Transcript

Ronnie Wilson:

When you leave here today or any other day for that matter, let’s say you’re driving on your way home – and you do a little bit of reflecting during your driving. You say, “Wow, that was a really successful day!” What are the benchmarks that make you think that was a successful day? So, in other words, you might say that was a successful day because of X, Y, and Z. What makes you feel like that was a perfect day or that was a great day?

Dr. Jerri Lynn Shealy:

Probably just being able to help either a child or parent. A lot of times, parents just need reassurance that they’re doing everything they can do or that they’re doing everything for their child that they can do. In Pediatrics we do a lot of that. Also if I have helped a patient to get through a difficult time: just sitting and listening a lot of times is what they need. That would be successful day.

Ronnie Wilson:

What are some of the deepest challenges that you experience in the course of a week or month? You get to the end of a month and you say these are the biggest challenges that I tend to see recurring in with the parents and children that I’ve seen?

Dr. Jerri Lynn Shealy:

I see a lot of teenagers really dealing with a lot of depression and anxiety. Those are things that don’t get better in 24 hours and so we see those patients a lot and it takes time and energy on their part and on our part to help them through that. So those are big challenges.

Ronnie Wilson:

You’ve referenced that a couple of times. What would you say if you’re talking to parents? Let’s say I’m a parent of a teen. What are you seeing as the common triggers for anxiety and depression among the children in that age bracket?

Dr. Jerri Lynn Shealy:

Sometimes I think it’s just a genetic thing. Sometimes we see depression and anxiety run through families, but there are also some triggers. We see bullying a lot that happens at school. We see children going through difficult things like parents divorcing and struggling with friends. Teenagers have a hard time dealing with some of those things.