Getting Open with Adam Thielen

those journeys have looked like. We've also talked to Chief Operating Officer Andrew Miller and General Manager Rick Spielman about not only their personal experiences, but also an emphasis that they place on mental health within the Vikings organization. Last week we talked to kay fans Chris Hockey, who really

continued to open up about his mental health journey. He has overcome OCD and he continues to navigate depression and uses a number of techniques to navigate that on a day to day basis, and so really appreciate hearing from him. And today I'm really excited to sit down with Adam and Caitlin Feeling. They're going to talk about the work that the Feeling Foundation does around mental health and specifically youth mental health, which tends to be an overlooked area

of need. We'll be talking to the Feelings and also to doctor Jessica Ceci, who is a child psychiatrist within the m Health Fairview Network. Thank you guys so much for joining us. I guess the first question would be directed to really either or both of you, why do

you think that mental health is an important topic to cover? Yeah, I think I think just to it's kind of the reason why we end up choosing, uh, you know, youth mental health to start our foundation is the first thing that we kind of partnered with at the Masonic Chilln's Hospital because it just gets overlooked and there was a need there for help, for resources, really just time and energy from from you know people to show that they

care and that it is UM, it is normal. I mean, there's a lot of people that are going through what these kids are going through, UM, and so I think that was the big reason why we started in that direction.

And then since then it's just UM had just a ton of things UM that have kind of correlated in our personal lives and have made us even stronger UM to want to UM give back in that area, but UM just to just to normalize it to people, make people understand that that there's other people that are going through the same thing you're going through, um, and that you're not you know, different, and that you can open up and talk about it and and be okay with that,

you know, Adam. We've talked to several of your teammates at this point, Eric Kendricks, Tyler Conklin, Jalen Holmes kind of kicked off the whole series, and all of them have talked about their personal experiences and like some of them have been more childhood, some of them have been you know, over their whole life, Like everybody has had

a different story. But I guess, just for you, what do you appreciate about seeing your teammates being well to share these stories that are pretty personal things but they're

wanting to share to make an impact. Yeah. I mean it's been pretty cool to hear their stories, to see that that they're open with that, and I think the impact that that will make will be just uh, it'll be bigger than that they'll ever can imagine or we can imagine, just because I think if one, two, three kids see that and say, wow, like that's exactly what I'm going through, and it just it just creates a more comfortable setting for them to be open and honest.

Maybe it's with their family or with friends to be able to get help, or just to sometimes just to be able to talk about it. Um is enough help and and really to get them in the right directions. So UM, it's really been cool to see these guys do that and will be a huge help to a lot of people. One of the things that we've talked about throughout this series is the stigma around mental health just in society in general, but um, maybe even at a deeper level with an athletic and obviously you guys

are both athletes. M keitlan, I'm wondering just your perspective too, just within athletics, why you think that might be a little bit more of a stigma. Um. I just think that, you know, being an athlete, maybe you have that mental toughness that you don't want to, you know, open up and be vulnerable with people, your teammates, your parents, coaches, whatnot.

So I think, like Adam said, with these players speaking up about their experiences, I think that that just goes to show that anyone can deal with certain types of mental or behavioral health and that it's okay to be open about it. It's okay. You don't have to feel like you're less than even if you are an athlete, a professional athlete. It's you know, these professional athletes are talking about it. So I just think that it's such

a good conversation that they opened up about. Adam. How have you guys seen the stigma starting to change within the NFL or national sports And we've talked a little bit about like UM, Kevin Love and the NBA sharing history and a few players in the NFL. I guess just how have you from your perspective, how have you

seen that that stigma breaking down a little bit? Yeah, I think I think just the resources now, the amount of resources that teams are putting into it, UM shows that it's a it's a big deal and it is a game changer. Four teams to have those resources and have UM the opportunity for guys to be open and to be you know, to say that hey, I have I have an issue with this and and can you help me? And when when that happens, it just creates

a better culture in the locker room. It creates a more open atmosphere and guys realize that they're not alone, that that maybe there's five six guys feeling the exact same way that you are, So when you open up about it, well now they want to open up about it and they want to get help. So um, you know, I think it's been it's been really cool to see that go through our locker room and just see guys um transforming and really just changing not only their lives

but other people's as well. Adam, you mentioned about how mental health, especially the area of youth mental health, has been overlooked. Is that an area that you guys were sort of aware that that was an area of need? Was it something where you started digging into possible areas of need with your foundation and that came to light? Just sort of wondering how that came about that that

you're focusing on that area. Well, we were kind of in search of, you know, different areas that maybe overlooked, and then when Masonic you know, came to us kind of with the Behavioral Mental Health Unit, we were like, that's a no brainer. I felt like God was calling us to kind of spotlight that, especially with the platform Adam has and how many youth and adults struggle with it.

