July 21, 2025 • 34 mins
In this episode of Breaking the Silence: Addressing Youth Suicide, Dr. Jonathan Shepherd sits down with Dr. Michele Reid, a seasoned community psychiatrist and advocate, to explore youth suicide prevention through the lens of community mental health. Dr. Reid shares insights from decades of work in Michigan's public mental health system, emphasizing the importance of the Zero Suicide framework, early screening, culturally responsive care, and outreach to Black communities through schools, churches, and barbershops. She also highlights barriers to care—like stigma, transportation, and insurance—and champions the role of peer support specialists in reaching underserved youth. This conversation offers a roadmap for real, community-rooted solutions.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
People who suffer with mental disorders are just like everybody else, and that treatmentis available and recovery works.
So I think that's the biggest thing, to recognize the issue and to understand thatrecovery is possible and treatment is available and treatment works.
(00:23):
Welcome to the APA More Equity series, Breaking the Silence, Addressing Youth Suicide.
In this episode, our host, Dr.
Jonathan Shepherd, speaks with Dr.
Michelle Reid.
Dr.
Shepherd is a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in child, adolescent, and adultmental health.
A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School and Johns HopkinsUniversity's Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Fellowship,
(00:51):
Dr.
Shepherd is known for his compassionate, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed care.
He treats a wide range of conditions, including ADHD, anxiety, and PTSD, with a strongfocus on family involvement.
Dr.
Shepherd currently serves as chief clinical officer for D.C.' Department of BehavioralHealth and is president of the Black Mental Health Alliance, helping shape mental health
(01:13):
systems and support communities across all ages.
He is currently the president of the American Psychiatric Association's Caucus of BlackPsychiatrists.
So now, let's break the silence with Dr.
Shepherd and Dr.
Reid.
Greetings and thank you for joining this episode.
(01:33):
I am so excited to be with you today.
My name is Jonathan Shepherd, serving as the president of the Black Caucus of the AmericanPsychiatric Association.
And I'm here with Dr.
Michelle Reid, who is the current vice president and chief operating officer for CNSHealthcare.
Thank you, Dr.
Reid, for joining us today for this discussion.
(01:56):
Thank you for having me.
Absolutely.
And if you don't mind, let the people know a little bit about you, some highlights aboutwhat you do professionally.
I work at a certified community behavioral health clinic in Michigan.
We're federally funded and we see children, adolescents, adults, and older adults withmental disorders and substance use disorders and intellectual and developmental
(02:20):
disabilities.
So we're located actually in Southeast Michigan and we serve three counties in Wayne,Oakland and McComb County.
I've been a member of the American Psychiatric Association since I was a psychiatric.
resident and I've been president of the Michigan Psychiatric Society, the district branchof the American Psychiatric Association here in Michigan.
(02:40):
And I'm on the faculty of Wayne State University in the Department of Psychiatry andBehavioral Neurosciences.
And I've spent my entire career working in community mental health settings in the publicmental health system.
Wonderful.
So as you can see, we have someone who is well-versed and able to discuss this importanttopic that we're going to dive in today.
(03:05):
And let me share with you, we're talking about addressing youth suicide, and we're lookingat it from a community mental health standpoint.
And from this particular standpoint, we're talking about breaking the silence, addressingyouth suicide, such a profound
title if you would.
(03:25):
So when hear that breaking the silence addressing youth suicide, comes to mind, Dr.
Reid?
I think mostly what comes to mind for me has to do with this kind of quality improvementframework that we've taken on at CNS Healthcare relative to suicide.
And we're following what we call the zero suicide framework that really, like you said,how are we having critical conversations about it?
(03:51):
How do we get staff to talk about it, to be knowledgeable about the warning signs, to beable to have protocols in place where we're increasing services to people
who are suicidal or have suicidal ideation from educating the public to educating our ownstaff about it.
It really is not something that we found when we started this process five years ago thatwas really talked about.
(04:14):
And when you would review these cases, you know, in terms of peer review or the qualitycouncil, the staff would have their own reaction to it.
They would feel kind of put upon like they were being criticized and not really viewing itas, this is a way to improve our practices in community mental health settings.
We certainly have suicides among the people we've seen, but with implementing that zerosuicide framework, we've seen a reduction in it.
(04:38):
And also my own personal experience with it.
I've had uh one individual who I treated who did die by suicide.
And then interestingly enough, during my entire career, uh talking to you made me reflectback on it that I actually know three colleagues who have died by suicide.
So it's something that is all around us that we're experiencing.
with the children, adolescents, adults and older adults, as well as the colleagues that wehave.
(05:02):
So suicide is a very important thing to be talking about, but we were not really talkingabout it as a group for how do we manage men, how do we address staff's reaction to it?
And how do we, I think the key that I learned working with the kids as well as the adults,the real key is continuous screening.
(05:23):
that we have evidence-based screening and that we're all on the same page as Frider, howare we going to react when we hear about it?
So it's been important.
I think also with the Zero Suicide, it's been very interesting to be in the community.
We work at various school locations, we work with community groups and fraternities andsororities, and it's a conversation whose time has come.
(05:44):
And just several interesting suicides in the community.
You know, there was a Miss America who died by suicide and others.
So,
We really have worked a lot in the local schools to change the language and the dialogueabout how we talk about suicide.
So that's been the most impactful thing.
I think for me, in terms of it, that it was not something that was really being discussed.
(06:07):
And I think that's been the best part of the zero suicide for us implementing it, thatwe're having these conversations at work, having conversations with people we serve,
having conversations with the parents, as well as the community.
Yeah, and thank you for helping to break the silence because we as colleagues, we asphysicians, we at times will forget that our own colleagues are struggling with these
(06:34):
thoughts of not wanting to be alive and with actions of trying to take their own lives.
That is so important.
And so thank you for highlighting these various examples that
you share with us and I'm sure people want to hear more about that zero suicide program.
So I'm just going to put a plug in right here.
You better make sure you reach out to Dr.
(06:54):
Michelle Reid to hear more about that program.
But what I also want to talk about in right in line with that is how do we break thesilence within those communities, the black community in particular, where we know stigma
still rests, still abides, whether it be in their households or
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in their neighborhoods, in their even faith-based uh houses of worship, I'll say it likethat.
Yeah, help me to uh look to see how can we break the silence even there.
I think a very important part of being a certified community behavioral health clinic isthe expectation, and there are over 500 clinics all across the nation now, and over 3
(07:38):
million people have gotten help that one of the ongoing responsibilities we have is to docommunity outreach.
And I think that that's the place where I see most of getting the mental healthprofessionals out into the community.
talking with people about mental disorders and about suicide specifically.
So working to tailor the content, for instance, at schools.
