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6 uw oS Zz = Ss = Oakville Beaver | Thursday, August 31, 2023 | DEBUNKING MYTHS ABOUT YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH MELANIE MCGREGOR Column As summer begins to fade, three words come to the forefront: back to eae change won't be welcotne or easy for every student heading back to and can anxiety and stress. re are a number of ings. * "Youth just want to be left alone." These may not be easy topics, but that doesn't mean youth won't open up about what they are experiencing if they feel safe, heard, and under- stood. Young people often hear alot what they are do- ig wrong and that they fhoudnt be feeling how y are, and that could ee any one of us to clam up. A little empathy can go along way. + "Youth don't know what they need." While they may not know the ac- ‘y may thes that would ‘fe help- persistent myths about ful, like talking tosomeone youth mental health that or connecting with other areimportanttodebunkso youth. Everyone is their we can try to better under- own expert and exploring stand what the kids anc what might bring the sup- young adults in our lives __ port they are looking for is may be experiencing. more helpful than dismiss- Consider these: ing their ideas. + "It's normal for youth While thinking about to struggle — they'll grow newschool supplies, it's al- out of it." While people of so important to think ages will experience about youth's mental changes in their mental health and what they health, we don't want to mightneed tonotjust cope write them offand assume _ with back to school but to they are"justaphase."The feel well overall. right support and under- standing can make a differ- Melanie McGregor is enceand help ications and learn coping skillstoavoid advancement specialist at longer-term struggles and the Canadian Ment impacts. Health Association Hatton + “All mental health Region Branch, which changes willlook the same." provides mental health/ We may expect that stereo- addiction community sup- icture of surly, port and education. Visit withdrawn, and sad youth, www.halton.cmha.ca for but signs of declining men- more information and TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM SNAPSHOT Don Montgomery photo A great blue heron visits Bronte Creek. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. WHO WILL MAKE FINANCIAL DECISIONS FOR YOU? CONSIDER HAVING A POWER OF ATTORNEY, WRITES PETER WATSON e how difficult ua nancial decisions can be if you lack mental capacity. One aspect of estate lanning is having a power of attorney (POA) for prop- erty. lows you to se- lect someone you trust to make those important de- cisions. Financial decisions can include paying your bills, collecting money owed to Xx, formerly known as Twitter. YOUROPINIONS 3 cate their thoughts and feel- FOR OUR WeeKiy NEWSLETTER aT INSIDEHALTON.COM lling so house and managing PETER WATSON Column nancial complexities, you might want to ensure there is the necessary expertise to make correct decisions. This could be done by in- cluding someone you trust and augment your power of attorney team by adding someone with the ni sary financial ability ‘Your power of attorney for property could be a family member, spouse or longtime friend. Depending on your fi- It would be peneficiat to wishes to the people chosen. Managing your finances if you are no longer able to can be nging. You “vant to maintain a certain lifestyle without spending all your money, which could suddenly and drastically change how you: are: able to live. must be at least. 18 years old. Also, it is practical to have someone younger than you because if your mental incapacity i: caused by the normalaging process, that also might be- come an issue with some- one your own age. your lifetime you can change who you ay as your power of B atto! Understand your ability to appoint a POA requires mental capacity. Therefore, if mental ca- pacity becomes an issue no new POA can be selected. Peter Watson, of Watson snoestmens MBA, Cl 'P., CIM®, rae oer, pentane financial plan- ning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted rough www.watsonin- vestments.com. ABOUT US ; lay, is a Metroland Media Group Ltd., wholly-owned subsidiary of ‘Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family ‘of newspapers is comprise publications across Ontario. This newspaper isa meraber ofthe National NewsMec ouncil. 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