Through the personal stories of three young people, this compelling documentary…
Fighting Their Fears: Child and Youth Anxiety
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Anxiety motivates us to get things done, but for some people, anxiety is not a driver. For many children, anxiety disrupts everyday life, interfering with their ability to make friends or go to school.Through interviews with experts and three young people, this compelling documentary outlines the causes, symptoms and treatments for anxiety disorders and emphasizes the importance of early identification and intervention. In all of these stories there is hope.
Citation
Main credits
Bartlett, Sharon (film producer)
LeRose, Maria (film producer)
LeRose, Maria (narrator)
Wood, Melanie (film director)
Slinger, Helen (screenwriter)
Other credits
Camera, Max Lindenthaler [and 3 others]; editor, Tim Wanlin; original music, Lesley Sutherland, Fresh Air Studio.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
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Funding for this program is provided
by the Mental Health Evaluation
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and Community Consultation
unit of UBC through a grant
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by the Ministry of Children and Family Development as part
of the Provincial Child and Youth Mental Health plan.
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I kind of new that I had anxiety
because I knew somebody on
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my brother soccer team his brother had anxiety
and I kind of like related myself to him.
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I thought I was dying of course and apparently
that those are called anxiety attacks
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as much as I want to deny it but yeah I
was having a lot of those. Just in that
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amount of time just 30 seconds seems
like nothing. You are just happy
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now you just feel like
strangling yourself to death.
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Jason, Alana and Marley live
with anxiety disorders.
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Attacked from within by their own thoughts.
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Their disorders affect their
behavior, their emotional stability
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and can eve make them physically sick.
Each day is a struggle,
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fighting their fears.
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There has been a myth that anxiety is just a stress problem
that someone if these kids would just learn to relax
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that everything would take care of itself.
But we actually know that for these kids
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it is more than that day-to-day anxiety or stress
that we all face. This is a real health problem
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with significant symptoms that really
do impact their day-to-day living.
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The symptoms fall into four basic groups,
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unwanted or disturbing
mental images and beliefs,
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high levels of emotions around the
anxiety and fear usually lot of tears.
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Stomach ache, rapid heart
beat, difficulty in breathing
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and behavioral problems almost
always including avoidance.
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Anxiety disorders come
in different packages
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and kids can be plagued by multiple
disorders, phobias, panic attacks,
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, generalized anxiety,
social anxiety, post dramatic stress disorder
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and separation anxiety. One in ten kids
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are coping with at least one anxiety disorder.
(inaudible) we are talking about 70,000 kids
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in families as we speak are currently
suffering. So they are big numbers.
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For younger children one of the most common ones
is separation anxiety. They are extremely anxious
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about being away from their parents.
All children are to some degree
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but these children are paralyzed.
The child who is in March
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is still feeling that their parent can’t leave
them at school. So it’s gone on way too long
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and it’s usually way too intense.
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I didn’t like being
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away from my mom like when I was in kindergarten I
would try every day till like the end of kindergarten
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almost like still like the end of kindergarten I
would cry everyday because my mom was leaving me.
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Are you talking when the teacher talking or if you are
yelling at someone you are saying. Okay like self control.
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Yeah. Seeing 11 year old Marley at
the dinner table with her family
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you would never guess that she suffers
from a high level of anxiety.
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As a small child Marley watched
her brother two years older,
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start school with no problems.
But when it came Marley’s turn.
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Everyday she would open up her eyes in the morning,
I would wake her up say Marley time to get up,
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she would open her eyes and say is it school
day and I would say yeah and she start crying
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like not even out of bed it was awful.
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They would want me to just leave her with the child care
worker, say goodbye and go. And so I did that every day.
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It was awful. I don’t know
who had more anxiety.
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But I wouldn’t cry or I wouldn’t be upset in front
of her. I just kind of until I got out of the track.
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What’s hard about it is that anxiety is (inaudible)
so we are asking a child to go to school
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who instinctively feels that if they go to school
it’s the end of the world. So we are asking
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to overcome that instinct. Because they feel
it’s instinctively dangerous to having tantrums,
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they are threatening to run away, they are threatening to jump
off the roof if you make me go to school imagine a parent
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facing that situation on a daily basis
at home and having to still perceived
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and say you need to go, it needs to happen.
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These are very difficult challenges.
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You see her stuck on the floor of
the bedroom for a long… long time
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because she is afraid of (inaudible). but
she said well I said the Tony I don’t care
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if she sleeps on the floor until she is 15 or
she is on the floor she can come in and sleep.
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Around age ten Marley’s early
separation anxiety shifted
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showing up more as social anxiety.
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The older child gets the more we start to look at there are
other things probably also interfering with separating
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and that starts to look a bit
more like social anxiety disorder
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which is the fear of being scrutinized in front of your friends.
If when people are looking at me and if I am going to do well
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and what kind of grade I am going to get and
like I mess up or like if my anxiety is going
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to affect me and then I am going
to do something bad or something.
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Marley’s list of worries grew long.
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Very long. Like when I am in front of crowd
or I am in front of like older people
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or if a test is coming up
or if I am doing a speech
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or things where I am around people.
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She worried about if her friends would like her they thought she
was stupid, if they thought she was smarter than her friends
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or she is dumber than her friends, is she wearing
the right thing, is she holding her arm right,
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does she walk funny does her shoes
look funny, it’s just was everything.
