New YouTube series provides creative outlet for Portuguese-speaking teens and families to cope with mental health issues

A new Portuguese-spoken YouTube animated series aims to help teenagers cope with suicide, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

Created by The Cook Center for Human Connection, a Utah-based non-profit dedicated to eradicating suicide and advocating for mental health and wellness, the series is available in English as “My Life is Worth Living” and in Portuguese as “Minha Vida Vale a Pena.”

Its creators hope the collection of stories told over 20 episodes can break down the stigma of talking about mental health needs and thoughts of suicide, especially at a time when U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has declared youth mental health an “urgent national public health crisis.”

The series gains relevance as youth in immigrant households, who face language and technology barriers to accessing health care services and education, have been identified in the recently-released U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory as one of the groups who is at higher risk of mental health challenges during the pandemic.

“To reach teens and their support systems where they are, it was a priority for us to have the My Life is Worth Living episodes available in multiple languages and freely accessible on YouTube,” said Anne Brown, CEO of The Cook Center for Human Connection, in a prepared statement. “Our goal is to provide meaningful, research-based resources to empower teens, parents, and educators to start conversations about mental health that can ultimately save a life.”

According to “Protecting Youth Mental Health, the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory,” recent national surveys of youth have shown major increases in certain mental health symptoms, including depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. 

“Since the pandemic began, rates of psychological distress among young people, including symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders have increased,” reads the advisory. “Recent research covering 80,000 youth globally found that depressive and anxiety symptoms doubled during the pandemic, with 25% of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20% experiencing anxiety symptoms.”

The report goes on to state that “in early 2021 emergency department visits in the United States for suspected suicide attempts were 51% higher for adolescent girls and 4% higher for adolescent boys compared to the same time period in early 2019.”

Problems with teen mental health are not new. Data has shown an uptick in teen mental issues for more than a decade.

“From 2009 to 2019, the proportion of high school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40%; the share seriously considering attempting suicide increased by 36%; and the share creating a suicide plan increased by 44%,” according to the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory. “Early estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics suggest there were tragically more than 6,600 deaths by suicide among the 10-24 age group in 2020.”

“Kids and adolescents are going through a lot,” said psychiatric epidemiologist Karestan Koenen, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston in a prepared statement. 

“The biggest risk is any kind of prior mental health problem,” including preexisting anxiety, depression or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, she said.

The Cook Center for Human Connection’s animated series seeks to empower youth and their families to recognize, manage, and learn from difficult emotions and situations. 

Developed with guidance from former President of the American Association of Suicidology Dr. James Mazza and a team of doctors and experts on adolescent mental health, the series features relatable youth characters facing issues familiar to many teens: trauma, depression, fear of social rejection, sexual identity/orientation, sexual abuse, cyberbullying and substance abuse.

Being described as the first animated series about teen mental health and suicide prevention, each episode models positive research-based mental wellness skills for grades 7-12. To learn more about the series, visit www.mylifeisworthliving.org.

All episodes are available free of charge on YouTube. To access the Portuguese language episodes, click here. The series is also available in Spanish, Japanese, and Mandarin.

Dr. Carlos Pavão, a Clinical Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University, said the new series seems to be grounded in philanthropy and community action/education.

“The videos allow for an opportunity to start a conversation about a topic that is often hard for people to think about or even think through some of the issues (stigma, shame, and denial) related to suicide,” said Dr. Pavão, who started his public health career in Fall River in the early 1990s and is currently working on a book exploring health disparities experienced by Portuguese-speaking populations in the United States.

“These videos support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s strategic goal of taking ‘research findings into real world suicide prevention solutions,’” he added. 

A native of Povoação, São Miguel, Azores, who arrived in the United States at age 7, Dr. Pavão is currently putting the final touches on an academic article to be published this year about Portuguese-American mental health. 

In his view, more mental health information and awareness for Portuguese-speaking communities (Portuguese, Brazilian, Cape Verdean) about suicide prevention is needed.

“Culturally speaking, this is a topic that receives very little attention in our communities,” he said. “There are no studies that explore suicide prevention or awareness on suicide ideation. Most of the studies combine mental health with substance abuse issues.”

It’s a problem that not only affects teenagers but all age groups.

“Most of the studies are generic and do not explore mental health through the lens of cultural awareness,” he said. “In my opinion, we need more mental health awareness about anxiety, suicide ideation, bipolar, depression, postpartum depression, etc.”

While public health professionals have done a decent job raising awareness about physical health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure and promoting healthy lifestyles such as curbing smoking rates and benefits of adequate exercise and diet, mental health has lagged behind. 

“While we have a lot more to do in these areas mentioned, at least we have started the conversation and awareness,” he said. “With suicide prevention and awareness, this has been a challenge. We need to keep in mind our health is just not about a healthy body. If your mental wellbeing is not addressed, then that could impact all other areas of your life.”