You've known that Pathfinder for two years. He was the first to arrive, led the line for the anthem, laughed at everything. For a month now he has sat in the corner, doesn't make eye contact, has disappeared from the group chat. You think it's a phase. It might be. But it might not.
The club holds a rare position in a teenager's life: the counselor is often the first adult outside the home to notice that something has changed. Not because they are trained for it — and they are not — but because they are close, every week, watching. That closeness is a gift and a responsibility. Knowing what to watch for, what to say and, above all, what not to do can be the difference between a young person who gets help in time and one who sinks in silence.
This guide is for parents, counselors, and directors. It gathers what the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP) and the Ministry of Health (gov.br) advise about anxiety, isolation, and suicidal ideation in youth aged 10 to 15 — the core age range of the club. Data verified on 07/23/2026 in the official sources listed at the end. A warning right away: nothing here replaces the assessment of a psychologist or psychiatrist. The leader's role is to offer support and refer, never to diagnose or treat.
Why has this become a topic for club meetings?
Because it stopped being an exception. Between 2014 and 2024, visits for anxiety in the Unified Health System (SUS) for children aged 10 to 14 grew by nearly 2,500%, according to Ministry of Health data; in the 15 to 19 age range, the increase topped 3,300%. For the first time, the rates among the youngest surpassed those of adults. The pandemic, social media, and screen time tend to appear among the causes pointed to by experts.
The global figures reinforce the picture. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) estimates that 10% to 20% of adolescents live with some mental health problem, and that half of all mental health conditions begin around age 14 — right in the middle of the Pathfinders' age range. PAHO also records that suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth aged 15 to 19.
Translating this to your club's room: in a unit of ten teenagers, it is statistically expected that one or two are facing something more than a "phase." This isn't meant to scare anyone or to turn the counselor into a therapist. It's meant to take the topic out of taboo. A club that talks about emotional health naturally is a club where the young person who is suffering has someone to open up to.
It's worth separating two concepts that get confused. Being sad, anxious, or irritable is sometimes normal and part of growing up — emotions rise and fall. What demands attention is when they become intense, persistent, and start to disrupt the routine: school, sleep, friendships, the club itself. It's that shift that the signs below help you see.
Which warning signs should the counselor recognize?
The SBP published an objective list of what deserves attention. It is not a diagnostic checklist — it is a map of what to observe. Keep this table:
| Area | Warning sign (SBP) | How it shows up in the club |
|---|---|---|
| Mood | Excessive anxiety, expressions of hopelessness, constant restlessness | Worry that doesn't pass, easy crying, "it won't work out" repeated |
| Interest | Withdrawal from activities that used to bring pleasure | Drops the unit, disappears from the honors, is absent for no reason |
| Body | Extreme changes in sleep or appetite; pain with no physical cause | Sleeps too much or doesn't sleep, eats too much or nothing, recurring headache/stomachache |
| Company | Social isolation | Disappears from the group, sits alone, avoids eye contact |
| Risk | Self-harm and suicidal thoughts | Marks on arms/legs, long-sleeved clothing in the heat, talk about death |
There is a number that helps you decide when to stop waiting. The SBP is direct: deep sadness or isolation that persists for more than 15 days is a sign of risk. It's not a rigid stopwatch, but it's a useful yardstick. If the Pathfinder who has withdrawn into himself has already been like this for two weeks or more, it has stopped being a "phase" and become a reason to talk with the family.
A point that fools many people: suffering doesn't always appear as sadness. In adolescents, anxiety and depression often disguise themselves as irritability — disproportionate outbursts of anger, sharp replies, a short fuse. The "difficult" young person may in fact be crying for help in the only way they can. Before labeling someone as undisciplined, it's worth asking: has he changed? Since when?
And beware of the opposite too: not every quiet teenager is ill. Introversion is not depression; shyness is not isolation. What sets off the alert is the change — someone who was one way and became another — combined with persistence and harm to the young person's life.
How to recognize the risk of suicidal ideation — and what never to do?
This is the part no one wants to read and every leader needs to know. The Ministry of Health lists concrete signs of risk. Among them, direct or indirect talk about death: phrases like "I'm going to disappear," "I'll leave you all in peace," or "I wish I could sleep and never wake up again." Also included are hopelessness, guilt, the feeling of being a burden, and the sudden withdrawal from everything — calls, social media, activities.
The official guidance has a sentence that needs to stay etched in mind: these expressions must not be interpreted as a threat or as emotional blackmail. No one "says it to get attention" and then disappears. When a teenager signals death, they are signaling pain. The right response is to take it seriously, always.
The SBP closes the point without mincing words: verbalized suicidal ideas call for immediate intervention. Immediate means the same day — not at the next meeting, not after the campout. Involving the family and seeking assessment from a psychologist or psychiatrist stops being an option and becomes the mandatory step.
The right conduct when facing a young person at risk, according to gov.br:
- Listen in a calm, private place, without rushing and without judgment.
- Ask in a direct and supportive way. Asking about suicide does not plant the idea — on the contrary, it relieves someone who was already carrying it alone.
- Encourage seeking professional help and offer to walk the path with them.
- Reduce access to lethal means — it's the family's role, but the leader can raise the alert.
- Keep contact and support; don't disappear after the conversation.
And what NEVER to do:
- Never minimize ("that's nonsense," "you have everything to be happy," "it's just a lack of prayer").
- Never promise absolute secrecy. The young person's safety comes before trust; the family and the professional need to know.
- Never lecture, blame, or moralize in the moment of pain.
- Never try to be the therapist. You offer support and refer — you don't diagnose, don't treat, don't medicate.