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I used to like cry and tell her everything that
happened today and why I was worried about.
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She is worried about a lot of
everything but just too much,
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volume was way too high. She just couldn’t turn
it down. She couldn’t – she worried about things
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that everybody worries about but too much.
She didn’t know when to shut it off.
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It became apparent that Marley
would need outside help
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to turn down the volume on her
increasingly unbearable anxieties.
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That was about for a night at seven
she could be crying at night
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and couldn’t get to sleep.
Then she goes to bed,
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8:30, 9 o’clock and then she is
thinking about this going on
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and on till like three, four in the
morning. She can’t get to sleep.
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She just can’t shut it off. I said to her
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one night she was crying and
this is after about well weeks
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and week of crying a lot at night
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and I said to her what can I do to help.
And she said
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I need to go to a doctor. I said I
think I had a little bit of anxiety
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and I asked her if I can get like help or
because the person that we knew he had pills
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but I guess like it was really bad and I
was kind of scared because I didn’t want
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it to be too bad but I was kind of scared
that I had anxiety but then I wanted to know
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if I had it or not so I could help it.
This small.
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Yeah that’s good. They began the search
for help with their family doctor
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who referred Marley for an assessment
at BC children’s hospital.
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When I said to her okay we got an appointment for the doctor
and then after that we had an appointment for assessment
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and then we have an appointment for registered
psychologist it was once we had a plan in place
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that she was going to get help. Confident.
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Then she thought okay I am going
to be okay. And determined Marley
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did some serious homework preparing for her first
appointment with doctor Garland. A couple of days before
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I wrote down everything that I was worried about.
It was like whole page and she is like wow
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and she started reading all of it and she is like wow
this is a lot of stuff. And she just read it over
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and said why you are worried about this and what
happens when you are worried and so she said
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that was anxiety.
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She said Marley she is very
good at knowing herself
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and she is very motivated and so
she said that she will probably
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do well with just learning the strategies although there
was recommendations for medications if she needed it
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but we are going this way.
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An important thing about anxiety is to recognize
that it tends to be chronic which means
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that you need coping skills for the long
term. If we give someone a medication
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we may reduce symptoms but they don’t
necessarily develop the coping skills.
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So what we would suggest is the first
approach be to focus on the coping skills,
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the cognitive strategies, the behavioral
strategies and then if medication is needed
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it’s added as a tool rather than being
a primary treatment. Dr. Jane Garland
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and Sandra Clark have developed a
cognitive behavior therapy program.
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Their Taming Worry Dragons
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booklets available to parents,
teachers and therapist define problems
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or worries as dragons giving
form to their anxieties
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helps mobilization children, giving
them something visible to tackle.
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Virtually all anxiety disorders
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the one clear evidence based treatment is cognitive
behavior therapy. Cognitive behavior therapy refers
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to a set of approaches that include
changing your thinking style
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and changing your behaviors. It usually includes
being exposed to something you are anxious about
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like it’s going to school and learning some
skills to calm yourself in that situation
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and build confidence so that may include
self talk, and physical relaxation skills.
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Most children we have anxiety
are talented warriors.
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So we re-frame the anxiety problem as being
actually accretive talent for worrying
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which engages the children. The
second problem they have is they have
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an over sensitive body alarm system so when
they do start to worry the body alarm goes up.
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A big part of the program is simply
teaching people so they begin to see
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the anxiety symptoms and their physical symptoms
as not so scary but something that makes sense.
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Now that I am like seeing someone and I know
that I have anxiety and I am controlling it
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then I feel better about it. Marley
now has a two bag of strategy
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she uses to manager her anxieties.
This is a tape that she made me
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and it’s relaxing. She made me draw picture
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and it’s just like what the
dragon looks like in my head.
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This is before I go to school. If my stomach
is achy or if I don’t feel well in the morning
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I just do these, just take deep breath and
stuff like that. And this is called Daisy
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and it’s just solving the problems like if you
have a problem and you don’t know how to fix it
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I will use this and then it will kind of calm me down. So
because I know it’s under control and I know how to do it.
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And this is the worry taming book.
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I write things in it and then it gets my like all
the stuff in my mind out onto like… like a paper
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so it feels like I am telling
somebody about something.
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Marley also continues to see her registered
clinical psychologist who guides her
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through cognitive behavior strategies.
She no longer feels powerless.
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As Marley learn to cope with her anxiety
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she was able to tell friends about her
disorder. A big change from the early days
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of hiding her pain. What if you told
you friends about your anxiety.
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Well I told them like what happened
and like what it makes me feel like
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and like what like what they can
do and like what like what I do
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when it happens and stuff like that.
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Well kind of I knew because like she always had stomach aches
all the time when she had slept over or she played with me
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and stuff and then I found out
that she was going to the hospital
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to because of her anxiety.
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Well I think it kind of helped us to know just so that we don’t like
say anything that would make her more worried or anything. So yeah.
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Did it make you like her less? No. No. Good.
It doesn’t change your friendship really?
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No.
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Recently Marley faced a big test of her
coping strategies. Her favorite teacher
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went on maternity leave and the
anticipation of this unwelcome change
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began taking on huge dragon proportions
but Marley was able to talk to her mom
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and therapist and put a plan in
place that would tame that dragon.
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When we went to the school base
meeting and everybody was receptive
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and they were like and she was at this meeting too and
they were like well what can we do to help you Marley.
