
Speaker 1: more open about it and to you know, just make
Speaker 1: it more aware and make it more like Adam said, normalized. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think I think kind of a crazy thing for
Speaker 1: us is when, like Healen said, we were trying to
Speaker 1: figure out ways that we could help in this community,
Speaker 1: and I think what really kind of opened our eyes
Speaker 1: to it, and then, like like Healen said, since then,
Speaker 1: we've had so many connections to it, and I'm so
Speaker 1: glad that we started working within mental health and behavioral health.
Speaker 1: But when we first toured the Masonic Jones Hospital in
Speaker 1: the mental health department, the it was unbelievable to hear
Speaker 1: these doctors and nurses and the people within in that
Speaker 1: group just how shocked number one, that we were there
Speaker 1: and wanted to help, and then number two, just how
Speaker 1: excited they were that we were going to provide resources
Speaker 1: and how badly they needed it and how badly they
Speaker 1: needed just people that care about these kids, and again
Speaker 1: just how many kids like this happens to our adults,
Speaker 1: and that that you know, people just don't know about
Speaker 1: it and don't realize that how prevalent it is and
Speaker 1: how important it is to talk about. So um that
Speaker 1: really opened our eyes and since then has just um,
Speaker 1: you know, really changed our mindset on it and how
Speaker 1: we could we could help and get back. As I
Speaker 1: listened to you say that it just resonates with so
Speaker 1: much that we've been talking about so far, where you know,
Speaker 1: even whether it's professional football player or whether it's kids,
Speaker 1: you know, if someone has um like cancer or they
Speaker 1: break a bone or something like that. And of course
Speaker 1: not to make light of those situations, but those seem
Speaker 1: to be so much more accepted and talked about, and
Speaker 1: even for hospital visits and things like that, it's not
Speaker 1: as spotlighted when there's those mental health issues. So I
Speaker 1: think it's awesome that you guys are working specifically around
Speaker 1: that issue. Has there been anything that you guys have
Speaker 1: learned through this process that's either you know, helped you
Speaker 1: in your personal lives or with your family members, or
Speaker 1: just anything that's kind of like opened your eyes to
Speaker 1: this issue beyond the fact that you know, it's obviously
Speaker 1: a much bigger one than people realize. Yeah, I would
Speaker 1: say just that, you know, it's a sickness like you've
Speaker 1: talked about cancer. Um. You know, sometimes there's obviously varying
Speaker 1: degrees of mental health. Some people really it's a sickness.
Speaker 1: They can't control what's going on in their minds. They can't.
Speaker 1: They try to and they can't, you know. So that's
Speaker 1: really opened my eyes with a close family member, just
Speaker 1: trying to understand ways that I can help and not
Speaker 1: trigger like the mental health more, you know. So that's
Speaker 1: been one area. And even just sitting and talking with
Speaker 1: these kids we try and have visits with these kids
Speaker 1: at the hospital and just hearing, you know, all stories
Speaker 1: from the nurses and just understanding kind of what they've
Speaker 1: been through, whether you know, whether there's issues at home
Speaker 1: and that's what's caused the issues or whatnot. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of different areas that I feel like I've
Speaker 1: personally learned and trying to get better at m just
Speaker 1: talking with other people. Yeah, I think just just learning,
Speaker 1: like Keel and said, um, learning about it, understanding it,
Speaker 1: more because a lot of times it doesn't really like
Speaker 1: make sense to me because maybe my issue is different
Speaker 1: than someone else's, so sometimes it doesn't make sense. But
Speaker 1: when you start to learn and be around it more
Speaker 1: and try to understand it, it really helps. Especially when
Speaker 1: you have friends or family, it really helps them because
Speaker 1: you can understand it more, so you kind of know
Speaker 1: what to do, what not to do, what to say,
Speaker 1: what not to say to really help them, you know,
Speaker 1: with what they're going through. And then personally, I mean,
Speaker 1: we all have ups and downs a lot life and
Speaker 1: trying to navigate that and really being able to apply
Speaker 1: those things your personal life has been huge for me personally.