We were like it was just a no brainer for us to try and use our platform and whatever resources we can to help help this hospital, help these kids, and just help make mental health behavioral health just broadcasts to more people. Especially you know, we have really close family, family members and friends who deal with significant mental behavioral health, and so it really hits home to us to be more open about it and to you know, just make

it more aware and make it more like Adam said, normalized. Yeah. I think I think kind of a crazy thing for us is when, like Healen said, we were trying to figure out ways that we could help in this community, and I think what really kind of opened our eyes to it, and then, like like Healen said, since then, we've had so many connections to it, and I'm so glad that we started working within mental health and behavioral health.

But when we first toured the Masonic Jones Hospital in the mental health department, the it was unbelievable to hear these doctors and nurses and the people within in that group just how shocked number one, that we were there and wanted to help, and then number two, just how excited they were that we were going to provide resources and how badly they needed it and how badly they needed just people that care about these kids, and again just how many kids like this happens to our adults,

and that that you know, people just don't know about it and don't realize that how prevalent it is and how important it is to talk about. So um that really opened our eyes and since then has just um, you know, really changed our mindset on it and how

we could we could help and get back. As I listened to you say that it just resonates with so much that we've been talking about so far, where you know, even whether it's professional football player or whether it's kids, you know, if someone has um like cancer or they break a bone or something like that. And of course not to make light of those situations, but those seem to be so much more accepted and talked about, and even for hospital visits and things like that, it's not

as spotlighted when there's those mental health issues. So I think it's awesome that you guys are working specifically around that issue. Has there been anything that you guys have learned through this process that's either you know, helped you in your personal lives or with your family members, or just anything that's kind of like opened your eyes to this issue beyond the fact that you know, it's obviously

a much bigger one than people realize. Yeah, I would say just that, you know, it's a sickness like you've talked about cancer. Um. You know, sometimes there's obviously varying degrees of mental health. Some people really it's a sickness. They can't control what's going on in their minds. They can't. They try to and they can't, you know. So that's really opened my eyes with a close family member, just trying to understand ways that I can help and not

trigger like the mental health more, you know. So that's been one area. And even just sitting and talking with these kids we try and have visits with these kids at the hospital and just hearing, you know, all stories from the nurses and just understanding kind of what they've been through, whether you know, whether there's issues at home and that's what's caused the issues or whatnot. So there's a lot of different areas that I feel like I've personally learned and trying to get better at m just

talking with other people. Yeah, I think just just learning, like Keel and said, um, learning about it, understanding it, more because a lot of times it doesn't really like make sense to me because maybe my issue is different than someone else's, so sometimes it doesn't make sense. But when you start to learn and be around it more

and try to understand it, it really helps. Especially when you have friends or family, it really helps them because you can understand it more, so you kind of know what to do, what not to do, what to say, what not to say to really help them, you know, with what they're going through. And then personally, I mean, we all have ups and downs a lot life and trying to navigate that and really being able to apply those things your personal life has been huge for me personally.

And obviously you guys our parents to yourself, you have Asher and Hudson, and I guess for either of you, but I'll ask Caitlin, maybe first just being a mom, has it given you an even more personal connection to these youth that are going through you know, different types of trials. Yeah, yeah, it definitely has um. You know, just as they grow, I feel like I just want to be open with them as a mom and them

open with me. And Adam and I've talked about this, you know, as they grow, we want to have a good connection with our kids. We hope we can, and we want them to feel comfortable with us if they're ever going through anything or feeling different thoughts, we want them to know that we're here or that you know that it's not not not bad to feel that way, you know. We want those emotions to be okay in

this house and them to be open with it. And also I think just teaching them to be My main thing is teaching them to be kind to everyone, because you never know what a little boy who might bug you at school is going through at home, you know what I mean. There's just so many things that that could be happening in other people's lives, and even us as adults. I try, I'm trying harder to be like that because someone's in a grassy moment, you never know

what they're dealing with. So I think that's a big thing that I want to teach my kids, you know, every day they go to school, I say, you know, spread God's love. Then, Adam just kind of generally speaking, obviously, the Vikings have had a long standing relationship with you of m Masonic, like you know, going back to Sully and Chad, and I know Kyle did a lot of stuff there. The Wilf's also just what have you appreciated more on a larger scale, just about that relationship with

that hospital and the organization. Yeah, just you know how willing they are to kind of accommodate to really again show you what their needs are, what these kids needs are, and then try to help you figure out the best way to to provide the best resources opportunities for these kids. So, um, yeah,

it's been a it's been a great relationship. And which has been good is is you know, you say that a lot of people have worked with them, and that was kind of a big thing for us when we started talking to them, is Okay, where hasn't there been help and where can we help and make a difference where there hasn't been a much attention Because those guys that you mentioned have done such great work and so many areas of that hospital and impacted so many lives

and we've been, you know, blessed to be able to be a part of a lot of that just being around those guys, and so it's been pretty cool to just be to be able to help an area that hasn't been helped yet. So that that's kind of why things got to where they were. How, if at all, has the topic of mental health affected you personally? You guys have already mentioned some close family members and things like that. Was there anything else that you wanted to

say on that topic? Just awareness, understand standing, you know. I think until you have stuff in your life or you are connected with something, you just don't understand it. So I think that's been huge for both of us, just understanding it for not only for like you said, family members or friends, but our personal lives as well.

Like I said, there's varying degrees of mental health obviously, but I feel like Adam touching it, but we've struggled with different things, you know, not as maybe bad severe as some, but like I've definitely struggled with like anxiety being a mom and trying to do everything, and even I remember, you know, in playing sports and soccer, and you know, there's just a lot of things that you look back on and you're like, oh was that you know, like you maybe didn't even know, but like, oh was

I a little depressed then, you know, going through that tough tough year at college or whatnot. And I think lastly, just kind of to wrap up, Adam, I'll ask you this for people who are you know, maybe listening to this interview, you are reading your Guys's feature, you know, on the Vikings platforms, what would you just hope that people would I guess take out of your story or

this content series in general. Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just if if you're struggling at all, if there's things that um, you know, obviously ups and downs. Like I said, in life, there's you know, down times, and know that you're not alone. There's a ton of people UM ourselves included, friends, family members of ours who are going through similar things. And I think when when you keep those in you kind of you feel like

you're alone. But when you're able to kind of communicate that maybe it's too a close friend, or maybe it's to a close family member, or maybe it's too a councilor UM. When you're able to communicate those things, you realize that you realize very quickly that you're not alone, and there's there's resources, there's things UM out there to help you. And I know that's been a big thing with our foundation as well, is is we have links and resources on our on our web page to those

if they don't know where to start. So there's always that and I know there's a lot of different places and foundations that do the same, so again just being being okay with communicating that and you never know where they will take it. Well, thank you guys. I think that's all I have for you. And yeah, I mean definitely encourage people to check out faland foundation website and resources there because they know it's really helpful. So thank

you so much. Thank you so much to Adam and Caitlin for being willing to share their heart and their passion around this very important topic. And now we're going to hear from doctor Jessica Ceci, who was a child psychiatrist and she's also the medical director of Child Psychology

at m Health Fairview. Doctor Ceci is going to dive into a number of topics, including why youth mental health does tend to be an overlooked area of need, specific mental health challenges that are seen in youth, and also notable statistics around mental illness in children. Well, thank you

so much for joining us today. We met with Adam and Caitlin earlier and they were talking about how they've learned that mental health specifically, youth mental health is an area that tends to be kind of overlooked, an overlooked area of need. Why is that the case. I think there are a couple of reasons for that, one being that I think there's a lack of recognition about one