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The teacher -students had
no idea Marley had anxiety.
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She – she is a leader, you know, the
thing, well she was like leader
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of the group more or less. You know. It’s been
amazing really however things fell into place.
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Very, very lucky. Very lucky.
Starting with from my family doctor
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to Dr. Garland to Dr. Roathan, to the
school being so receptive and open.
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Good night baby. Night mom.
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Love you. Love you. Good.
And when I go to Dr. Rosy
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she gives me things that I do like at night
so I fall asleep and I am not worrying.
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And just focus all your attention
on your body now Marley. Starting.
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Cognitive behavior therapy
works for anxious kids.
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[sil.]
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And even better studies have shown
that we can actually inoculate kids
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against developing in anxiety disorder
through awareness and education.
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All children should be taught early how to
manage anxiety because from time to time
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all children will feel anxious. That’s the key to
prevention is letting children have these skills
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and be able to practice them over and over and see them
as something that all children will need in the future.
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These kids are working
through the friends program
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at ten session curriculum aimed at grave four,
five level which targets symptoms of anxiety
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and teaches children to calm down when
they are worried. I think it’s really cool
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that we get to learn how to do the breathing
exercises and stuff. Sometimes we have a situation
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that we should be able to self to do it
fast, really fast. It helps cope with self.
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British Columbia’s Ministry of Children and
Family Development makes the friends program
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available to all BC schools as a
prevention tool. And actually today
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and next lesson we will be looking at problem solving. And how
to actually take problem something that you are worried about,
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concerned about and make
a plan of the action.
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This is your problem. Get the balloon from
one side of the room to the other side
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as fast as possible without touching
the balloon with your hands and feet.
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Just stop and think about for a second.
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It opens up the dialog
and it provides the kids
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sort of a format which they need in a structure
and sort of the language they need to communicate
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
their worries or anxieties.
It helps us calm down
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
and like (inaudible) worry. Helps to
cope with the problems and (inaudible)
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and it helps us relax. If you do
something beside worrying about it
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then you kind of forget about your worries.
These kids are
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becoming aware of the mechanics of thinking
one element of cognitive behavior education.
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
Creating an awareness, a
cognition about worry
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
and about what worry does to one’s body. The other day
I came in one of the kids had – something happened
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
and I said well how did you feel. I thought oh my
gosh, you know, like usually you wouldn’t say that.
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On your mark. Get, set, go.
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
Because anxiety symptoms are so common we think
that as many children possible should be equipped
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
with coping skills to manage anxiety.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
The other thing that is important however
is picking up children who are not coping
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for early intervention. One of the most important
reasons that children need to get treatment
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
if they have an anxiety disorder is you know if they don’t get
treated they do seem to worsen and become chronic every time.
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
[music]
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
In grade four I was very sick.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
When I go to school I will
come home, I would throw up
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and I would be okay and then it was
just continue. I (inaudible) went home
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at least once a week.
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
Alana is now 15 and has
generalized anxiety disorder.
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When condition is at her worst, there
is little time left for normal life.
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
Generalized anxiety is generalized just like
the title says to lots of different areas.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
So not only are they worried about social situations
but these children are worried about their pets.
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
They are worried about their homework. They are worried about looking just right.
They are worried about mom going away. They are worried about dad’s business.
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
They might be worried about the family’s finances.
So it’s on every dimension the child’s life.
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She would cry. She would burst in
tears if an ambulance went by.
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
She was starting to have a
lot of concerns about debt.
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
We just thought that it was a phase that was
going to go through. I was always so afraid
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
that one of my family members was going to die,
all the time I wouldn’t let them out of my sight.
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
I remember my dad was supposed
to go on golfing trip
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
that I mentioned and I would like wouldn’t
let him. I seriously wouldn’t let him
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
unless I went with him. And so
it didn’t end up happening.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
I was convinced that something
bad was going to happen.
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
Anxiety disorders are truly a puzzle.
They are not caused by any one thing
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
but rather by a number of pieces coming
together in a complex interaction
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
of the child’s temperament,
genetics, and environment.
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
We know what anxiety disorder that they run
in families. There is a strong genetic risk
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
that runs in family in a number of studies
particularly sfor panic disorder.
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
Some of the other disorders it’s not so clear that it’s a
true genetic risk. It may be partly a (inaudible) risk
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
in other words learned
and pattern behaviors.
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
As a parent you are always concerned that you have
done something wrong in her early life that has caused
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
all these anxiety attacks.
Kelly Anderson can empathize
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
with a Alana’s dad. Kelly often
felt lamed when seeking help
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
for her own anxious son. She fought
back by founding force a training
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
and support group for parents of
children with mental health problems.
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
These are tough kids to parent and thus so you
have parenting problems because they are so tough
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
and that’s our – our belief
but I think the medical field
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
has kind of gone down the road that these kids
have become problem because of our parenting
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
and we are saying it’s chicken egg you know. So that’s
something that we are hoping through time that the stigma
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
because there is enough stigma on mental health. We don’t need
to also add to that the stigma around how we parent them.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
Kelly’s model when parents know better
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
they can do better through
force she make sure parents
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
get the knowledge they need. In order
for our kids to really succeed
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
we need to have people who
are involved in their life
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
to all have the same training and
parents without that training
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
they can’t be assisting that
child to sustain that skill
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
that they are going to need the rest of their
life and they have to get the training.
