HUGO, Minn. — Playing catch and complaining about his sister is how Levi's mother, Sarah Olson, likes it.
"It's hard being a kid with a condition like his," said Sarah. "The more he is a kid, the more painful it is."
Levi, 11, was born with spina bifida, a condition that impacts the spine.
"I remember him coming out of spine surgeries and he couldn't move and in excruciating pain, and he was still making doctor and nurses laugh," Sarah said. "Always."
But this past fall, she saw Levi's spirit change.
"I started feeling like, bad about everything," said Levi. "Like, I didn't want to be here anymore."
Doctors told Sarah to bring Levi to Children's Minnesota for additional help.
His mother worried about getting her child the help he needed, but in the back of her mind, she wondered how health providers would look at her.
"Are they gonna look at me like I'm a failure?" asked Sarah. "Like I'm hurting him, or I'm lacking somewhere. And that was just the exact opposite of our experience at Children's."
Jessica Brisbois is the manager of acute mental health services at Children's. She says at the height of the pandemic, they saw a 30% increase in kids coming to their emergency rooms for mental health.
"Since the pandemic, the numbers have steadily been climbing every year," said Brisbois.
Brisbois said children struggled with isolation during the pandemic.
In Levi's case, his physical pain started impacting him mentally.
"They looked at Levi and just said, we believe you. " said Olson. "We believe this is hard. And they took me into a room for a little while to talk to me and they were like, you're not failing."
Her son spent a week in inpatient care, which includes visits from pediatric psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, child life therapists, music and art therapists, and more. When he started feeling better, he continued with the patient's partial hospitalization program during the day, which aims to improve symptoms and teach coping skills.
"When it comes to mental health treatment for kids is that you have to be very creative, right?" said Brisbois. "Most kids are going to need more than just sitting and talking to them about their feelings. You have to you find creative ways to engage them in therapy, like art therapy and music therapy."
Levi says he's doing a lot better. He admits there still can be tough days, but it helped him to learn that others were struggling, too.
"When I was going through it, it was like I don't nobody understands me," he said. "And I just wanted to tell them that I thought it too. And you're not alone."
He says that's important for kids to know, so they can start feeling like kids again.
Children's Minnesota recommends that if your child is experiencing a mental health emergency or at imminent risk for harm, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department for a mental health evaluation.
If you or someone you know is facing a mental health crisis, there is help available from the following resources:
Crisis Text Line – text “MN” to 741741 (standard data and text rates apply)
Crisis Phone Number in your Minnesota county
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, Talk to Someone Now
Throughout Minnesota call **CRISIS (**274747)
The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386
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