PART 1: Breakthroughs in Youth Mental Health Care with Dr. Susan Swick

Today I sit down for a two-part episode with Dr. Susan Swick. Dr. Swick, a psychiatrist specializing in child and adolescent health, first shares her personal connection to mental illness through her mother's late-onset psychotic illness. For Dr. Swick, getting her mother good care shaped her approach to youth mental health and her development of programs at the Ohana Center in Monterey, California. Dr. Swick highlights how mental illnesses are very common in children, and they are always treatable, and most often preventable. Psychiatric illnesses affect 20-25% of children before age 18, and are twice as common as asthma. Unfortunately, anxiety and mood disorders have increased by 50% among 12-24 year-olds in recent decades and Ohana’s mission is to bend the curve and decrease mental illness in youth.Mental illnesses are diseases of youth, with 50% of lifetime mental illnesses emerging by age 15, and 75% by age 25. Ohana's innovative approach includes family-centered therapy and building mental fitness--which works like a psychological immune system--helping youth manage adversity. Interestingly, 50% of children with pre-pubertal depression may develop bipolar disorder. Structured sleep, regular biorhythms can even protect against manic episodes.Stay tuned for Part 2.Ohana Montage HealthOhana Parent EducationOhana Crisis ResourcesPlease like us and rate us and leave us a review wherever you find your podcasts, especially on Apple Podcasts. Find us online at BipolarShe.com or at BipolarShePod on Instagram.Support the showHelp Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping....