The St. James Youth Police Club held a mental health awareness session this weekend where young participants were challenged to rethink honesty, emotional expression, and mental wellness.
The discussion featured strong messages from mental health and legal professionals aimed at empowering young people to better understand their behaviour and emotions.
At the St. James Youth Police Club, the conversation was direct, interactive, and aimed at making the youth present think and reflect.
Behaviour Change Consultant Yohance Ayodike opened the session with a blunt question that quickly engaged the audience.
“If you do something and you don’t know why you do it, you know that’s mad people behaviour. Now even though we don’t use the words mad and crazy in the mental health field, I say it like that for y’all to understand sometimes that mental health could be compared the way you measure it to physical health.”
Ayodike used everyday examples to explain emotional regulation, comparing suppressed feelings to pressure building inside a balloon, warning that unmanaged emotions eventually “come out unexpectedly.”
He also challenged the audience to reflect on honesty, not just with others, but with themselves.
“Now, we use the words crazy and mad when we don’t understand something. So somebody do something, I don’t understand why they do that, you know, they’re crazy or they’re mad. But how would you understand somebody? And one major thing is listen, you would understand somebody if you listen to them.”
The St. James PYC session forms part of ongoing youth engagement efforts focused on mental wellness, communication, and positive behaviour change among young people in Trinidad and Tobago.