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
After years of struggling on their own at age
10 Alana and her parents finally agreed.
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
They needed help. They turned
to government services.
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
It’s an avenue open to
any concerned parents.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
Just go to the phone book’s blue pages, find the
BC government section and look for children
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
and family development. Under there, find
Child and Youth Mental Health in your area.
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
For Alana this connection
sparked a profound
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
and happy change. Her counselor Tammy Smith
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
was teaching her to try not to
let persistence thoughts remain
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
to rewrite the endings of her dreams.
They called it taming the worry dragon
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
and it was really helpful and she was
able to give me some information
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
about what I would do to help.
She was the biggest impact
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
on my life out of a lot. She
was one of the biggest.
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
She was just so great and she could like if
I didn’t know how to describe the feelings
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
she would describe the feelings and I would be
like yeah that’s exactly how I feel at the things.
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
Tammy has left the mental health team in
Alana’s area but she will never be forgotten.
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
Tammy. The family dog is named after her.
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
Most children in adolescence with an
anxiety disorder you would never know.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
They are very socially adapt. They by and
large are popular with the other children.
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
They have at least average if not above average
intelligence. And the symptoms that they suffer from
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
are all internal. We call it
an internalizing disorder.
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
Over the years Alana has been
misdiagnosed several times.
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
We often have been told that she is an attention
deficit. We have been told that she is oppostional
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
that she has problems
with people in authority,
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
that she is hyper. OCD
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
anybody who is suffering from anxiety
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
is going to exhibit symptoms of
those other kinds of disorders.
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
Alana’s academic highs and
lows added to the confusion
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
around her diagnosis. In grade three she
was on the gifted list. In grade four,
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
she performed poorly. One
year she couldn’t do math.
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
Another she was the top math student in her
class. Her mom had a learning assessment done.
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
No problems with Alana’s ability.
The problem is anxiety
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
making it impossible for
Alana to focus on much else.
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
In her early teens and
already anxious Alana
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
came face to face with her worst fear.
Remember that much of her early anxiety
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
was about something terrible
happening to one of her family.
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
When Alana was 13 her brother
Chris died from a brain tumor.
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
He was one of my best friends for sure.
I was holding his hand
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
when he quiet breathing. When I came home,
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
I was lying here in bed and I woke up
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
and I just couldn’t move like I couldn’t breath, I
couldn’t move, I had tears streaming down my face.
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
I just – I was in his bedroom actually.
And I just realized
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
it’s going to be okay and it was the most incredible
feeling I have ever experienced in my whole life.
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
I just suddenly quiet crying and
didn’t cry until his funeral
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
which is (inaudible).
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
At the time Alana grieved her brother’s death
appropriately but it added to her burden of worries.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
A year after Chris’s death
Alana hit another bad patch
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
just as she was entering high school.
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
Her mother tried to head off trouble by getting
a job at Alana’s school. Alana was coming to me
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
at school saying I don’t know what’s
wrong with me. I am shaking. I am not.
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
I am sweaty. I am sick. By
now Alana was also showing
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
signs of depression. Experts
think that anxiety improperly
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
or untreated often leads to depression.
I wrote.
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
I hate my life. If you consider this
living you are better off dead.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
Nobody will surely understand how much I missed
Chris. Parents fight, both they are angry on me.
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
I just got out of a nine
month relationship.
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
The only thing keeping me alive was my
friends. Nobody else understands me.
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
I know a lot of people that felt that but
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
it was just so high and it was
just so hard to deal with.
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
While they waited for a
psychiatrist’s appointment,
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
Alana’s doctor prescribed Celexa a drug in the most
common medication group used for anxiety and depression.
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
SSRis. These drugs adjust the functioning
of the Serotonin system in the brain.
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
But the drug didn’t seem
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
to work for Alana. Alana was
trying to harm herself in school.
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
She was trying to harm herself at home.
She was wanted to be dead.
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
She was scared, very… very scared.
She was cutting herself.
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
Wanted to go to into the hospital
where she would be safe.
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
This was after she had begun medication.
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
Then Jane read newspaper for
articles about a possible link
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
between SSRis and suicidal
attempts in children.
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
But Alana was now seeing a psychiatrist who believed
that he could find the right chemical solution for her.
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
He had her on Celexa increase the
dosage to something that I found to be
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
really large amount but
added Remeron to that,
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
said that she was attention deficit. Why
don’t you put her on medication for that.
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
I think it added up to be four pills,
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
two anti-depression, a
sleeping pill and an ADD pill.
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
He put me on ADD because he thought
I had attention deficit disorder
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
but really I was just too stressed out to be
thinking about school work kind of thing,
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
like not concentrating in classes.
The medications did not
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
make me feel better. Now they
actually made me way worse
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
because I wasn’t suicidal
and so I went on them.
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
In Canada none of the medications
for treatment of anxiety
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
have been officially approved for children.
Doctors prescribe them at their own discretion.
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
And in June 2004 health Canada
issued a warning about SSRI.
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
[music]
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
Some children are helped by medication.
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
But finding the right drug for a
child can be extremely difficult.
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
Children are more sensitive to some of
the side effects of these medications.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
The most common one is getting
agitated or hyper active
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
or dis-inhibited and a number of the studies
would suggest that up to a quarter of children
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
put on these the SSRis will
get fagity overactive,
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
dis-inhibited, agitated.