Speaker 1: And obviously you guys our parents to yourself, you have
Speaker 1: Asher and Hudson, and I guess for either of you,
Speaker 1: but I'll ask Caitlin, maybe first just being a mom,
Speaker 1: has it given you an even more personal connection to
Speaker 1: these youth that are going through you know, different types
Speaker 1: of trials. Yeah, yeah, it definitely has um. You know,
Speaker 1: just as they grow, I feel like I just want
Speaker 1: to be open with them as a mom and them
Speaker 1: open with me. And Adam and I've talked about this,
Speaker 1: you know, as they grow, we want to have a
Speaker 1: good connection with our kids. We hope we can, and
Speaker 1: we want them to feel comfortable with us if they're
Speaker 1: ever going through anything or feeling different thoughts, we want
Speaker 1: them to know that we're here or that you know
Speaker 1: that it's not not not bad to feel that way,
Speaker 1: you know. We want those emotions to be okay in
Speaker 1: this house and them to be open with it. And
Speaker 1: also I think just teaching them to be My main
Speaker 1: thing is teaching them to be kind to everyone, because
Speaker 1: you never know what a little boy who might bug
Speaker 1: you at school is going through at home, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. There's just so many things that that
Speaker 1: could be happening in other people's lives, and even us
Speaker 1: as adults. I try, I'm trying harder to be like
Speaker 1: that because someone's in a grassy moment, you never know
Speaker 1: what they're dealing with. So I think that's a big
Speaker 1: thing that I want to teach my kids, you know,
Speaker 1: every day they go to school, I say, you know,
Speaker 1: spread God's love. Then, Adam just kind of generally speaking, obviously,
Speaker 1: the Vikings have had a long standing relationship with you
Speaker 1: of m Masonic, like you know, going back to Sully
Speaker 1: and Chad, and I know Kyle did a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff there. The Wilf's also just what have you appreciated
Speaker 1: more on a larger scale, just about that relationship with
Speaker 1: that hospital and the organization. Yeah, just you know how
Speaker 1: willing they are to kind of accommodate to really again
Speaker 1: show you what their needs are, what these kids needs are,
Speaker 1: and then try to help you figure out the best
Speaker 1: way to to provide the best resources opportunities for these kids. So, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been a it's been a great relationship. And which
Speaker 1: has been good is is you know, you say that
Speaker 1: a lot of people have worked with them, and that
Speaker 1: was kind of a big thing for us when we
Speaker 1: started talking to them, is Okay, where hasn't there been
Speaker 1: help and where can we help and make a difference
Speaker 1: where there hasn't been a much attention Because those guys
Speaker 1: that you mentioned have done such great work and so
Speaker 1: many areas of that hospital and impacted so many lives
Speaker 1: and we've been, you know, blessed to be able to
Speaker 1: be a part of a lot of that just being
Speaker 1: around those guys, and so it's been pretty cool to
Speaker 1: just be to be able to help an area that
Speaker 1: hasn't been helped yet. So that that's kind of why
Speaker 1: things got to where they were. How, if at all,
Speaker 1: has the topic of mental health affected you personally? You
Speaker 1: guys have already mentioned some close family members and things
Speaker 1: like that. Was there anything else that you wanted to
Speaker 1: say on that topic? Just awareness, understand standing, you know.
Speaker 1: I think until you have stuff in your life or
Speaker 1: you are connected with something, you just don't understand it.
Speaker 1: So I think that's been huge for both of us,
Speaker 1: just understanding it for not only for like you said,
Speaker 1: family members or friends, but our personal lives as well.