(08:01):
think about about a month and a half ago, we actually were in the black community inDetroit and there was a barbershop and through a local church, through one of our
faith-based initiative, they'd asked us to come.
So a number of social workers and psychologists and nurse practitioners and physicians,assistants, psychiatrists,
We literally camped out at this barbershop all day.
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We brought pizza and people were getting haircuts.
There were children there, adults there, and we were just able to talk with people just innatural environments about suicide, about depression, about getting help.
So I think it's just one-on-one, those type of conversations.
Like we encourage the local school districts to call us in and we'll do an auditorium.
one time I can remember we were involved.
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with the schools in uh one of the school districts where there were uh several suicidesamong the students.
So there were like three or four students died by suicide over a relatively short periodof time, like about six months.
And they literally had us coming in, having these conversations at the various meetingsthey had, meeting with staff, meeting with the family members, meeting with the parent
(09:09):
teacher association.
So I think it just starts with having crucial conversations.
among your staff, but just that the community mental health centers really have a hugerole to play in terms of, we call it community outreach and letting people know that we
have the ability to come out and talk with you about that in the community.
So I think that that's extremely important.
(09:29):
So community outreach, think is a big part of it.
And the focus for us has largely been the school districts and the faith-based initiativesand other sororities and fraternities, even sometimes with like the
Chamber of Commerce and other organizations.
So by getting your name out in the community and working with various organizations, itgives an opportunity for psychiatrists and social workers to come out.
(09:52):
And I would encourage uh anybody looking for, we have a certified community behavioralhealth success center through the National Council on Mental Wellbeing.
And they have a list of all the CCBHCs around the country.
They're all expected to do this activity.
So people could just look at that site, find their state.
for what organizations are there and contact them directly.
(10:13):
So we really just get direct contact from organizations who are interested in working withus and hearing more about it.
Get it.
And I just want to emphasize what Dr.
Reid just shared.
Three students dying in a six month timeframe, death by suicide, that's a lot.
I just want to make sure we emphasize that.
That is not normal.
(10:34):
uh Just in case we have people on here who may not be aware of what uh normal is and whatnormal is not.
So thank you.
And thank you for the work that you all are doing.
And as you all are doing that work, what are some of the biggest risk factors that youhave seen that contribute to suicide and the mental health struggles amongst the black
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youth of today?
I would say a couple of things I've seen in some of the cases that we work with, like aspart of being part of the state of Michigan, you have to review all the suicides that
occur during that.
So there's an in-depth review of all the cases involving suicide.
And from my review, looking at the cases, I would say that one of the biggest things thatstuck out to me is that a number of the people suffered with some fairly serious...
(11:24):
and life-threatening general medical conditions that would result in them being in a lotof chronic pain or requiring a lot of medical treatment and intervention.
So there was a subset of people for whom the precipitating factor appeared to be somechronic general medical condition that really did not have an end in sight in terms of the
treatment.
uh Also, I would say that we've seen some of it in the form of substance use disorder.
(11:49):
So both for children and adults.
substance use, whether alcohol or other drugs have been associated with the suicide.
I've seen that.
oh the biggest thing where I really found it most interesting looking at the children andadults that we were involved with, the people who tended to be coming to see us on a
(12:12):
regular basis and were in treatment largely were not the people who are dying by suicide.
What we were seeing in the cases
uh in our general community is, and as we had a chance to go around and we do this childdeath review team and have a look at that, many of the people who died by suicide were not
in treatment and had not had any formal psychiatric diagnosis.
(12:36):
So you're looking at the cases after the fact to see, gee, what's going on?
And then you would see the chronic medical condition.
You would see a substance use disorder.
You would see the loss of a job or
you would see a death in the family.
So you would see these psychological and psychosocial stressors, but to a large group,often the cases we were called to be involved in were individuals who never had been
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diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder.
So I think that's the biggest thing to be understanding the signs and symptoms ofdepression and other disorders to help people get help.
And I think there's another project that dovetails very nicely into this.
and they have it for both children and youth and for adults, is mental health first aid.
(13:22):
So through the National Council of Mental Well-being, they have more than a million peopletrained nationwide to be out in the communities with mental health first aid and they do
cover the suicide.
So that's another valuable program that people can just look up online, mental healthfirst aid, find out who's doing it in their community and that would help with that.
But the main thing is understanding the signs and symptoms of mental disorders in general.
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and knowing where to get help.
But a large group of the people that I was involved in reviewing the case, they simply didnot have a formal diagnosis and had no treatment.
It seems to me the people who are receiving treatment, once the staff are all informed andwe're all escalating up services for people who are uh having uh issues with suicidal
(14:08):
ideation or previous suicide attempts.
that we were very successful in lowering the number of suicides among that particularpopulation.
So treatment works and help is available.
And I said, we have over 500 certified community behavioral health clinics, know, 46states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico all over the country.
So I think your certified community behavioral health clinic is one.
(14:31):
And two, I think the other thing that I found that was really helpful when you did havecertain risk factors,
is the national rollout of the 988 crisis and suicide line.
So that has been just that having access to that number, they do texts, they do chats.
You can talk to a live trained individual.
(14:53):
So that's been another place where you can also get information about suicide.
So you could call for yourself, you could call for a loved one, a family member, someoneat your church.
We even work with a couple of churches where
we had suicide among, uh you know, like somebody who was in choir director at a localchurch.
So it affects all phases of the communities from the faith-based organizations to theschools.
(15:18):
uh There's uh just no sector that there's not uh having an impact.
So really I think working within your local community with the people who are doing oh the9-8-8.
And that's for, you call 988 and you can get a person 24 7 365 to talk about suicide orurgent need for mental health services.
(15:41):
And I think in healthcare looking at the implementing the zero suicide is extremelyimportant.
But again, mostly I think the outreach available through your certified communitybehavioral health clinics, they were all over the country.
They're working with schools, they're working with faith-based organizations.
That's an excellent place to start to get help.
And so when you you highlighted in your response about a group of people who, uh, when youreviewed their records, you noticed that they had these signs of symptoms, but there
(16:14):
must've been a barrier, potentially a barrier for them getting into treatment.
Cause it sounds like if you're able to get treatment that we're able to possibly lowerthat suicide risk.
So I, I, I'm just curious, what do you believe are some of the barriers, to that?
to that treatment so that we can get more people involved in treatment.
(16:37):
Oh, I think one thing is, I um just think about um just going to Detroit public schoolsand being in school.
I mean, I remember the kind of healthcare services that were consistently integrated intoschools.
And I remember my sister was always sitting up in the front of the room.
And at the time, I don't think my parents knew that she had vision problems.
And so there was somebody who came through and did vision screening on all the kids.
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And I mean, we had a primary care physician and everything, but they weren't necessarilylooking at her vision.
And through this in-school screening, they were able to figure out that she had a visionproblem.
And at a very seven or eight years old, she was wearing some fairly heavy duty glasses,which improved everything for her.
And so I think what it is is the ability to have screening is important.
(17:24):
Working with our primary care providers to be screening for depression, screening forsuicide, I think that's gonna be one of the biggest things.
How do we...
oh Just make it just an ordinary part of getting medical care, an ordinary part of beingpart of a school system where you're constantly screening for the health.
And I think that the healthcare services in schools have gone up and down over time, butwe really are working to try to improve the ability to educate the school staff, the
(17:54):
parent teacher association, and also, you know, looking at schools.
I think screening is the biggest thing.
I would say it's an interesting concept you brought to me because when I look at peoplewho often come to see services, to see community mental health, it's not unusual for
people to have been suffering, uh even children with psychiatric illnesses for sometimesseven, eight, nine, 10 years before they're actually getting to the psychiatrist.
(18:25):
So very often we're not the ones that see individuals at the front end.
And actually,
The majority of antidepressants prescribed in the country are written by primary careproviders.
So I think it's really something that we have to work with our colleagues in primary care,that screening for depression becomes a routine part of that and that they're
knowledgeable and aware where to make referrals.
(18:47):
So I think that that's part of it.
um Sometimes though, think particularly the cases I've worked with where it was a chronicgeneral medical condition, I just think that people were uh seeing it more as a
physical health issue and not a psychiatric issue.
So I think it just was not on their mind at all that I could have had a viral meningitisthat could impact me and end up causing depression.
(19:11):
And the depression could be so severe that you would think about taking your life.
So I don't know in the cases I had, particularly with the medical issues, there was reallyuh a clear understanding that there was a link, an integration between physical and mental
health.
So I think that's how it was missed.
And also I think in terms of
um knowing that people who have mental disorders and uh use substances, whether it'scocaine or heroin or alcohol, that the likelihood of suicide could go up with that.
(19:44):
So I think it was just a connect, how do you connect those things together?
So I think that um treatment is much more available, I say over the last five or six yearsthan it had been before, because of the expansion of certified community behavioral health
clinics.
And I think that in Michigan, we do a needs assessment.
And if you were asked what are a couple of the factors that lead people not to have accessto care, uh three things I've found.
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um So we found that transportation is one.
So people not being able to get to the clinic because they don't have transportation.
Some of the communities in Michigan, we don't have public transportation, the millage forthat.
So.
The impact of telehealth has been great in improving access to care, but people talk abouttransportation.
And the other thing they talk about that's a barrier to care to them ah is childcare.
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So they may have several children and they would want to go for help or get one of thechildren help.
They have issues with childcare.
So transportation and childcare are two of the biggest barriers I've seen.
Also in Michigan, the Alterum Institute did a big report that looks at access to mentalhealth care.
and they were took all the claims for Medicaid and Medicare and had a look to see anybodywho had a psychiatric diagnosis at any point from any ER visit, any doctor's office.
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Did they actually end up having at least one psychiatric visit?
And what they found was that there was just an unmet need.
They analyzed where the providers were across the state and uh it was problematic.
And the funny thing about it that seems so odd to me when we looked at substance abuse isthat
I was surprised that you were actually more likely to get ongoing services for mentalhealth or specifically substance abuse if you had Medicaid.
(21:30):
So those that are part of the public mental health system, the unmet need was much lessthan private insurance.
So I think we run into an issue with the private insurances where they have a panel, butmany of the people on the panel are not accepting new
patients and so it appears that here's this robust group of individuals but you may call Iwork with families so many times and they're saying I have a problem could you refer me to
(22:00):
somebody and I'm like well really it would be better if you're going to use insurance callme when you have your insurance panel and I can go through that panel with you and better
understand you know who's still taking new people because you just have this list ofhundreds of providers and they call and they're not actually taking new patients so I
think that on people with even with private insurance
it's difficult to get care.
(22:20):
So I think the factors are, know, uh insurance is a piece of it.
um I think transportation is a piece of it.
Child care is a piece of it.
And that's why the certified community behavioral health clinics are so great because wesee people regardless of the ability to pay.
So even if you don't have insurance, you'll be eligible for services.
but insurance is, and transportation and childcare were the three biggest things that cameup for us as far as barriers to care.
(22:48):
Yeah, and I'm loving this and I hope everyone out there listening, you're loving this andhearing these responses because with each problem that we identify, we're also identifying
solutions.
And so I thank you, Dr.
Reid, you're being very thoughtful in your responses.
So I hope everyone is catching that, that we're not just identifying the problems, we'reidentifying solutions as we go along with each problem.
(23:09):
That is wonderful.
I need you to speak, Dr.
Reid, um to our younger psychiatrists.
They may already be in psychiatry.
They may be early career psychiatrists.
They may be a seasoned psychiatrist.
They even might be in a residency.
But I want you to give a message to these young providers or younger providers aboutworking with underserved black youth populations.
(23:37):
What message would you give to them?
Well, I think in terms of that, where I have seen the best results with care, and I'd saythis has been the biggest change over my career in psychiatry, is what is the role of the
peer counselors in terms of managing depression and suicide?
(23:58):
So we work with parent support partners, but we also have youth peer advocates.
So what I think the missing voice in the room to me, and the best voice that we reallyneed to
push to expand that is that people, children, adolescents, young adults with a livedexperience with mental disorders and who are now in their recovery, working alongside of
(24:21):
mental health professionals to get in spaces where we couldn't be, where people will talkwith them before they would talk with us.
So I think that's going to be the biggest thing that I would say, is the biggestimprovement since I've been in care that I cannot stress highly enough in whatever
organization you're in to continue to push.
for the peer uh support specialists, youth peer counselors, and parent support partners.
(24:44):
So you're partnering with parents, with youth, and with others.
And then we also have recovery coaches.
That is the biggest place I think you can make an impact in your organization in terms ofthe workforce, expanding the workforce of people who have a lived experience with the
mental disorder, a lived experience.
(25:04):
with suicide to talk.
And it's just been most gratifying for me.
I've presented numerous times with individuals who are part of our anti-stigma team.
And they are people with a lived experience with mental disorders who have had suicidalideations in the past.
And we go out and talk in various communities about that.
But I think the role of the peer support specialist, the youth advocate, the recoverycoaches and parent support partners, I think that's the biggest thing in any organization
(25:33):
you're in.
to work, you know, if they have those individuals to work very closely with them.
I can remember once when the Black Psychiatrist of America came to Detroit and I actuallydid a presentation uh with the anti-stigma team lead and we talked about it was a spoken
word presentation and it was very gratifying to work with the Black Psychiatrist ofAmerica and do those presentations.
(25:54):
So I think that the biggest thing I think is the, you know, peers is just very important.
So if you have it at your organization,
work with them directly, get involved with them.
Your reach can just be expanded so much when you have that peer uh activity going on.
That's the biggest thing for me that I would recommend.
(26:14):
And that was not something that was around when I was a young psychiatrist.
It's something that came about probably over the last 20 years, but it wasn't reallypresent.
there are all of the certified community health clinics have it, but to have thepsychiatrist work directly with the peers is most important.
Thank you, thank you.
That's such an important message.
It's a collaborative message.
(26:35):
And it's a one that hopefully those who've heard this message, you will pick up and beable to uh send and utilize at whatever places of employment that you are working in,
academic institutions and or community behavioral health centers.
What gives you hope, Dr.
Reid?
So there's a lot of things out there that takes away, I hope.
(27:00):
But I want to hear what gives you hope and in doing so, as you talk about hope, what aresome of the promising programs or approaches or shifts, oh thoughts that you see that you
can point to for a better future for Black youth and mental wellness?
(27:21):
think for me is the changing attitude in the African-American community about mentalhealth is what gives me the most hope.
I I just left the American Psychiatric Association in Los Angeles, California, and we havethese plenaries and keynotes where Serena Williams is talking about mental health.
(27:44):
Watching on TV, I I hear like certain black stars like Common talks about
his experience with health.
Even on, it's kind of funny, I'd listen to Wednesday morning, there's a prayer call withthis minister, I'm United Methodist in the United Methodist Church in Atlanta, and he
frequently talks about his therapist and how it's been helped.
He leads a large church down there uh and how exciting it was for him to talk directlyabout it.
(28:08):
So I find it's a lot discussed a lot more openly by everyday citizens.
and also by famous people.
So I think having those conversations to have the children out, think the other thing was,which I was most hopeful about, was the American Psychiatric Association Foundation has
this whole uh public awareness campaign that they have kids and they have adults givingtheir different stories, a mother who's postpartum talking about, let's talk about it, and
(28:38):
getting out into the communities and doing this kind of mass marketing.
I think the 988 also did it, but.
It seems to me that there's a lot more energy in the community talking about mentaldisorders and people coming forward and sharing their experiences.
I think that's what gives me hope.
I once took a course and basically it was a course about living with chronic diseases andin the state of Michigan, they had implemented and they had persons with mental disorders
(29:04):
actually doing the training.
So two of them are doing training.
One lady had been 10 or 12 times in the state psychiatric hospital.
Another one had been in jail.
They're both in.
recovery long-term and had developmental disorders as children.
And here you have a psychiatrist, social workers, nurses, and they're going through thiscurriculum with us, personal action toward health that really looked at, you know, how do
(29:26):
you manage chronic illnesses?
So I think the more we can see mental disorders as chronic illnesses, I mean, really nodifferent than diabetes or hypertension.
I mean, these are diseases by and large we don't cure.
I mean, some things we can cure, an infection, cancer can be cured.
But like diabetes and hypertension, there are chronic conditions that require ongoingtreatment and management.
(29:47):
So I think increasingly, I feel more hopeful that people are more able to talk about it.
We're seeing more open.
mean, a day doesn't go by that you don't see something on social media talking about that.
So I think the biggest excitement for me was how the American Psychiatric Association, the988 People's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
(30:08):
have been able to leverage social media for good to do it.
Even two young psychiatrists actually, Dr.
Gregory, I saw ran into him at a conference and he's giving a men's health magazine,giving mental health tips.
So I've been excited to see some of the younger psychiatrists.
I actually went to uh two sessions at this conference where these two young psychiatristswere talking about how could you leverage social media.
(30:35):
to get the word out there about mental health.
So I'm very excited and it gives me hope to see that you have the people are using theselarge platforms they have to talk about mental health and their help is more readily
available both through the certified community behavioral health clinics.
thanks in some parts of the pandemic, the availability of telehealth services hasexpanded.
(30:58):
I mean, that gives me hope.
I mean, when I started medical school and residency,
no such thing as telehealth.
think we had a little bit of it oh prior to the pandemic, but not much, but now it's justexciting to see how we can overcome a childcare barrier, how we can overcome a
transportation barrier, and you can be sitting in your own home and being able to getmental health.
(31:20):
That's to me is what's most exciting or more innovative or different than when I startedpracticing psychiatry.
Thank you.
And your response gives me hope and puts a smile on my face.
You know, you can't see me, but there is a smile on my face.
And thank you for even emphasizing what occurred at the annual meeting for the AmericanPsychiatric Association that was held in Los Angeles.
(31:44):
And we're going to put a plug in there.
You cannot miss the next one.
You want to make sure you're there in 2026 in San Francisco because of these type ofsessions where you're learning.
where you're energized, where you become more hopeful.
uh Dr.
Michelle Reid, this has been awesome in this discussion.
We've been talking about breaking the silence, addressing youth suicide, and that's whatwe have done today.
(32:07):
We've given voice to those who are marginalized.
We've given voice to those who are less hopeful.
And uh with that said, I want to see if you have any last comments, any last...
remarks oh for those who are listening.
I'm sure everyone's glad they stayed on and listened to this whole episode.
(32:29):
So please, remarks.
Well, ah I would say that people who suffer with mental disorders are just like everybodyelse and that treatment is available and that recovery works.
So I think that's the biggest thing to recognize the issue and to understand that recoveryis possible and treatment is available and treatment works.
(32:52):
That's what I would say.
Wonderful treatment works.
So we just got to make sure that we are Have people able to get into the treatment and sothat's where we all come in.
That's where we all work together This has been such a rich discussion We want to makesure that you share this podcast with all of your Colleagues with all of your family
(33:13):
members all of your friends such an important topic And so thank you.
Dr.
Michelle Reid.
We wish you much success up there
uh in Detroit, Michigan, where she is changing lives on a daily basis.
uh I am based in the District of Columbia.
And so uh as you know, that is a hotbed for where so much is going on right now.
(33:37):
But let me tell you, we're changing lives there.
As I said, we point out the issue and we also talk about the solution.
And so we end on those positive notes.
Thank you so much for joining us and we hope that you...
will utilize this information.
Thanks for having me, Dr.
Shepherd.
(33:57):
Thank you for joining us on Breaking the Silence, Addressing Youth Suicide.
Please visit the Medical Minds podcast homepage at psychiatry.org for more information anda resource document related to this episode.
We also invite you to visit psychiatry.org slash more equity, M-O-O-R-E-E-Q-U-I-T-Y formore information on the APA More Equity in Mental Health Initiative.
