I know many of our elected officials in this state, many of them personally. And I frankly don’t understand what we are doing.

I live in Ka‘u in Hawaii County, and our state representative and state senator are great. Rep. Jeanne Kapela added money to the state budget for an outpatient mental health center for adolescents last year, but it was cut from budget. Sen. Dru Kanuha introduced a bill adding a family guidance center to our rural district last year; it didn’t pass.

I don’t fault either of them. They listen, learn and take action for us.

According to the Hawaii Department of Health, “from 2016 to 2020, 47 Hawaii youth aged 10 to 19 years died of suicide. It was the leading cause of death for this age group, surpassing traffic crashes (31 deaths), cancer (24), and unintentional poisonings (11). For every youth (nine per year) who dies of suicide in Hawaii, another six (55 per year) admit to the hospital, and 21 more (191 per year) are treated in emergency departments for nonfatal self-inflicted injuries each year.”

And that’s just the cases that are reported, to say nothing of those teens struggling with suicidal ideation and other psychological and psychiatric issues that can lead to suicide in the future.

Individual therapy for teens proves effective at some level. We have one therapist in our entire district who will see a patient in person for therapy who also accepts MedQuest. We also have a Department of Health office in our district, but it sees only adults. Telehealth is an option: individual therapy via computer or phone screen is an option for our youth.

However, many teens are utterly uninterested in therapy via electronic device. Many don’t want individual therapy at all.

What about group therapy? Well, according to a Psychology Today article: “Research shows a 73% improvement in teens in group therapy vs. other therapies.”

That article references 56 studies from the Journal of Child Psychology, showing that teens benefit more from time with their peers in a therapeutic setting, than from individual therapy. And the need is even greater after the last few years of COVID-19.

Our youth want to know they aren’t alone. They need to know that. They need to express big emotions and see that it’s OK.

So why are there zero group-therapy sessions for teens where MedQuest is accepted in Hawaii County? I would drive 2-1/2 hours each way to get my teen to a 90-minute group therapy session if there were any available.

Some claim it’s the money. But if there were 25 teens who needed therapy (the number is closer to 25,000, but I digress), and they could be seen only between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays due to school, it would take three therapists with three separate offices to provide for that need. But, one therapist could do three groups per week for all 25 teens, and still have two days off.

So it isn’t a staffing issue.

Some say it’s a national issue and needs to be tackled at that level. That is true. There is a national shortage of qualified professionals, and reimbursement rates are so low that it’s an embarrassment.

However, why does that stop us from using our existing resources? We have the resources to start. Maybe not to end the problem, but we certainly can start.

I know Oahu County has these services available at some level. Do the teens in Maui and Kauai counties have these opportunities as well? I know Hawaii County doesn’t.

Zahava Zaidoff is a certified substance abuse counselor on Hawaii island.