Speaker 1: Like I said, there's varying degrees of mental health obviously,
Speaker 1: but I feel like Adam touching it, but we've struggled
Speaker 1: with different things, you know, not as maybe bad severe
Speaker 1: as some, but like I've definitely struggled with like anxiety
Speaker 1: being a mom and trying to do everything, and even
Speaker 1: I remember, you know, in playing sports and soccer, and
Speaker 1: you know, there's just a lot of things that you
Speaker 1: look back on and you're like, oh was that you know,
Speaker 1: like you maybe didn't even know, but like, oh was
Speaker 1: I a little depressed then, you know, going through that
Speaker 1: tough tough year at college or whatnot. And I think lastly,
Speaker 1: just kind of to wrap up, Adam, I'll ask you
Speaker 1: this for people who are you know, maybe listening to
Speaker 1: this interview, you are reading your Guys's feature, you know,
Speaker 1: on the Vikings platforms, what would you just hope that
Speaker 1: people would I guess take out of your story or
Speaker 1: this content series in general. Yeah, I think the biggest
Speaker 1: thing is just if if you're struggling at all, if
Speaker 1: there's things that um, you know, obviously ups and downs.
Speaker 1: Like I said, in life, there's you know, down times,
Speaker 1: and know that you're not alone. There's a ton of
Speaker 1: people UM ourselves included, friends, family members of ours who
Speaker 1: are going through similar things. And I think when when
Speaker 1: you keep those in you kind of you feel like
Speaker 1: you're alone. But when you're able to kind of communicate
Speaker 1: that maybe it's too a close friend, or maybe it's
Speaker 1: to a close family member, or maybe it's too a
Speaker 1: councilor UM. When you're able to communicate those things, you
Speaker 1: realize that you realize very quickly that you're not alone,
Speaker 1: and there's there's resources, there's things UM out there to
Speaker 1: help you. And I know that's been a big thing
Speaker 1: with our foundation as well, is is we have links
Speaker 1: and resources on our on our web page to those
Speaker 1: if they don't know where to start. So there's always
Speaker 1: that and I know there's a lot of different places
Speaker 1: and foundations that do the same, so again just being
Speaker 1: being okay with communicating that and you never know where
Speaker 1: they will take it. Well, thank you guys. I think
Speaker 1: that's all I have for you. And yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: definitely encourage people to check out faland foundation website and
Speaker 1: resources there because they know it's really helpful. So thank
Speaker 1: you so much. Thank you so much to Adam and
Speaker 1: Caitlin for being willing to share their heart and their
Speaker 1: passion around this very important topic. And now we're going
Speaker 1: to hear from doctor Jessica Ceci, who was a child
Speaker 1: psychiatrist and she's also the medical director of Child Psychology
Speaker 1: at m Health Fairview. Doctor Ceci is going to dive
Speaker 1: into a number of topics, including why youth mental health
Speaker 1: does tend to be an overlooked area of need, specific
Speaker 1: mental health challenges that are seen in youth, and also
Speaker 1: notable statistics around mental illness in children. Well, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us today. We met with Adam
Speaker 1: and Caitlin earlier and they were talking about how they've
Speaker 1: learned that mental health specifically, youth mental health is an
Speaker 1: area that tends to be kind of overlooked, an overlooked
Speaker 1: area of need. Why is that the case. I think
Speaker 1: there are a couple of reasons for that, one being
Speaker 1: that I think there's a lack of recognition about one
Speaker 1: mental health looks like in children and adolescence. So you know,
Speaker 1: an adult may be able to say I'm feeling anxious,
Speaker 1: whereas a child may say, you know, I have a
Speaker 1: tummy ache or my head hurts, and you may not
Speaker 1: immediately recognize that as a mental health condition. And I
Speaker 1: think the other piece, too, is kind of this enduring
Speaker 1: stigma that we see with mental health. So for a
Speaker 1: long time, you know, mental health has been viewed somewhat negatively,
Speaker 1: and I think that resources have not been devoted to
Speaker 1: youth mental health, and instead we see less funding promoting
Speaker 1: mental health research and promoting mental health treatment. And so
Speaker 1: I think for both of those reasons, we see that
Speaker 1: youth mental health is overlooked. Would you say that there
Speaker 1: are specific types of mental illnesses or emotional challenges that
Speaker 1: are seen in youth specifically, I think we see a
Speaker 1: lot of behavioral problems in younger kids, and we also
Speaker 1: see a lot of ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
