TAMPA, Fla. — Taking care of our health also includes addressing our mental health. More treatments are available, but what if you could prevent mental health issues altogether? A local doctor is hoping to do just that.
Dr. Rahul Mehra created a program called Emotional Vaccines. No, it's not a shot, but a series of short videos on different topics that address all sorts of mental health issues.
It's geared toward kids and families with short 2-3 minutes videos. The goal is to start conversations on how to handle situations they may not have encountered yet.
Dr. Mehra explains, "It's designed to help individuals and families dealing with everyday life challenges, such that those challenges don't become bigger issues later on in life."
Already there are more than 200 videos dealing with all kinds of topics.
The Boys and Girls Club of the Suncoast is seeing some real success using the program.
Freddy Williams is the President and the CEO. "Perhaps they were faced with something that was challenging or difficult. They now know how to identify what that emotion is, identify what that stressor is and communicate it. And also make sure they're able to take care of themselves to ensure that it doesn't cause harm in the future."
The content of the videos is created by physicians to make sure it is appropriate and easy to understand. Dr. Mehra says another goal is to stop the stigma around mental health issues.
"Stigma related to mental health is alive and well and these videos even create an opportunity for us... because we're doing them, and having a conversation about mental health. So it's a first step in changing and transforming our previously held beliefs," Mehra said.
Williams says he's seeing great results from the program. "Sometimes I'm just in awe at the level of emotional intelligence that's demonstrated of our young people that these videos help facilitate."
Right now the program is being used in several local school districts and organizations that are geared to kids and families, but they do have individual subscriptions for families that are interested.