(34:23):
Take care.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the individual speakers anddo not necessarily represent the views of the American Psychiatric Association.
The content of this podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does notoffer any other professional advice.
(34:48):
If you are having a medical emergency, please contact your local emergency responsenumber.
People who suffer with mental disorders are just like everybody else, and that treatmentis available and recovery works.
So I think that's the biggest thing, to recognize the issue and to understand thatrecovery is possible and treatment is available and treatment works.
(00:23):
Welcome to the APA More Equity series, Breaking the Silence, Addressing Youth Suicide.
In this episode, our host, Dr.
Jonathan Shepherd, speaks with Dr.
Michelle Reid.
Dr.
Shepherd is a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in child, adolescent, and adultmental health.
A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School and Johns HopkinsUniversity's Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Fellowship,
(00:51):
Dr.
Shepherd is known for his compassionate, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed care.
He treats a wide range of conditions, including ADHD, anxiety, and PTSD, with a strongfocus on family involvement.
Dr.
Shepherd currently serves as chief clinical officer for D.C.' Department of BehavioralHealth and is president of the Black Mental Health Alliance, helping shape mental health
(01:13):
systems and support communities across all ages.
He is currently the president of the American Psychiatric Association's Caucus of BlackPsychiatrists.
So now, let's break the silence with Dr.
Shepherd and Dr.
Reid.
Greetings and thank you for joining this episode.
(01:33):
I am so excited to be with you today.
My name is Jonathan Shepherd, serving as the president of the Black Caucus of the AmericanPsychiatric Association.
And I'm here with Dr.
Michelle Reid, who is the current vice president and chief operating officer for CNSHealthcare.
Thank you, Dr.
Reid, for joining us today for this discussion.
(01:56):
Thank you for having me.
Absolutely.
And if you don't mind, let the people know a little bit about you, some highlights aboutwhat you do professionally.
I work at a certified community behavioral health clinic in Michigan.
We're federally funded and we see children, adolescents, adults, and older adults withmental disorders and substance use disorders and intellectual and developmental
(02:20):
disabilities.
So we're located actually in Southeast Michigan and we serve three counties in Wayne,Oakland and McComb County.
I've been a member of the American Psychiatric Association since I was a psychiatric.
resident and I've been president of the Michigan Psychiatric Society, the district branchof the American Psychiatric Association here in Michigan.
(02:40):
And I'm on the faculty of Wayne State University in the Department of Psychiatry andBehavioral Neurosciences.
And I've spent my entire career working in community mental health settings in the publicmental health system.
Wonderful.
So as you can see, we have someone who is well-versed and able to discuss this importanttopic that we're going to dive in today.
(03:05):
And let me share with you, we're talking about addressing youth suicide, and we're lookingat it from a community mental health standpoint.
And from this particular standpoint, we're talking about breaking the silence, addressingyouth suicide, such a profound
title if you would.
(03:25):
So when hear that breaking the silence addressing youth suicide, comes to mind, Dr.
Reid?
I think mostly what comes to mind for me has to do with this kind of quality improvementframework that we've taken on at CNS Healthcare relative to suicide.
And we're following what we call the zero suicide framework that really, like you said,how are we having critical conversations about it?
(03:51):
How do we get staff to talk about it, to be knowledgeable about the warning signs, to beable to have protocols in place where we're increasing services to people
who are suicidal or have suicidal ideation from educating the public to educating our ownstaff about it.
It really is not something that we found when we started this process five years ago thatwas really talked about.
(04:14):
And when you would review these cases, you know, in terms of peer review or the qualitycouncil, the staff would have their own reaction to it.
They would feel kind of put upon like they were being criticized and not really viewing itas, this is a way to improve our practices in community mental health settings.
We certainly have suicides among the people we've seen, but with implementing that zerosuicide framework, we've seen a reduction in it.
(04:38):
And also my own personal experience with it.
I've had uh one individual who I treated who did die by suicide.
And then interestingly enough, during my entire career, uh talking to you made me reflectback on it that I actually know three colleagues who have died by suicide.
So it's something that is all around us that we're experiencing.
with the children, adolescents, adults and older adults, as well as the colleagues that wehave.
(05:02):
So suicide is a very important thing to be talking about, but we were not really talkingabout it as a group for how do we manage men, how do we address staff's reaction to it?
And how do we, I think the key that I learned working with the kids as well as the adults,the real key is continuous screening.
(05:23):
that we have evidence-based screening and that we're all on the same page as Frider, howare we going to react when we hear about it?
So it's been important.
I think also with the Zero Suicide, it's been very interesting to be in the community.
We work at various school locations, we work with community groups and fraternities andsororities, and it's a conversation whose time has come.
(05:44):
And just several interesting suicides in the community.
You know, there was a Miss America who died by suicide and others.
So,
We really have worked a lot in the local schools to change the language and the dialogueabout how we talk about suicide.
So that's been the most impactful thing.
I think for me, in terms of it, that it was not something that was really being discussed.
(06:07):
And I think that's been the best part of the zero suicide for us implementing it, thatwe're having these conversations at work, having conversations with people we serve,
having conversations with the parents, as well as the community.
Yeah, and thank you for helping to break the silence because we as colleagues, we asphysicians, we at times will forget that our own colleagues are struggling with these
(06:34):
thoughts of not wanting to be alive and with actions of trying to take their own lives.
That is so important.
And so thank you for highlighting these various examples that
you share with us and I'm sure people want to hear more about that zero suicide program.
So I'm just going to put a plug in right here.
You better make sure you reach out to Dr.
(06:54):
Michelle Reid to hear more about that program.
But what I also want to talk about in right in line with that is how do we break thesilence within those communities, the black community in particular, where we know stigma
still rests, still abides, whether it be in their households or
(07:14):
in their neighborhoods, in their even faith-based uh houses of worship, I'll say it likethat.
Yeah, help me to uh look to see how can we break the silence even there.
I think a very important part of being a certified community behavioral health clinic isthe expectation, and there are over 500 clinics all across the nation now, and over 3
(07:38):
million people have gotten help that one of the ongoing responsibilities we have is to docommunity outreach.
And I think that that's the place where I see most of getting the mental healthprofessionals out into the community.
talking with people about mental disorders and about suicide specifically.
So working to tailor the content, for instance, at schools.
(08:01):
think about about a month and a half ago, we actually were in the black community inDetroit and there was a barbershop and through a local church, through one of our
faith-based initiative, they'd asked us to come.
So a number of social workers and psychologists and nurse practitioners and physicians,assistants, psychiatrists,
We literally camped out at this barbershop all day.
(08:23):
We brought pizza and people were getting haircuts.