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
One night I was home alone
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
nothing even happened to me that day. I
just felt that it was time to end my life
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
because of feelings that have been going
and on and they just keep on adding up.
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
So I took nine pain killers.
It was clear cry for help.
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
Alana had friends coming over that evening.
Friends who immediately called her parents.
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
My parents came home and
they forced me into the car
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
and brought me to the hospital.
And they didn’t know
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
if the pain killers were going to harm me or
not and I was crying and kicking and screaming
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
and I was just a total mess. That night in
hospital Alana picked up another survival tool
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
and on called doctor taught a
key cognitive behavior strategy
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
changing negative self talk. It was
the right advice at the right time.
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
He told me to write down five good
things that happened to you that day.
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
And I did it for about two months
and after two months of doing that
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
I suddenly just felt better. And I
did no more self harm or anything
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
and I still do it to keep my spirits up.
So that’s
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
my biggest coping method right there.
Five good things every single day.
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
After the suicidal attempt resolving
medication issues became critical.
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
The unwillingness to consider that
medication just might be making Alana worse,
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
coupled with Alana’s reports that she couldn’t
talk to her therapist meant it was time to look
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
for a new psychiatrist. I have sit
there in the waiting room actually
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
and she would come out with another
prescription. I really don’t feel that
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
what was the best situation. So I asked for
second opinion through the Ministry of children
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
and youth through Tammy and
she arranged for Alana
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
to see another psychiatrist who was
coming out from the lower main land
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
and that psychiatrist suggested
that we started taking Alana all
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
of the medication.
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
I like that. Her new doctor carefully
supervised Alana’s gradual withdrawal
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
from medication. Since it’s
dangerous to stop cold turkey.
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
He slowly decreased it. And so now
I am completely off of my meds.
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
And how do you feel? Awf… awesome.
Awesome. I feel awesome.
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
I do. I really do.
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
Alana needs support to stay feeling
awesome. She still works with the Child
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
and Youth Mental Health team and
with a counselor at her high school.
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
She has been lucky that the most effective treatment
for anxiety disorder cognitive behavior therapy
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
is radically accessible in her part of
British Columbia. Parents should ask
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
whether the therapist has some knowledge and
experience with cognitive behavior therapy.
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
They should be asking for that set of skills when
they are looking for help with anxious children.
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
Through the Ministry of Children Family Development
which oversees the children’s mental health system
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
all of the child and family therapist in
this province will be specifically trained
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
in cognitive behavior therapy over the next
year. Many of them have already been trained.
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
Hi girls. Hi. One of the cognitive
behavior therapy programs
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
Alana uses is called ACE,
Adolescents Coping with Emotions.
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
The Child and Youth Mental Health team and all
of her brought the program from Australia
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
in partnership with (inaudible) secondary
counselor (inaudible) they set up the program
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
to help at risk teens learn
positive thinking styles.
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
Last time we talked about how we end up the
certain feelings sometimes good, not good. Okay.
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
We are going to make sure that we sort
of understand how our thoughts affect
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
how we interpret that event.
Wow look at that.
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
Alana’s get real thinking presentation is a
good indication of just how far she has come
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
aware now of her feelings and how they
affect her. Came for, what is another way
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
to look at this situation and….
Well last semester
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
I was screwed up like my life
was pretty messed up back then
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
and I wasn’t doing well in that and I
was very upset by it. And I decided
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
I can do better than that
and so I went in math again
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
and right now I have a
B and just a week ago
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
I got 100% in my math test. So that was
pretty cool. And so yeah (inaudible)
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
with that you know, if you do try
and get well that you can do
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
what you never thought was possible. As
many of you know Chris was an inspiration
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
to the student body at secondary
school as well as – Today Alana’s dad
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
presents a memorial anniversary in her brother’s
name. It’s an emotional time for the family.
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
Alana monitors herself carefully
using her get real thinking
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
and she has friends close by.
If there was a problem
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
I just take my problem solving
cheats from that I got from ACE,
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
yeah I just deal with it. I just
cope and I have coping methods that
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
I can try out for the different problems.
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
I couldn’t go on without those
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
you know therapy skills. Alana is aware
that anxious youth often face anxiety
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
at other times in their lives but
now she knows how to manage it.
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
I don’t know if I be a denial kind of thing but I am hoping
yeah alright guys. I am hoping that I will recognize.
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
I will try my hardest to tell myself that
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
oh I am having anxiety attack.
Alana’s name the problem
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
learn behavior modification techniques
and made basic lifestyle changes.
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
When it comes to anxiety we know quite
a number of things will improve
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
anxiety symptoms getting more
exercise helps. Eating regularly.
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
If you are not eating. Your blood sugar is low. You have
extra adrenal and you are going to feel more anxious.
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
Getting enough sleep.
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
The brain is very complex and anxiety
is a very – is a fundamental instinct.
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
So it involves very complex
web of brain systems.
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
Many different chemicals systems, some of the most primitive
areas of the brain and some of the most advanced areas
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
of the brain and how they interact.
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
I get the good anxious
when I get the go do stuff
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
but that leads into the bad anxious
because right away it’s a mental trigger.
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
Every time I know that comes
it’s like I am my OCD days
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
oh you are not going to have fun. You are not
going to do it. I am not going to let you.
