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We stopped by and spoke with the professionals about this very real problem among youths, and what they're doing to address it. Here's what they told us:

Juliet Simmons- Councilor Therapist, Mental Health Program
"Well, today is World Mental Health day. The theme this year is 'Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World'. So, the Ministry does take this very seriously; we are very concerned about the mental health of everyone. So, this year we are focusing on young people because mental health has been a taboo issue or a taboo subject. People tend to believe mental health affects mainly elderly but it affects young people as well. So, we are creating awareness that young people do have mental health issues as well. For example, the common one would be depression and anxiety."

Dr. Ramon Figueroa- CEO Ministry of Health
"Our focus has been diverted to other issues. We talk a lot about NCD's, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, dialysis and so on and we tend to forget the hidden problems. We tend to forget that young people, especially as they are transitioning from childhood to adulthood, because of the physiological and anatomical changes that they go through really affects their psyche and makes them quite a vulnerable group. They are also a group that is, especially in this day and age, exposed, through social media, to a lot of negative influences. We have heard about cyber-bullying we have heard about brain-washing over the internet. Those are targeting a vulnerable population that if we don't have support services to help them navigate through this difficult time they can actually result in serious mental health issues; suicide being one of them."

Juliet Simmons
"Just like how you take care of your teeth and the rest of your body, take care of your mind. How good is your mental health? And you can tell how good it is by how you handle your stress. Life is full of stress. People say, you will get your share of it so don't go looking for it. But how do you handle that? Do you go into a depressive state or do you have anxiety and you can't function and you can't get your daily activities done? That tells us how good your mental health is. But if you can bounce back from your stress and go into your problem solve mode then we know you have good mental health."

The Ministry of Health says that it continues to strengthen the mental health services in Belize. There will be increased access at the community level, where psychiatric nurse practitioners will receive additional training through the development of the National Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Adolescence Health, which will include mental health.