Five Ways to Support Students with Mental Health Crisis
In 2009, Irnes Zeljkovic, a student at Western University, experienced an acute psychotic episode on campus, caused by stress and school pressure. He was brutally arrested by campus police and subsequently treated as a criminal rather than someone who needed validation and understanding when dealing with tough circumstances. Today, Mr. Zeljkovic (MSW, RSW) devotes his life to being a trauma-informed clinical specialist and social work consultant. From 2016-2019, He was the intake coordinator, primary clinician and co-developer of the London Health Sciences Centre Cornerstone Counselling program, a hospital to community-based pilot project in Ontario. He supported youth in the community who were wait listed for clinical services, did not fit criteria boxes, and youth who resisted bio-medical treatment models. In 2015, he worked at the Canadian Mental Health Association Crisis Stabilization space where he provided crisis de-escalation pathways by first and foremost building rapport and trust with people in distress.
His experience underscores a broader issue: how crises are often met with force rather than support. Motivated by this, we co-authored a short academic manuscript aiming to provide care providers outside of the mental health sphere with some guidance to handle situations like the one Mr. Zeljkovic experienced. This manuscript, titled “Five Ways to Support Students in Mental Health Crisis” was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal by Martin Sellier Silva (CEYMH Youth Navigator), Irnes Zeljkovic and Dr. Lena Palaniyappan (CEYMH Director).
In this article, we discuss actionable steps that allow us to shift our perspective of mental health crisis from a focus on symptoms and diagnosis to understanding life circumstances and tailoring the approach to every individual.
Our understanding of mental health crises is a key part of this process. Mental health crises are defined as an experience of escalating distress, thoughts, and behaviours that places someone and their social and vocational functioning at risk. However, they can also be simply understood as proportionate reactions to demanding life circumstances. This alternative view encourages us to approach crises with proportionate responses.
A proportionate first response involves validating the student’s life circumstances and working collaboratively to understand the factors contributing to their distress. The collaborative aspect is crucial as in traditional crisis management, clinicians, who are experts in mental health, might not take into consideration clients’ input, who are the undeniable experts of their own life. Therefore, cultural humility from the caregiver through openness to mutual learning or acknowledgement of implicit biases is another key part in handling a crisis. For example, a student from a marginalized community may have different stressors that should be acknowledged when assessing their crisis.
Lastly, a focus on preventing further crises and increasing students’ engagement are crucial steps to improve mental health crisis recovery. Indeed, some specific markers such as episodes of insomnia or a sudden lack of social interaction can be signatures to be wary of, to predict future crises. Conversely, clinicians can develop, with students, strategies focused on broader mind-body “behavioural health” (e.g., sleep, nutrition, physical activity) rather than on mental health symptoms, to actively prevent further crises while sustaining engagement.
To see the full article and learn more about it visit: link to come.
To learn more about Mr. Zeljkovic’s journey check out this previous CEYMH blog post.
Irnes is also presently working on a film documentary, titled RESIST, which captures his personally lived experience and recovery journey. The intention of his upcoming film will always be about finding ways to move forward as a community through resiliency, forgiveness, and togetherness. Here is a link to his film documentary website: https://resistdoc.com/
By Martin Sellier Silva and Irnes Zeljkovic