A grief specialist urged Bermudians to shift their attitudes and break the silence surrounding loss.

Charmaine Richardson believes that masking emotions is culturally accepted in Bermuda — but can cause mental health to deteriorate.

She explained: “As Bermudians, we have been socialised to act like everything is OK — when we step outside, we are to maintain a socially acceptable persona marked by composure, achievement and personal control, which remains deeply entrenched.”

Ms Richardson spoke during the Balancing Life and Mind mental health conference at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute on Thursday.

She added: “When others attempt to show up as their authentic selves due to their grief or loss, others become uncomfortable, we have to learn to become uncomfortable so we can help young people, and even adults, and change that narrative.

“As a community, we should not continue to convince ourselves or our young people that concealment equates to strength or success, because at some point it’s going to burst.”

Ms Richardson outlined some losses that young people in Bermuda may experience — including divorce, death of pets and loved ones, and lost opportunities — and called for more spaces where they “feel seen, heard and validated in their emotional truth”.

She added: “Don’t wait for our youth to reach crisis point to care and don’t dismiss them.

“We need to hear them, listen to them and not judge them, because grief is not the problem, silence is, and healing begins the moment we choose to break it together.”

Researcher Daniel Canavagh also discussed youth mental health at the conference.

During the 2023 event, Dr Cavanagh and psychologist Shawnee Basden shared results from a survey that involved 76 per cent of middle and high school students in Bermuda.

31 per cent of those surveyed showed “moderate to severe” levels of anxiety or depression.

Further research showed only about three in ten young people in Bermuda would be willing to seek mental health counselling.

Dr Cavanagh said last week: “This is incredibly problematic, because the longer it takes them to get help, the more difficult and expensive it is and the more distressing it is for their parents or educators, those that are supporting young people.”

Reasons that those surveyed were unwilling to receive counselling mostly related to stigma surrounding mental health.

These findings later led to the formation of the Youth Mental Health Plan.

The plan contains 11 recommendations, including community-led anti-stigma campaigns, mandatory mental health first aid training for adults working with adolescents and amending legislation around care.

Young people are contributing to and implementing the plan through the Youth Advisory Board.

Christopher Jackson, the board’s chairman, highlighted some of the organisation’s accomplishments since it launched this year during a presentation on Wednesday.

The group, comprising 23 students chosen from more than 50 applicants, held its first official meeting at the Bermuda College last month and helped to organise the Breakout Youth Mental Health Summit.

Board members also led workshops about mental health myths and stigma, and debated reducing the age at which children in Bermuda can seek psychological services without the consent of their parents.

More than 110 people attended a workshop on self-harm and violence at the Bermuda College, and more than 1,300 people tuned in virtually.

Dr Cavanagh said: “If we compare those kinds of numbers to the fact that a few years ago no one wanted to talk about mental health because it was so stigmatised, to have so many people come in and talk about something as sensitive as self-harm I think should really help us see that there has already been a shift in the attitudes in our community about essentially being OK to be vulnerable and talk about our vulnerabilities.”

Mr Jackson told the conference: “From training workshops to national summits, our early wins demonstrate the power of authentic youth-adult partnerships and shared leadership.”

The board hopes to see student-led mental health clubs in nine schools by 2027, when another adolescent survey will be conducted in partnership with Oxford University.