Transcription
EN: Welcome to Let’s Talk, with you are Milica and Nora, youth workers of the Center for Youth Work, and today we will talk about the importance of mental health of young people, precisely from our perspective as youth workers. Well, Milica, what is your experience, what do you think, why is it important to talk to young people about mental health?
ML: Well, primarily starting from the fact that the mandate of youth workers is to create a safe and secure space for young people without judgment, without any inconveniences, but that they really feel free to be as they are, to explore their own opinions and some new topics, and themselves, where we provide them with support in their development and developing their capacities. And mental health is precisely an important factor for such processes, but in general for any young person, because no matter how much this concern for physical health is promoted, to be active and to eat healthy and similar, it is very important that as much attention, if not maybe a little more, is devoted to mental health, because it has an impact on every aspect of our life, starting from our relationship with ourselves, and then to any other relationship. The processes of youth work are such that we really promote that kind of self-care, that we actually promote a conversation about some of the challenges and problems that young people face, then of course and if the need arises, perhaps referring them to some further steps, for some necessary actions that we can’t do as youth workers, but we can connect them, that’s intra-sectoral cooperation, but also inter-sectoral cooperation.
EN: Well, yes, I think that we are still in a society where mental health is a taboo topic, our parents’ generations somehow always worry and cringe at the topic of mental health, and it is important that we normalize conversations about this. And on the other hand, our role is to empower them, as you said yourself, but since in our educational system or as part of formal education, young people do not acquire assertive communication skills, or they do not devote so much time to their emotional development, but to formal and professional development. In essence, we empower them to address some problems for the first time and in an assertive way, or to turn to some experts. And we are their link with them. And here we started talking about mental health, we had some workshops, some trainings, so from your perspective – why is it important to talk about this topic?
ML: Well, the concept of mental health may have been popular recently, actually since the corona virus, since we realized that it is very present and that it is necessary to talk about it and devote ourselves to it, but as a phenomenon it has been present for generations, only there was no awareness. And I guess that dynamic of today’s life also requires greater care of our mental health, and somehow, in general, primarily why it’s important to talk about it is to break the stigma. As long as we as a society behave as if mental health is a taboo topic or that it is immediately associated with psychiatry, we will not actually be able to develop as a society. I think that talking about mental health, as we discussed on one occasion, is a step towards creating a better tomorrow and a beautiful empathetic world in which I believe we would all like to live.
EN: Thank you, Milica, for this short discussion, we’ll be in contact. Thank you for listening to Let’s Talk!
EN: Dobrodošli/e u Let’s Talk, sa vama su Milica i Nora, omladinske radnice Centra za omladinski rad i mi ćemo danas da pričamo o važnosti mentalnog zdravlja mladih, upravo iz ove naše perspektive omladinskih radnika i radnica. Pa Milice, koje je tvoje iskustvo, šta ti misliš zašto je važno pričati sa mladima o mentalnom zdravlju?
ML: Pa, prvenstveno krenuvši od toga da praksa omladinskih radnika i radnica jeste da stvaraju siguran i bezbedan prostor za mlade bez osuđivanja, bez da kažem bilo kakvih neprijatnosti, već da se zaista osećaju slobodno da budu takvi kakvi su, da istražuju i svoje mišljenje i neke nove tematike, i sebe, gde im mi upravo u tome i pružamo podršku pri njihovom razvitku i razvijanju njihovih kapaciteta. I mentalno zdravlje je upravo bitan faktor za tako neke procese, ali generalno za bilo koju mladu osobu, zato što kolko god se promoviše ta briga o fizičkom zdravlju, da budemo aktivni i da se hranimo zdravo i slično, vrlo je bitno da toliko i pažnje, ako ne i možda malo više posvetimo mentalnom zdravlju, zato što je ono našviše ima uticaja na svaki naš životni aspekt i krenuvši od našeg odnosa sa nama, pa onda do bilo kog drugog odnosa. Upravo procesi omladinskog rada jesu takvi da zaista promovišemo tu neku brigu o sebi, da promovišemo zapravo razgovor o tim nekim izazovima i problemima sa kojima se mladi susreću, onda naravno i ukoliko se ukaže potreba, možda usmeravanje na neke dalje korake, za neke potrebne korake koje mi ne možemo kao omladinske radnice da uradimo, ali možemo da ih povežemo, to je ta unutarsektorska saradnja, ali i međusektorska saradnja.
EN: Pa da, mislim da jesmo i dalje u nekom društvu u kom je mentalno zdravlje tabu tema, generacije naših roditelja se nekako uvek zabrine i trzne na tu temu mentalnog zdravlja, i važno je da mi normalizujemo razgovore o ovome. A sa druge strane naša uloga je da ih osnažujemo, to si ti i sama rekla, ali pošto u našem obrazovnom sistemu ili u sklopu formalnog obrazovanja mladi ne stiču veštine asertivne komunikacije, ili ne posvećuju toliko vreme njihovom emotivnom razvoju već tom formalnom i stručnom. U suštini, mi njih osnažujemo da prvi put i na asertivan način adresiraju neke probleme ili to, upravo da se obrate nekim stručnim licima. I mi smo im poveznica sa njima. I evo mi smo počeli da pričamo o mentalnom zdravlju, imale smo neke radionice, neke treninge i obuke, iz tvoje perspektive – zašto je važno da razgovaramo o ovoj temi?
ML: Pa pojam mentalno zdravlje je možda od nedavno popularan, zapravo od korone, od kada smo shvatili da je vrlo prisutno i da je potrebno o tome pričati i posvetiti mu se, ali je kao pojava generacijama unazad prisutno, samo što nije osvešćeno. I valjda ta neka dinamika današnjeg života iziskuje i veću brigu o našem mentalnom zdravlju, a nekako generalno prvenstveno zašto je bitno pričati o tome je da bi se razbila stigma. Dokle god se mi budemo kao društvo ponašali kao da je mentalno zdravlje neka tabu tema ili da se odmah povezuje sa psihijatrijom, dotle zapravo nećemo moći ni kao društvo da se razvijamo. Upravo mislim da razgovori o mentalnom zdravlju, kao što smo mi nekom prilikom diskutovale, jeste korak ka stvaranju tog nekog boljeg sutra i tog nekog lepog empatičnog sveta u kom verujem da bismo svi hteli da živimo.
EN: Hvala ti Milice na ovom kratkom razgovoru, družimo se još. Hvala što ste slušali Let’s Talk!