There were children there, adults there, and we were just able to talk with people just innatural environments about suicide, about depression, about getting help.
So I think it's just one-on-one, those type of conversations.
Like we encourage the local school districts to call us in and we'll do an auditorium.
one time I can remember we were involved.
(08:46):
with the schools in uh one of the school districts where there were uh several suicidesamong the students.
So there were like three or four students died by suicide over a relatively short periodof time, like about six months.
And they literally had us coming in, having these conversations at the various meetingsthey had, meeting with staff, meeting with the family members, meeting with the parent
(09:09):
teacher association.
So I think it just starts with having crucial conversations.
among your staff, but just that the community mental health centers really have a hugerole to play in terms of, we call it community outreach and letting people know that we
have the ability to come out and talk with you about that in the community.
So I think that that's extremely important.
(09:29):
So community outreach, think is a big part of it.
And the focus for us has largely been the school districts and the faith-based initiativesand other sororities and fraternities, even sometimes with like the
Chamber of Commerce and other organizations.
So by getting your name out in the community and working with various organizations, itgives an opportunity for psychiatrists and social workers to come out.
(09:52):
And I would encourage uh anybody looking for, we have a certified community behavioralhealth success center through the National Council on Mental Wellbeing.
And they have a list of all the CCBHCs around the country.
They're all expected to do this activity.
So people could just look at that site, find their state.
for what organizations are there and contact them directly.
(10:13):
So we really just get direct contact from organizations who are interested in working withus and hearing more about it.
Get it.
And I just want to emphasize what Dr.
Reid just shared.
Three students dying in a six month timeframe, death by suicide, that's a lot.
I just want to make sure we emphasize that.
That is not normal.
(10:34):
uh Just in case we have people on here who may not be aware of what uh normal is and whatnormal is not.
So thank you.
And thank you for the work that you all are doing.
And as you all are doing that work, what are some of the biggest risk factors that youhave seen that contribute to suicide and the mental health struggles amongst the black
(10:56):
youth of today?
I would say a couple of things I've seen in some of the cases that we work with, like aspart of being part of the state of Michigan, you have to review all the suicides that
occur during that.
So there's an in-depth review of all the cases involving suicide.
And from my review, looking at the cases, I would say that one of the biggest things thatstuck out to me is that a number of the people suffered with some fairly serious...
(11:24):
and life-threatening general medical conditions that would result in them being in a lotof chronic pain or requiring a lot of medical treatment and intervention.
So there was a subset of people for whom the precipitating factor appeared to be somechronic general medical condition that really did not have an end in sight in terms of the
treatment.
uh Also, I would say that we've seen some of it in the form of substance use disorder.
(11:49):
So both for children and adults.
substance use, whether alcohol or other drugs have been associated with the suicide.
I've seen that.
oh the biggest thing where I really found it most interesting looking at the children andadults that we were involved with, the people who tended to be coming to see us on a
(12:12):
regular basis and were in treatment largely were not the people who are dying by suicide.
What we were seeing in the cases
uh in our general community is, and as we had a chance to go around and we do this childdeath review team and have a look at that, many of the people who died by suicide were not
in treatment and had not had any formal psychiatric diagnosis.
(12:36):
So you're looking at the cases after the fact to see, gee, what's going on?
And then you would see the chronic medical condition.
You would see a substance use disorder.
You would see the loss of a job or
you would see a death in the family.
So you would see these psychological and psychosocial stressors, but to a large group,often the cases we were called to be involved in were individuals who never had been
(13:01):
diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder.
So I think that's the biggest thing to be understanding the signs and symptoms ofdepression and other disorders to help people get help.
And I think there's another project that dovetails very nicely into this.
and they have it for both children and youth and for adults, is mental health first aid.
(13:22):
So through the National Council of Mental Well-being, they have more than a million peopletrained nationwide to be out in the communities with mental health first aid and they do
cover the suicide.
So that's another valuable program that people can just look up online, mental healthfirst aid, find out who's doing it in their community and that would help with that.
But the main thing is understanding the signs and symptoms of mental disorders in general.
(13:45):
and knowing where to get help.
But a large group of the people that I was involved in reviewing the case, they simply didnot have a formal diagnosis and had no treatment.
It seems to me the people who are receiving treatment, once the staff are all informed andwe're all escalating up services for people who are uh having uh issues with suicidal
(14:08):
ideation or previous suicide attempts.
that we were very successful in lowering the number of suicides among that particularpopulation.
So treatment works and help is available.
And I said, we have over 500 certified community behavioral health clinics, know, 46states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico all over the country.
So I think your certified community behavioral health clinic is one.
(14:31):
And two, I think the other thing that I found that was really helpful when you did havecertain risk factors,
is the national rollout of the 988 crisis and suicide line.
So that has been just that having access to that number, they do texts, they do chats.
You can talk to a live trained individual.
(14:53):
So that's been another place where you can also get information about suicide.
So you could call for yourself, you could call for a loved one, a family member, someoneat your church.
We even work with a couple of churches where
we had suicide among, uh you know, like somebody who was in choir director at a localchurch.
So it affects all phases of the communities from the faith-based organizations to theschools.
(15:18):
uh There's uh just no sector that there's not uh having an impact.
So really I think working within your local community with the people who are doing oh the9-8-8.
And that's for, you call 988 and you can get a person 24 7 365 to talk about suicide orurgent need for mental health services.
(15:41):
And I think in healthcare looking at the implementing the zero suicide is extremelyimportant.
But again, mostly I think the outreach available through your certified communitybehavioral health clinics, they were all over the country.
They're working with schools, they're working with faith-based organizations.
That's an excellent place to start to get help.
And so when you you highlighted in your response about a group of people who, uh, when youreviewed their records, you noticed that they had these signs of symptoms, but there
(16:14):
must've been a barrier, potentially a barrier for them getting into treatment.
Cause it sounds like if you're able to get treatment that we're able to possibly lowerthat suicide risk.
So I, I, I'm just curious, what do you believe are some of the barriers, to that?
to that treatment so that we can get more people involved in treatment.
(16:37):
Oh, I think one thing is, I um just think about um just going to Detroit public schoolsand being in school.
I mean, I remember the kind of healthcare services that were consistently integrated intoschools.
And I remember my sister was always sitting up in the front of the room.
And at the time, I don't think my parents knew that she had vision problems.
And so there was somebody who came through and did vision screening on all the kids.
(17:03):
And I mean, we had a primary care physician and everything, but they weren't necessarilylooking at her vision.
And through this in-school screening, they were able to figure out that she had a visionproblem.
And at a very seven or eight years old, she was wearing some fairly heavy duty glasses,which improved everything for her.
And so I think what it is is the ability to have screening is important.