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
21 year old Jason has an anxiety
disorder commonly called OCD,
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD
can be anything from mild to severe
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
and in Jason the condition is
almost completely debilitating.
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
The day we went to meet him he was
stuck in bed paralyzed by his anxiety
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
but Jason had anticipated this
probability and was prepared.
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
Well I slept in my clothes because I knew
you guys were coming. And I wasn’t sure
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
if I can be up on time and I didn’t want you
guys to just come in and see me in my boxers
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
because you guys have to pay to see that.
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
No. No. and no because…
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
because you might just only see me
for my body and not who I – no,
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
no I don’t but I like – But when
we asked why he was still in bed,
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
the natural comedian in Jason was silent.
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
HM, well because of images
again it was around oneish
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
and it was just money in there
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
and all these images just
ah, started to come.
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
Can you describe like
what are the images like?
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
What can you tell? It’s just horrible. Like
what? They – they used to be like back
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
when I was – when I first started getting
images they used to be about like hmm,
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
hmm, violent only
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
and they violent went away because
something worse came on and it was sexual.
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
And that was just it was
disturbing and disgusting.
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
And I think – An OCD is characterized by
two phenomena obsessions and compulsions.
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
Obsessions are unwanted intrusive images
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
that keep invading the person’s mind,
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
ah and compulsions tend to be form of
ritualized behavior designed to somehow
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
undo the disturbing content of the
obsessions. The horrible images
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
are Jason’s obsessions. In order
to wash the images from his mind
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
Jason feels a compulsion to rewind the images.
It’s a self fashion decontamination process.
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
This I can explain is it’s rewinding
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
like a video cassette or whatever like one frame at a time and
it used to be like… Jason is absolutely compel to rewind.
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
Sometimes 300 images.
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
And he must rewind them in the exact
reverse order that they have occurred.
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
He cannot do anything else until that’s
done and done right. I went 290, 291
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
and 209, 287, 286 so I
got down even to like
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
number sixth and then I remember
oh crap I didn’t do 89, 88.
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
I did 87. So then I have to go all
the way back up from six to 87
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
and then I skipped 88 and 89
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
and do 90, 91, 92 then I would
have to rewind all over again,
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
try that process all over again. I
don’t know. It takes a very long while
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
and a very bright mind to keep
the almost 300 images in order
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
and Jason cannot get out
of bed until it’s done.
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
I don’t know if I can rewind.
Sometimes rewinding takes time
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
to get started too. Yeah that’s okay.
That’s okay. We have time.
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
We are on your time today. Great. Of course that
means we maybe stuck in your room all day too right.
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
I am still aiming to get you to
(inaudible). Yeah I like to do that.
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
That would be cool.
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
OCD can start in one of two ways.
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
Slowly, building over a long period of time
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
or it can appear suddenly. All those
stress or physical illness can provoke OCD
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
is often triggered by the
rapid changes at puberty.
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
We are half way through grade nine. He always
like to going to school and all of a sudden
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
he wouldn’t – he didn’t want to go. But it wasn’t just he
didn’t want to go. He would stop in the middle of the stairs
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
and just not move.
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
And he got (inaudible) and then it
just keeps getting worse and worse
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
and he would be washing his hands all
the time now, washing (inaudible)
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
until I see it this thing.
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
(inaudible) washing of the hands
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
and I got oh that’s him. And I
remember distinctly the day that
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
I had knew that something was wrong.
I kept pulling my books in
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
and out of my locker, I didn’t feel
alright. I had to feel alright.
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
And it’s the weirdest thing
because it’s almost like
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
I was doing the subconsciously.
One day I thought about it
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
I guess and I just thought what the
hell is this. Why do I have to do this.
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
I knew it was the oddest thing
because I didn’t even know
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
I was doing this yet it had to feel right.
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
I knew it if I didn’t put them in something
in me would make me not feel right.
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
There were many days I would be going to
school at five o’clock to pick him up
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
and he was locked in the school because, you now, they
locked everything down and I would knock on the door
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
and the genrator would come to the door and
let me in and there he is you know, your kid.
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
It’s a (inaudible) disorder that can interfere
significantly with the person’s life
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
and for children very sadly even interfere with
ability to attend school and to complete school.
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
It’s very difficult. In grade nine
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
Jason seemed to be coping even earning the highest
mark in his high school for grade nine science.
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
He had weekly therapy sessions
but it wasn’t enough.
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
His OCD patterns became
very well established.
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
I didn’t know at the time looking back I realized
it was too far. He was already too far gone.
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
One hour a week just wasn’t enough. We were sort of
scratching the tip of the iceberg with trying to treat him.
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
It was very difficult transition
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
for his parents and sister to make to accept
that the happy little boy who was Jason
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
had disappeared beneath the weight
of debilitating mental disorder.
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
He was – he was happy you know.
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
He was… he has always been kind.
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
[music]
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
(inaudible) I always had fun with him.
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
Then something like this happens
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
and (inaudible). It’s hard
in some ways to go back
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
and look at those pictures.
We went back that way.
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
There are some anxiety disorders
that are more challenging
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
and one of them is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
At the more severe end of the spectrum
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
it may need a day treatment program and sometimes
it needs an intensive inpatient program.
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
One of the problems we had is
that is specialized program
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
and would require specialized unit and we
don’t have that here in this province.