mental health looks like in children and adolescence. So you know, an adult may be able to say I'm feeling anxious, whereas a child may say, you know, I have a tummy ache or my head hurts, and you may not immediately recognize that as a mental health condition. And I think the other piece, too, is kind of this enduring

stigma that we see with mental health. So for a long time, you know, mental health has been viewed somewhat negatively, and I think that resources have not been devoted to youth mental health, and instead we see less funding promoting mental health research and promoting mental health treatment. And so I think for both of those reasons, we see that

youth mental health is overlooked. Would you say that there are specific types of mental illnesses or emotional challenges that are seen in youth specifically, I think we see a lot of behavioral problems in younger kids, and we also see a lot of ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and then as kids get a little bit older, we tend to see a bit more anxiety and depression in children and adolescence. And I know this next question is

something that probably fluctuates. I know there has been an increase over the years, but in your experience, what age range of children experience mental illness and potentially even suicidal

thoughts or actions. Yeah, so mental health can impact people at any age, and in fact, we can start to diagnose mental health concerns as early as aged two, But I would say it's most common that we begin to see behavioral problems somewhere between the ages of six and eleven, and then as kids get a bit older, we see more anxiety and depression, and you're correct, we do sometimes see suicide thoughts and behaviors associated with some of those conditions.

One question I had You had mentioned this stigma earlier, and of course there's such a societal stigma, and that makes sense with not as many resources and as much funding. Is this something that also occurs like with parents? I mean, would parents maybe not recognize or not pick up on maybe their child's emotional or mental difficulties kind of because of the stigma or is it more of an outside problem.

I think that there's a lot of shame that's associated with mental health diagnosis, and I think sometimes the symptoms are not only hard to recognize, you know, so, like I mentioned, sometimes it's more physical symptoms that are presenting

and so may not recognize it. But I also think that, you know, sometimes the symptoms can cause you know, us to act in ways that may feel uncomfortable to those around us, and so I think sometimes that does prevent people, including parents, from seeking out help when when kids need it.

Part of what we've been talking about throughout this whole series is just the past twelve thirteen months of the COVID nineteen pandemic, even things like some of the racial injustices and tensions that have been kind of heightened throughout this past year as well. In your expertise and in your experience, how have you seen those types of things affect youth mental health over this past year. Yeah, this year has been challenging for so many reasons, and you know,

you named it. We are going through this pandemic and then we have had this public health crisis of racism that is impacting many on a day to day basis, and I think in regard to the pandemic, we have had to follow infection prevention protocols to really stop the spread of the steadly virus, and it's changed the way that we interact with one another, and I think there have been some unintended benefits we've all had to slow down the pace of life of it, but it has

led to loneliness and isolation in some and beyond that, I think that it's really put a lot of stress on parents and families just to have to juggle so many responsibilities with parenting, childcare, work, school, and all the

while trying to care for themselves. And I think it has led to a lot of fatigue, compassion fatigue, truly, and I think that this is a form of trauma that we've all sort of collectively experienced, and we're going to need to receive emotional support in the months and years to come as a result of what we've all

endured in the last year. Would you have advice for parents, especially of young children or in you know, outside of seeing a professional and things like that, but maybe just things within the home that they can do to help kind of combat this compassion fatigue and the loneliness that is going on as a as a result. I think, certainly it's important to be kind to yourself. I think that we're all doing our best right now and that

sometimes you know that should be enough. And so I think, really, you know, taking time to care for oneself as a parent is really important. And then just simply connecting, you know, making time for conversation, making time for your kids to be able to talk about how they're doing, feeling sort of open to having those conversations, and then making sure that you know you're doing what you can to connect

virtually or connect in safe ways. While we're still going through this pandemic, I think that social connection remains very vital. Are there any notable statistics around youth and mental illness

that you could share with us? Yeah, so, I think around nine percent of kids are diagnosed sometime between the ages of two and seventeen with ADHD, Seven and a half percent of kids between those same ages are diagnosed with the behavioral concern, and then about seven percent of kids are diagnosed with anxiety, and we've seen in recent years that that percentage has increased by several points, and so I think we're seeing a rise in mental health concerns.