(17:24):
Working with our primary care providers to be screening for depression, screening forsuicide, I think that's gonna be one of the biggest things.
How do we...
oh Just make it just an ordinary part of getting medical care, an ordinary part of beingpart of a school system where you're constantly screening for the health.
And I think that the healthcare services in schools have gone up and down over time, butwe really are working to try to improve the ability to educate the school staff, the
(17:54):
parent teacher association, and also, you know, looking at schools.
I think screening is the biggest thing.
I would say it's an interesting concept you brought to me because when I look at peoplewho often come to see services, to see community mental health, it's not unusual for
people to have been suffering, uh even children with psychiatric illnesses for sometimesseven, eight, nine, 10 years before they're actually getting to the psychiatrist.
(18:25):
So very often we're not the ones that see individuals at the front end.
And actually,
The majority of antidepressants prescribed in the country are written by primary careproviders.
So I think it's really something that we have to work with our colleagues in primary care,that screening for depression becomes a routine part of that and that they're
knowledgeable and aware where to make referrals.
(18:47):
So I think that that's part of it.
um Sometimes though, think particularly the cases I've worked with where it was a chronicgeneral medical condition, I just think that people were uh seeing it more as a
physical health issue and not a psychiatric issue.
So I think it just was not on their mind at all that I could have had a viral meningitisthat could impact me and end up causing depression.
(19:11):
And the depression could be so severe that you would think about taking your life.
So I don't know in the cases I had, particularly with the medical issues, there was reallyuh a clear understanding that there was a link, an integration between physical and mental
health.
So I think that's how it was missed.
And also I think in terms of
um knowing that people who have mental disorders and uh use substances, whether it'scocaine or heroin or alcohol, that the likelihood of suicide could go up with that.
(19:44):
So I think it was just a connect, how do you connect those things together?
So I think that um treatment is much more available, I say over the last five or six yearsthan it had been before, because of the expansion of certified community behavioral health
clinics.
And I think that in Michigan, we do a needs assessment.
And if you were asked what are a couple of the factors that lead people not to have accessto care, uh three things I've found.
(20:10):
um So we found that transportation is one.
So people not being able to get to the clinic because they don't have transportation.
Some of the communities in Michigan, we don't have public transportation, the millage forthat.
So.
The impact of telehealth has been great in improving access to care, but people talk abouttransportation.
And the other thing they talk about that's a barrier to care to them ah is childcare.
(20:33):
So they may have several children and they would want to go for help or get one of thechildren help.
They have issues with childcare.
So transportation and childcare are two of the biggest barriers I've seen.
Also in Michigan, the Alterum Institute did a big report that looks at access to mentalhealth care.
and they were took all the claims for Medicaid and Medicare and had a look to see anybodywho had a psychiatric diagnosis at any point from any ER visit, any doctor's office.
(21:04):
Did they actually end up having at least one psychiatric visit?
And what they found was that there was just an unmet need.
They analyzed where the providers were across the state and uh it was problematic.
And the funny thing about it that seems so odd to me when we looked at substance abuse isthat
I was surprised that you were actually more likely to get ongoing services for mentalhealth or specifically substance abuse if you had Medicaid.
(21:30):
So those that are part of the public mental health system, the unmet need was much lessthan private insurance.
So I think we run into an issue with the private insurances where they have a panel, butmany of the people on the panel are not accepting new
patients and so it appears that here's this robust group of individuals but you may call Iwork with families so many times and they're saying I have a problem could you refer me to
(22:00):
somebody and I'm like well really it would be better if you're going to use insurance callme when you have your insurance panel and I can go through that panel with you and better
understand you know who's still taking new people because you just have this list ofhundreds of providers and they call and they're not actually taking new patients so I
think that on people with even with private insurance
it's difficult to get care.
(22:20):
So I think the factors are, know, uh insurance is a piece of it.
um I think transportation is a piece of it.
Child care is a piece of it.
And that's why the certified community behavioral health clinics are so great because wesee people regardless of the ability to pay.
So even if you don't have insurance, you'll be eligible for services.
but insurance is, and transportation and childcare were the three biggest things that cameup for us as far as barriers to care.
(22:48):
Yeah, and I'm loving this and I hope everyone out there listening, you're loving this andhearing these responses because with each problem that we identify, we're also identifying
solutions.
And so I thank you, Dr.
Reid, you're being very thoughtful in your responses.
So I hope everyone is catching that, that we're not just identifying the problems, we'reidentifying solutions as we go along with each problem.
(23:09):
That is wonderful.
I need you to speak, Dr.
Reid, um to our younger psychiatrists.
They may already be in psychiatry.
They may be early career psychiatrists.
They may be a seasoned psychiatrist.
They even might be in a residency.
But I want you to give a message to these young providers or younger providers aboutworking with underserved black youth populations.
(23:37):
What message would you give to them?
Well, I think in terms of that, where I have seen the best results with care, and I'd saythis has been the biggest change over my career in psychiatry, is what is the role of the
peer counselors in terms of managing depression and suicide?
(23:58):
So we work with parent support partners, but we also have youth peer advocates.
So what I think the missing voice in the room to me, and the best voice that we reallyneed to
push to expand that is that people, children, adolescents, young adults with a livedexperience with mental disorders and who are now in their recovery, working alongside of
(24:21):
mental health professionals to get in spaces where we couldn't be, where people will talkwith them before they would talk with us.
So I think that's going to be the biggest thing that I would say, is the biggestimprovement since I've been in care that I cannot stress highly enough in whatever
organization you're in to continue to push.
for the peer uh support specialists, youth peer counselors, and parent support partners.
(24:44):
So you're partnering with parents, with youth, and with others.
And then we also have recovery coaches.
That is the biggest place I think you can make an impact in your organization in terms ofthe workforce, expanding the workforce of people who have a lived experience with the
mental disorder, a lived experience.
(25:04):
with suicide to talk.
And it's just been most gratifying for me.
I've presented numerous times with individuals who are part of our anti-stigma team.
And they are people with a lived experience with mental disorders who have had suicidalideations in the past.
And we go out and talk in various communities about that.
But I think the role of the peer support specialist, the youth advocate, the recoverycoaches and parent support partners, I think that's the biggest thing in any organization
(25:33):
you're in.
to work, you know, if they have those individuals to work very closely with them.
I can remember once when the Black Psychiatrist of America came to Detroit and I actuallydid a presentation uh with the anti-stigma team lead and we talked about it was a spoken
word presentation and it was very gratifying to work with the Black Psychiatrist ofAmerica and do those presentations.
(25:54):
So I think that the biggest thing I think is the, you know, peers is just very important.
So if you have it at your organization,
work with them directly, get involved with them.