Speaker 1: and then as kids get a little bit older, we
Speaker 1: tend to see a bit more anxiety and depression in
Speaker 1: children and adolescence. And I know this next question is
Speaker 1: something that probably fluctuates. I know there has been an
Speaker 1: increase over the years, but in your experience, what age
Speaker 1: range of children experience mental illness and potentially even suicidal
Speaker 1: thoughts or actions. Yeah, so mental health can impact people
Speaker 1: at any age, and in fact, we can start to
Speaker 1: diagnose mental health concerns as early as aged two, But
Speaker 1: I would say it's most common that we begin to
Speaker 1: see behavioral problems somewhere between the ages of six and eleven,
Speaker 1: and then as kids get a bit older, we see
Speaker 1: more anxiety and depression, and you're correct, we do sometimes
Speaker 1: see suicide thoughts and behaviors associated with some of those conditions.
Speaker 1: One question I had You had mentioned this stigma earlier,
Speaker 1: and of course there's such a societal stigma, and that
Speaker 1: makes sense with not as many resources and as much funding.
Speaker 1: Is this something that also occurs like with parents? I mean,
Speaker 1: would parents maybe not recognize or not pick up on
Speaker 1: maybe their child's emotional or mental difficulties kind of because
Speaker 1: of the stigma or is it more of an outside problem.
Speaker 1: I think that there's a lot of shame that's associated
Speaker 1: with mental health diagnosis, and I think sometimes the symptoms
Speaker 1: are not only hard to recognize, you know, so, like
Speaker 1: I mentioned, sometimes it's more physical symptoms that are presenting
Speaker 1: and so may not recognize it. But I also think that,
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes the symptoms can cause you know, us
Speaker 1: to act in ways that may feel uncomfortable to those
Speaker 1: around us, and so I think sometimes that does prevent people,
Speaker 1: including parents, from seeking out help when when kids need it.
Speaker 1: Part of what we've been talking about throughout this whole
Speaker 1: series is just the past twelve thirteen months of the
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic, even things like some of the racial
Speaker 1: injustices and tensions that have been kind of heightened throughout
Speaker 1: this past year as well. In your expertise and in
Speaker 1: your experience, how have you seen those types of things
Speaker 1: affect youth mental health over this past year. Yeah, this
Speaker 1: year has been challenging for so many reasons, and you know,
Speaker 1: you named it. We are going through this pandemic and
Speaker 1: then we have had this public health crisis of racism
Speaker 1: that is impacting many on a day to day basis,
Speaker 1: and I think in regard to the pandemic, we have
Speaker 1: had to follow infection prevention protocols to really stop the
Speaker 1: spread of the steadly virus, and it's changed the way
Speaker 1: that we interact with one another, and I think there
Speaker 1: have been some unintended benefits we've all had to slow
Speaker 1: down the pace of life of it, but it has
Speaker 1: led to loneliness and isolation in some and beyond that,
Speaker 1: I think that it's really put a lot of stress
Speaker 1: on parents and families just to have to juggle so
Speaker 1: many responsibilities with parenting, childcare, work, school, and all the
Speaker 1: while trying to care for themselves. And I think it
Speaker 1: has led to a lot of fatigue, compassion fatigue, truly,
Speaker 1: and I think that this is a form of trauma
Speaker 1: that we've all sort of collectively experienced, and we're going
Speaker 1: to need to receive emotional support in the months and
Speaker 1: years to come as a result of what we've all
Speaker 1: endured in the last year. Would you have advice for parents,
Speaker 1: especially of young children or in you know, outside of
Speaker 1: seeing a professional and things like that, but maybe just
Speaker 1: things within the home that they can do to help
Speaker 1: kind of combat this compassion fatigue and the loneliness that
Speaker 1: is going on as a as a result. I think,
Speaker 1: certainly it's important to be kind to yourself. I think
Speaker 1: that we're all doing our best right now and that
Speaker 1: sometimes you know that should be enough. And so I think, really,
Speaker 1: you know, taking time to care for oneself as a
Speaker 1: parent is really important. And then just simply connecting, you know,
Speaker 1: making time for conversation, making time for your kids to
Speaker 1: be able to talk about how they're doing, feeling sort
Speaker 1: of open to having those conversations, and then making sure
Speaker 1: that you know you're doing what you can to connect
Speaker 1: virtually or connect in safe ways. While we're still going
Speaker 1: through this pandemic, I think that social connection remains very vital.