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
Because of this gap in
services occasionally
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
the province helps send a BCU to
one of the intensive OCD programs
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
that do exists in the US. A few
years ago Jason went South
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
and it helped. So it was a full eight
hour day of complete intensive you know,
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
really working on and confronting all
the things that really bothered him
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
and so we did that for month and
he came back and you know, family,
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
friends noticed huge improvement.
It was so nice. I got wardrobe.
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
Oh great dictionary. Nancy says
Jason’s symptoms were cut in half
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
making room in his life for life. But only
months after his return from the intensive
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
American therapy program Jason
began sleeping. When we came back
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
I mean there wasn’t really ah, I
didn’t get follow-up treatment.
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
There wasn’t follow-up treatment and I couldn’t
go enough hours of the day and stuff like that.
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
That’s basically what happened is slowly
started to sleep back and it got even worse,
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
worse than usual. I mean you have got
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
you know, 21 year old who is in bed
all day can’t really function,
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
has no social relationships to speak of.
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
It’s not good enough. That’s one thing. I think OCD took
away but it looks shit, I used to look like a model.
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
Okay. No I did. Seriously.
Am I right mom. Yeah.
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
(inaudible). No, that’s dam true. Okay. We
are going to make peanut butter cookies.
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
I have got everything ready but we just have to have
chocolate chips. See you got to rewash your hands.
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
That’s the first thing. Yeah I have just washed my hands. Mom you
didn’t just wash your hands. I didn’t – I have heard the water
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
but I you know. That’s
– just stop for a sec,
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
because I want to let you – you can – you wash
your hands a little like – I washed my hands…
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
Part of Jason Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder is a fear of contamination,
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
very common in OCD. Jason has
great difficulty eating any food
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
that’s been touched by anyone hands
even his mom’s. Help me. Help me.
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
Well I don’t know. Will you make these cookies?
Don’t roll them. Look you have to roll them.
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
No, no don’t. If I make them and roll them in my
hands. No. No. No. Don’t. How am I going to make them?
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
I should make them. How am I going to make them? Right.
I washed my hands already. So now I roll the cookies.
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
Stop for a second.
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
Stop mom. Mom. Mom. Are you going to have some
of these for your lunch. Stop for a second.
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
Stop for a second. Second.
Why? I – let me just
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
Hmm. How are you going to eat these cookies then? I
am going to make one giant but I won’t touch it.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
No you can’t do that. Really he should not make
his own to cookies the way he made them specially
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
because that’s sort of enabling the OCD. That’s avoiding the
issue and the issue is he really should eat the cookies
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
that I have made that are contaminated. You know
he won’t do that for me but maybe if a therapist
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
well that could very well be an exercise that
(inaudible) stuff for us to say okay you go home,
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
your mom is going to make cookies. You are going to eat at
least one of the cookies. Theoretically really to make it work
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
we have to make cookies everyday and he would have
to eat one and then he would have to eat two.
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
Jason the (inaudible) are you going to eat
a cookie while we are here or not? No.
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
Jason’s anxiety symptoms make it very
difficult for him to eat or sleep
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
and the depredation feeds his anxiety.
He is a prime candidate
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
for medication to manage the symptoms
while he works on behavior strategies.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
The trick is finding one that works.
He has tried everything.
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
Every combination you can imagine. He has
been on ah, every SSRI that’s out there
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
and really with not a lot of success. He is taking
Effexor right now. No they are not helping me.
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
I sometimes I would – I don’t know, well look at
the side effects and know they are not helping me.
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
I have tried I don’t know how many medicate,
I over tend and not of them helped.
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
I have got all the side effects. So I have
had everyone of them no I am serious.
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
Most medications affect actually multiple
systems and the brain is a complex web
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
or network. You make a change in one
chemical system it affects changes
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
in other chemical systems. This
is not like giving antibiotics.
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
And I think that’s the thing that gets confusing.
You know you are targeting specific bacterium.
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
In fact if you look at most anxiety disorders
a whole range of medications work which work
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
by completely different mechanism on
completely different neurotransmitters.
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
No. Go ahead. One of the challenges with anxiety disorders
specially things like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
is we know exactly what
to do treatment wise.
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
But it’s very difficult to do it. It may
be relatively easy to give a medication
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
to say but the core behavioral treatment is
extremely challenging and we are asking parents
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
to do most of the work on the
front lines, on 24 hour basis
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
and this is the thing that becomes most difficult;
not figuring out what needs to happen but how
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
to do that on the daily basis.
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
Jason’s mom leads an OCD support group in Delta.
And that’s encouraging to hear a psychiatrist
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
is doing that kind of work because – Nancy made
good use of groups like these during the years
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
and wants to give something back. But
sometimes even old hands need support
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
and fresh ideas.
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
Hello. Hi. Hi. Feeling like she has hit a wall
with Jason Nancy phones Kelly Anderson at Force.
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
We are looking for test of treatment here. We are looking
for – they keep saying that there may be something.
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
Okay. But I don’t know. Do you know
of anything? Well have you checked
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
with the new – there is a new clinic at UBC. Oh. So it
might be also be a fresh place for you to start again.
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
You know and maybe out of there
get hmm, another name or –
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
Sometimes what we have had
to suggest the families
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
is that maybe we get somewhere
to fresh look at it
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
because you can’t just give up.
You know these kids are worth
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
us fighting for and sometimes you
just have to trust somebody new.