We also note that there are some disparities in terms of kids receiving care, particularly aged and poverty level impact that, and so really one of the missions of healthcare views to kind of break down some of those barriers and improve access to care. And you have mentioned a couple of times that the kind of the warning signs for children might manifest differently than adults, or maybe they aren't able to articulate as much the ways that they're feeling

are the difficulties that they're having. Are there warning signs that you mentioned like the physical like stomach aches and things like that. Are there any other warning signs that adults should be aware of for young people in their lives. Yeah, So I think we tend to look at a lot of behaviors because kids aren't as likely to be able

to communicate how they're feeling. So whereas an adult may say I'm feeling depressed or anxious, we might see more anger or irritability in kids who are experiencing depression and anxiety. We also want to take a look at, you know, are they attending school or is there missed school or avoidance of school, because that can indicate a mental health concern.

Our grades dropping that can also be assigned as well as you know, are they isolating from their peers or have they changed friend groups, because that can also be

an indication that they may be struggling with something. One of the cool things about this series has been We've featured a lot of different stories from a lot of different people, but some of those stories have been, you know, from these professional football players who are talking about the anxiety or maybe the depression that they've experienced and sort of what that looked like for them and how they

worked through that. When there are young children maybe hearing these stories, or even children and their teens, you know, seeing these types of testimonies, how do you think that can make an impact with athletes using their platform this way? Yeah, I mean, when we see someone that we know or recognize who is talking about mental health concerns, it normalizes that experience for us. It makes it okay for us to talk about and it makes it okay for us

to seek treatment. And there's a statistic that is out there that states that seventy five percent of teenagers who are looking for information on depression online are really truly looking for someone to talk about their personal account or story around depression. And so when we see an athlete who is unbreakable in our eyes, really being vulnerable and talking about their experience with mental health or creating awareness around mental health, that really normalizes it and makes it

okay for us to have that experience and to seek help. Obviously, part of this story is about Adam and Caitlin feeling there and foundation in their connection with um Masonic Children's Hospital. I thought it was really cool just hearing their heart about how they kind of looked for a higher area of need and wanted to make an impact around youth mental health. Can you just talk a little bit about the hospital's relationship with the Feelings and how that's benefited

you know, so many patients. Yeah, their support to mental health has been really incredible. I think m Health fare View is very grateful for all that they have done. They've put a lot of money towards mental health efforts, and not only that, but they have spent a lot of time with patients and families visiting them in the hospital, and the pandemic has not stopped them. They've continued with virtual visits and that's something that means a lot to

our patients and families. They've also donated branded notebooks and yoga mats, which has served as an excellent coping tool for many of our patients. And I think this whole idea of breaking down stigma they are doing so well just by featuring segments on their social media around mental health and at times bringing in experts, so we could not be more grateful for their supports. The Vikings have had such a long standing relationship with MASA and Children's

Hospital as well. How significant is it to sort of have that recognized, long standing relationship between those two organizations in the Twin Cities. I think it means a lot. It's all about kind of reducing that stigma, making it okay for us to talk about mental health, making it okay to seek help. I think that partnership really is

just kind of breaking down barriers. Lastly, doctor Cec, I know there's going to be a lot of different people maybe reading this story or listening to this interview if they are interested in maybe helping or supporting in some way after hearing this area of need. Is there a way that just, you know, the general public can help support this area. Yeah, I think that we can all do our part by educating ourselves on mental health concerns

and creating awareness around it. I think we can challenge stigma wherever we see it and really, you know, try to model that it is okay for us to take care of ourselves when we're struggling. I think NAMI also does a lot of excellent work with tips around reducing stigma, you know, really being conscious of the words that we choose, showing compassion and choosing empowerment over shame. I think that's another really wonderful way to get involved in reducing stigma

in mental health. Well, thank you so much. I know that I've learned even more today and I really just appreciate you helping us shed light on kind of a different area of mental health and how we can help. So thank you so much for your time. Yeah, thank you again. A sincere thank you to Adam and Caitlin and doctor Cecy for sharing their thoughts and expertise around this area. I know that it was a really interesting conversation for myself and I think it will be helpful

for a lot of us moving forward. And thank you all for tuning in to another episode of our Getting Open series, and I just want to encourage you to keep an eye on all Vikings digital platforms in the coming weeks for additional features that will be coming your way.