Speaker 1: Are there any notable statistics around youth and mental illness
Speaker 1: that you could share with us? Yeah, so, I think
Speaker 1: around nine percent of kids are diagnosed sometime between the
Speaker 1: ages of two and seventeen with ADHD, Seven and a
Speaker 1: half percent of kids between those same ages are diagnosed
Speaker 1: with the behavioral concern, and then about seven percent of
Speaker 1: kids are diagnosed with anxiety, and we've seen in recent
Speaker 1: years that that percentage has increased by several points, and
Speaker 1: so I think we're seeing a rise in mental health concerns.
Speaker 1: We also note that there are some disparities in terms
Speaker 1: of kids receiving care, particularly aged and poverty level impact that,
Speaker 1: and so really one of the missions of healthcare views
Speaker 1: to kind of break down some of those barriers and
Speaker 1: improve access to care. And you have mentioned a couple
Speaker 1: of times that the kind of the warning signs for
Speaker 1: children might manifest differently than adults, or maybe they aren't
Speaker 1: able to articulate as much the ways that they're feeling
Speaker 1: are the difficulties that they're having. Are there warning signs
Speaker 1: that you mentioned like the physical like stomach aches and
Speaker 1: things like that. Are there any other warning signs that
Speaker 1: adults should be aware of for young people in their lives. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I think we tend to look at a lot
Speaker 1: of behaviors because kids aren't as likely to be able
Speaker 1: to communicate how they're feeling. So whereas an adult may
Speaker 1: say I'm feeling depressed or anxious, we might see more
Speaker 1: anger or irritability in kids who are experiencing depression and anxiety.
Speaker 1: We also want to take a look at, you know,
Speaker 1: are they attending school or is there missed school or
Speaker 1: avoidance of school, because that can indicate a mental health concern.
Speaker 1: Our grades dropping that can also be assigned as well
Speaker 1: as you know, are they isolating from their peers or
Speaker 1: have they changed friend groups, because that can also be
Speaker 1: an indication that they may be struggling with something. One
Speaker 1: of the cool things about this series has been We've
Speaker 1: featured a lot of different stories from a lot of
Speaker 1: different people, but some of those stories have been, you know,
Speaker 1: from these professional football players who are talking about the
Speaker 1: anxiety or maybe the depression that they've experienced and sort
Speaker 1: of what that looked like for them and how they
Speaker 1: worked through that. When there are young children maybe hearing
Speaker 1: these stories, or even children and their teens, you know,
Speaker 1: seeing these types of testimonies, how do you think that
Speaker 1: can make an impact with athletes using their platform this way? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, when we see someone that we know or
Speaker 1: recognize who is talking about mental health concerns, it normalizes
Speaker 1: that experience for us. It makes it okay for us
Speaker 1: to talk about and it makes it okay for us
Speaker 1: to seek treatment. And there's a statistic that is out
Speaker 1: there that states that seventy five percent of teenagers who
Speaker 1: are looking for information on depression online are really truly
Speaker 1: looking for someone to talk about their personal account or
Speaker 1: story around depression. And so when we see an athlete
Speaker 1: who is unbreakable in our eyes, really being vulnerable and
Speaker 1: talking about their experience with mental health or creating awareness
Speaker 1: around mental health, that really normalizes it and makes it
Speaker 1: okay for us to have that experience and to seek help. Obviously,
Speaker 1: part of this story is about Adam and Caitlin feeling
Speaker 1: there and foundation in their connection with um Masonic Children's Hospital.