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
Kelly pushes parents to keep trying.
Force helps them navigate the system.
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
Well we are actually working
right now on a family toolkit
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
and that’s where the BC partners for mental health
and addiction so it’s a map on what is an IP,
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
who do you talk to first if you
suspect your child has a problem,
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
where do you go next. We are
trying to break down terminology.
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
Are there any circuits we know about? Are there any
resources that would save them ten phone calls
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
because when you are in crisis as a parent you don’t want
to have to do 20 calls. That’s something that if somebody
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
had just told you… you could have saved yourself
18 of those calls. Okay. Well good luck.
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
And let me know if there is anything we can do for
you. I will. Thanks Nancy. Okay. Bye bye. Bye.
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
[music]
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
Nancy won’t stop looking for help for
Jason. She wants her boy healthy again.
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
But today it’s a miracle just to get
him to the ring and out on the ice
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
a place where Jason really wants to be.
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
He played Minor League hockey in the Delta
League until his OCD literally stopped him
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
from getting on the ice. I
have coached the hockey team
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
and there is more those things you would see.
He would be trying to escape that fun time.
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
I said just come on here, you got to
get on the ice. He says well I can’t.
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
It doesn’t feel right. So I am trying to
skate him. (inaudible) doesn’t feel right.
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
Crap.
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
I don’t know if I ah, So I bought him
a pair of skates he could pump up.
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
So I (inaudible) I am just pumping him up.
Does it feel alright.
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
And that was an idea there. So. Yes.
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
We figured I guess it was OCD.
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
[sil.]
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
Today, Jason’s obsessions are once again
keeping him from getting geared up.
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
[sil.]
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
There are just 15 minutes
left of a two hour ice time.
00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
[sil.]
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
But when he finally gets on the ice
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
Jason is okay.
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
[sil.]
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
I am not ever going to really
happy until I get rid of it.
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
So I can do a lot of stuff
because it would be nice to do
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
I don’t know, what I want to do and be
free. Sort of like ah, it’s exactly like
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
being in your own sort of prison.
OCD is like a terrorist
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
keeping you in a small jail
like (inaudible) or something
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
except with the clothes on.
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
[sil.]
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
So you are having the images
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
that have something to do with – with
(inaudible). Yeah like the content is just hmm,
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
somebody doing sex
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
always a person that I
hate a male, never female.
00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
I don’t even hate any females I don’t think. But
remember it’s not you. It is just OCD right.
00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
And what we are talking about
is what the OCD is doing to you
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
and you are so disgusted by this because
this is not the way you are as a person
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
and that’s why you are doing all these… Jason’s
cognitive challenge is to understand that his OCD
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
is a separate entity, the
images are not who he is.
00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
They belong to the illness. They
and it are separate from his self.
00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
I know that they are false but the thing is they are so disturbing
that it doesn’t matter if it false. It’s just so gross.
00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
You cannot – So why is it Jason
that you get so upset about that.
00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.999
I have to rewind. I have to.. (inaudible)
yourself. I am done with those now.
00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:39.999
I am just I have to rewind.
00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.999
And here is Jason’s behavioral challenge.
Find ways to delay
00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
or eliminate the time and life
wasting compulsion to rewind.
00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
You can also look at OCD as
a habit forming disorder
00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
where it typically took the person a number of years
to kind of being at this full blown OCD stage
00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
so it takes a lot of time and effort to
kind of undo such an ingrained habit.
00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
[music]
00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
Like I have been pretty much stagnant
for six years and the only thing is
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.999
I would have undone, I have
been in medical school
00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
by now because I was going to be surgeon.
That’s what I hoping to be anyway and
00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
I guess I could have been that because
I had the grades and whatever.
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
I am not going to let when
I just keep fighting.
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
There is no way. Just keep fighting.
00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
Jason’s beating back his OCD
before with proper treatment
00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
this bright brave young man can
emerge again from behind his dragons.
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
It’s a realistic cope
00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
for all young people
with anxiety disorders.
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.999
We are finally breaking through the silence
00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:09.999
and we are talking about anxiety disorders a lot
more and importantly there are system changes
00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:14.999
that are in process that will
be increasing our capacity
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:19.999
to be there for kids and families with the
appropriate resources and treatments.
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:24.999
Anxiety disorders
00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:29.999
can be tamed if we give these youth and their
families the tools they need to fight their fears.
00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.999
For more information about
mental health resources
00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:39.999
mentioned in this documentary
or to access in depth articles,
00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:44.999
links, videos and more visit our
website at knowledgenetwork.ca.
00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:49.999
Click on knowledge tools and go to taking
care Child and Youth Mental Health.
00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:58.000
Ah, what’s that. Is that hurting.
Looks like.
00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:04.999
Shut up. Alright. There he is.
See me and my sister
00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:09.999
we got this down. We got this down on.
You are yeah come on.
00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:14.999
It’s just a cat hair. Oh just the cat hair. Yeah
after you. Let’s see he has licked his butt
00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:19.999
and licked his shoulder. (inaudible) anywhere in the
food in the house it will wind up more than like this.
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.999
No crap. It could be Alopecia areata which
is the disease where you have no hair.
00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:30.000
There will be hair in my dam food.
Distributor: National Film Board of Canada
Length: 42 minutes
Date: 2004
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Closed Captioning: Available
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