- Never leave a young person at imminent risk alone. In an emergency, call SAMU 192.
What is the leader's listening role in the club?
The greatest resource the club has costs nothing and requires no diploma: listening. The SBP describes, among the protective actions, exactly the kind of thing a good counselor already does — conversations without a phone, with active listening, and a welcoming space free of judgment. It's the club in its raw state.
Active listening is harder than it seems because the adult's instinct is to solve. The teenager says he's not well and we already want to give advice, put it in perspective, tell him we went through the same thing too. Most of the time, he doesn't want a solution — he wants to be heard. Truly listening means enduring the silence, repeating in your own words what he said ("so you're feeling left out of the group") and resisting the urge to fix.
Three sentences that open a door, in a counselor's tone:
- "I noticed you've been quieter. Is everything okay on the inside?"
- "You don't have to solve anything right now. I just want to listen to you."
- "What you're feeling is serious, and I'm going to help you find someone who understands this."
Notice that the last sentence already builds the bridge to the referral. The leader doesn't promise to cure; he promises not to abandon. That is the right measure of the role: presence without intrusion, care without replacing the professional. You are the hand that holds the young person while he crosses over to someone who has the training to treat.
A word about limits, because the big-hearted counselor errs by excess. You are not on call 24 hours, you are not responsible for diagnosing, and you should not carry alone the information that a young person is at risk. Sharing it with the directorate and with the family is not betraying trust — it is fulfilling the duty of care. Keeping the secret of something serious is a weight no one should, or can, bear.
How to offer support without intruding on the family or overstepping?
The club exists alongside the family, not in its place. Any conduct involving a minor's mental health passes, sooner or later, through the parents or guardians — they are the ones who authorize and lead the treatment. The leader's role is to open the conversation with the family carefully and without alarm, reporting what was observed in a concrete way.
Talk about facts, not labels. Instead of "your son is depressed" — a diagnosis you cannot give —, say what you saw: "I noticed he stopped participating, has been very quiet, and missed three weeks in a row. I got worried and thought you should know." That informs without frightening and without going over anyone's head.
There is an exception every director needs to know. When the family environment itself is the source of the risk — suspicion of violence, abuse, or neglect —, the conversation is not with the family, but with the protection network: the Guardianship Council and, in an emergency, the health and safety services. Cases like these demand redoubled prudence and the support of the church and district leadership; they are not for the counselor to resolve alone.
A practical club precaution: record the essentials. If you noticed something, talked with the young person, and told the family, note the date and what was agreed. It's not bureaucracy — it's protection for everyone, and it helps whoever follows up on the case not to lose the thread. And keep it discreet: what a Pathfinder confides in you does not become the subject of a counselors' chat.
When and where to refer?
Recognizing the sign is half the journey. The other half is knowing whom to pass the ball to — and in Brazil that network exists, is public, and is free. Keep these contacts the way you keep the phone number of the hospital nearest the campout:
| Situation | Where to refer | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Wanting to talk, emotional suffering, prevention | CVV — Center for the Valorization of Life | 188 (24h, free, confidential — phone, chat, and email) |
| Intense psychological suffering, ongoing follow-up | CAPS / CAPSi (Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center) | Look for the municipality's CAPS |
| First access, referral, and guidance | UBS — Basic Health Unit | Neighborhood health center |
| Imminent risk, attempt in progress, emergency | SAMU / emergency room / UPA 24h | SAMU 192 |
The CVV 188 is the golden number for teenagers and for leaders themselves. It's free from any phone, works 24 hours a day, and is confidential. Teaching the Pathfinder to keep that number — and keeping it yourself too — is an act of care that fits into a single meeting.
For real follow-up, the path in the SUS is the CAPSi, the Psychosocial Care Center aimed at the child and adolescent public, which serves youth with intense psychological suffering and severe mental disorders. Where there is no CAPSi, the gateway is the neighborhood UBS, which guides and refers. And, since 2026, this right has become more explicit: Law 15,413, of May 21, 2026, amended the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) to guarantee children and adolescents access to mental health programs in the SUS, from basic to specialized care.
The golden rule of referral: when in doubt, refer. It's better for a family to seek a professional and hear "it's just a difficult phase" than for no one to seek help and the worst to happen. No one has ever regretted taking a teenager seriously.
How can the club care for emotional health day to day?
Not everything is a crisis. Most of the work comes earlier: building, week after week, an environment where the young person feels seen. The SBP reminds us that much of the protection comes from simple things — bonding, listening, presence — and that the adult himself is a model: someone who handles their own stress well teaches the teenager, without words, to do the same.
Things the club can do without becoming a clinic:
- Call each one by name and notice whoever has disappeared. An "I missed you" has more effect than it seems.
- Celebrate small progress, not just the completed honor. Belonging heals.
- Talk about emotions naturally, removing the taboo before the crisis arrives.
- Care for the counselor too. A burned-out leader supports no one; the adult's mental health also counts.
- Involve the family, which is the first line of protection and the one that most influences the young person.
There is a club value that works in our favor here: the sense of purpose. Being part of something bigger, having a role in the unit, being expected on Saturday — that anchors a teenager who feels adrift. The club does not treat depression, but it offers the opposite of isolation, which is precisely where suffering grows. Keeping the young person connected to the group is, in itself, care.
In the end, the message is sober and hopeful at the same time. You don't need a diploma to save a life — you need attentive eyes, a patient ear, and the humility to hand the case over to someone who understands when things get tight. The leader who learns to recognize the sign and build the right bridge makes, often without knowing it, the most important difference in a Pathfinder's life. And always remember: this guide offers guidance, but does not replace the care of a health professional.