Speaker 1: I thought it was really cool just hearing their heart
Speaker 1: about how they kind of looked for a higher area
Speaker 1: of need and wanted to make an impact around youth
Speaker 1: mental health. Can you just talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: the hospital's relationship with the Feelings and how that's benefited
Speaker 1: you know, so many patients. Yeah, their support to mental
Speaker 1: health has been really incredible. I think m Health fare
Speaker 1: View is very grateful for all that they have done.
Speaker 1: They've put a lot of money towards mental health efforts,
Speaker 1: and not only that, but they have spent a lot
Speaker 1: of time with patients and families visiting them in the hospital,
Speaker 1: and the pandemic has not stopped them. They've continued with
Speaker 1: virtual visits and that's something that means a lot to
Speaker 1: our patients and families. They've also donated branded notebooks and
Speaker 1: yoga mats, which has served as an excellent coping tool
Speaker 1: for many of our patients. And I think this whole
Speaker 1: idea of breaking down stigma they are doing so well
Speaker 1: just by featuring segments on their social media around mental
Speaker 1: health and at times bringing in experts, so we could
Speaker 1: not be more grateful for their supports. The Vikings have
Speaker 1: had such a long standing relationship with MASA and Children's
Speaker 1: Hospital as well. How significant is it to sort of
Speaker 1: have that recognized, long standing relationship between those two organizations
Speaker 1: in the Twin Cities. I think it means a lot.
Speaker 1: It's all about kind of reducing that stigma, making it
Speaker 1: okay for us to talk about mental health, making it
Speaker 1: okay to seek help. I think that partnership really is
Speaker 1: just kind of breaking down barriers. Lastly, doctor Cec, I
Speaker 1: know there's going to be a lot of different people
Speaker 1: maybe reading this story or listening to this interview if
Speaker 1: they are interested in maybe helping or supporting in some
Speaker 1: way after hearing this area of need. Is there a
Speaker 1: way that just, you know, the general public can help
Speaker 1: support this area. Yeah, I think that we can all
Speaker 1: do our part by educating ourselves on mental health concerns
Speaker 1: and creating awareness around it. I think we can challenge
Speaker 1: stigma wherever we see it and really, you know, try
Speaker 1: to model that it is okay for us to take
Speaker 1: care of ourselves when we're struggling. I think NAMI also
Speaker 1: does a lot of excellent work with tips around reducing stigma,
Speaker 1: you know, really being conscious of the words that we choose,
Speaker 1: showing compassion and choosing empowerment over shame. I think that's
Speaker 1: another really wonderful way to get involved in reducing stigma
Speaker 1: in mental health. Well, thank you so much. I know
Speaker 1: that I've learned even more today and I really just
Speaker 1: appreciate you helping us shed light on kind of a
Speaker 1: different area of mental health and how we can help.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for your time. Yeah, thank
Speaker 1: you again. A sincere thank you to Adam and Caitlin
Speaker 1: and doctor Cecy for sharing their thoughts and expertise around
Speaker 1: this area. I know that it was a really interesting
Speaker 1: conversation for myself and I think it will be helpful
Speaker 1: for a lot of us moving forward. And thank you
Speaker 1: all for tuning in to another episode of our Getting
Speaker 1: Open series, and I just want to encourage you to
Speaker 1: keep an eye on all Vikings digital platforms in the
Speaker 1: coming weeks for additional features that will be coming your way.