Your reach can just be expanded so much when you have that peer uh activity going on.
That's the biggest thing for me that I would recommend.
(26:14):
And that was not something that was around when I was a young psychiatrist.
It's something that came about probably over the last 20 years, but it wasn't reallypresent.
there are all of the certified community health clinics have it, but to have thepsychiatrist work directly with the peers is most important.
Thank you, thank you.
That's such an important message.
It's a collaborative message.
(26:35):
And it's a one that hopefully those who've heard this message, you will pick up and beable to uh send and utilize at whatever places of employment that you are working in,
academic institutions and or community behavioral health centers.
What gives you hope, Dr.
Reid?
So there's a lot of things out there that takes away, I hope.
(27:00):
But I want to hear what gives you hope and in doing so, as you talk about hope, what aresome of the promising programs or approaches or shifts, oh thoughts that you see that you
can point to for a better future for Black youth and mental wellness?
(27:21):
think for me is the changing attitude in the African-American community about mentalhealth is what gives me the most hope.
I I just left the American Psychiatric Association in Los Angeles, California, and we havethese plenaries and keynotes where Serena Williams is talking about mental health.
(27:44):
Watching on TV, I I hear like certain black stars like Common talks about
his experience with health.
Even on, it's kind of funny, I'd listen to Wednesday morning, there's a prayer call withthis minister, I'm United Methodist in the United Methodist Church in Atlanta, and he
frequently talks about his therapist and how it's been helped.
He leads a large church down there uh and how exciting it was for him to talk directlyabout it.
(28:08):
So I find it's a lot discussed a lot more openly by everyday citizens.
and also by famous people.
So I think having those conversations to have the children out, think the other thing was,which I was most hopeful about, was the American Psychiatric Association Foundation has
this whole uh public awareness campaign that they have kids and they have adults givingtheir different stories, a mother who's postpartum talking about, let's talk about it, and
(28:38):
getting out into the communities and doing this kind of mass marketing.
I think the 988 also did it, but.
It seems to me that there's a lot more energy in the community talking about mentaldisorders and people coming forward and sharing their experiences.
I think that's what gives me hope.
I once took a course and basically it was a course about living with chronic diseases andin the state of Michigan, they had implemented and they had persons with mental disorders
(29:04):
actually doing the training.
So two of them are doing training.
One lady had been 10 or 12 times in the state psychiatric hospital.
Another one had been in jail.
They're both in.
recovery long-term and had developmental disorders as children.
And here you have a psychiatrist, social workers, nurses, and they're going through thiscurriculum with us, personal action toward health that really looked at, you know, how do
(29:26):
you manage chronic illnesses?
So I think the more we can see mental disorders as chronic illnesses, I mean, really nodifferent than diabetes or hypertension.
I mean, these are diseases by and large we don't cure.
I mean, some things we can cure, an infection, cancer can be cured.
But like diabetes and hypertension, there are chronic conditions that require ongoingtreatment and management.
(29:47):
So I think increasingly, I feel more hopeful that people are more able to talk about it.
We're seeing more open.
mean, a day doesn't go by that you don't see something on social media talking about that.
So I think the biggest excitement for me was how the American Psychiatric Association, the988 People's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
(30:08):
have been able to leverage social media for good to do it.
Even two young psychiatrists actually, Dr.
Gregory, I saw ran into him at a conference and he's giving a men's health magazine,giving mental health tips.
So I've been excited to see some of the younger psychiatrists.
I actually went to uh two sessions at this conference where these two young psychiatristswere talking about how could you leverage social media.
(30:35):
to get the word out there about mental health.
So I'm very excited and it gives me hope to see that you have the people are using theselarge platforms they have to talk about mental health and their help is more readily
available both through the certified community behavioral health clinics.
thanks in some parts of the pandemic, the availability of telehealth services hasexpanded.
(30:58):
I mean, that gives me hope.
I mean, when I started medical school and residency,
no such thing as telehealth.
think we had a little bit of it oh prior to the pandemic, but not much, but now it's justexciting to see how we can overcome a childcare barrier, how we can overcome a
transportation barrier, and you can be sitting in your own home and being able to getmental health.
(31:20):
That's to me is what's most exciting or more innovative or different than when I startedpracticing psychiatry.
Thank you.
And your response gives me hope and puts a smile on my face.
You know, you can't see me, but there is a smile on my face.
And thank you for even emphasizing what occurred at the annual meeting for the AmericanPsychiatric Association that was held in Los Angeles.
(31:44):
And we're going to put a plug in there.
You cannot miss the next one.
You want to make sure you're there in 2026 in San Francisco because of these type ofsessions where you're learning.
where you're energized, where you become more hopeful.
uh Dr.
Michelle Reid, this has been awesome in this discussion.
We've been talking about breaking the silence, addressing youth suicide, and that's whatwe have done today.
(32:07):
We've given voice to those who are marginalized.
We've given voice to those who are less hopeful.
And uh with that said, I want to see if you have any last comments, any last...
remarks oh for those who are listening.
I'm sure everyone's glad they stayed on and listened to this whole episode.
(32:29):
So please, remarks.
Well, ah I would say that people who suffer with mental disorders are just like everybodyelse and that treatment is available and that recovery works.
So I think that's the biggest thing to recognize the issue and to understand that recoveryis possible and treatment is available and treatment works.
(32:52):
That's what I would say.
Wonderful treatment works.
So we just got to make sure that we are Have people able to get into the treatment and sothat's where we all come in.
That's where we all work together This has been such a rich discussion We want to makesure that you share this podcast with all of your Colleagues with all of your family
(33:13):
members all of your friends such an important topic And so thank you.
Dr.
Michelle Reid.
We wish you much success up there
uh in Detroit, Michigan, where she is changing lives on a daily basis.
uh I am based in the District of Columbia.
And so uh as you know, that is a hotbed for where so much is going on right now.
(33:37):
But let me tell you, we're changing lives there.
As I said, we point out the issue and we also talk about the solution.
And so we end on those positive notes.
Thank you so much for joining us and we hope that you...
will utilize this information.
Thanks for having me, Dr.
Shepherd.
(33:57):
Thank you for joining us on Breaking the Silence, Addressing Youth Suicide.
Please visit the Medical Minds podcast homepage at psychiatry.org for more information anda resource document related to this episode.
We also invite you to visit psychiatry.org slash more equity, M-O-O-R-E-E-Q-U-I-T-Y formore information on the APA More Equity in Mental Health Initiative.
(34:23):
Take care.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the individual speakers anddo not necessarily represent the views of the American Psychiatric Association.
The content of this podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does notoffer any other professional advice.
(34:48):
If you are having a medical emergency, please contact your local emergency responsenumber.
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