There’s a huge unmet need in the community that is being filled through the airwaves. It’s unconventional, but supporters say it serves a huge community need where services currently are lacking.
Omaha radio station Channel 94.1 KQCH launched a new Sunday evening radio show about two months ago that focuses on adolescent mental health issues. University of Nebraska Medical Center Psychiatrist Jim Sorrell, M.D., assistant professor, UNMC Department of Psychiatry, and on-air personally Damian Montez host the show.
“Sunday Night Shrink Rap” can be heard Sunday nights from 8 to 9 p.m., and is part of Journal Broadcast Group’s ongoing effort to develop local programming that makes a difference in the community.
Officials from the station say the show is an innovative new radio program unlike any other. The locally programmed show offers teens and young adults an outlet to discuss issues they are facing.
Dr. Sorrell, who also is medical director of consult and liaison service at The Nebraska Medical Center, said his decision to do the show was two-fold: he was looking for an opportunity to have a broader impact in psychiatry and to establish a public presence for psychiatry at a time when it’s being marginalized.
“I think doing psychiatry in a public forum demonstrates the strength of the field and its relevance,” Dr. Sorrell said. “I think the adolescent age group is incredibly important to us. This gives them a chance to have a voice and help them understand opportunity to grow and develop – to look at their own problems reflectively and widen their point-of-view…to get a better perspective on how to deal with their problems.”
Dr. Sorrell said he is struck by the thoughtfulness and maturity of these adolescents calling. “Some aren’t kids and even though the problems are very sad, it’s heartening to hear people care so much. We have age 10 to people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, but mostly adolescents. These kids are dealing with tough issues. Anything from bullying to parents who are drug addicted to coping with death and loss.
“It’s been energizing and it’s allowed me to rekindle some energy in what I do. One discouraging thing about psychiatry is mental illness is stigmatized. Here, I can talk openly and kids are listening. I’ve heard even parents are listening with their kids. The show helps foster a discussion.”
So in demand are mental health services that the station’s three phone lines begin to ring before the show begins and are constantly jammed during the show, Dr. Sorrell said.
“It shows the emotional and psychological needs for adolescents are not being met. If we cared, we would do something about it as a society,” he said. “This is a public issue. This isn’t just about private suffering. I believe we have a responsibility to the public and society to help.”
Dr. Sorrell said his philosophy of psychiatry is simple: to allow others to see a broader picture and make their own decisions.
“We all have the capacity to construct our own decisions though many feel in their lives they have not been given the opportunity,” he said. “The consequences of what we do become who we are. I focus on getting people to make their own decisions and move ahead…not by telling them what to do which is what they are used to hearing and some call expecting to be told what to do.
“Each problem demands it’s own unique solution. I simply help pull people up to a vantage point where they can create meaning for themselves,” Dr. Sorrell said.
Describing the shows origination, Montez said, “Every day, I get calls from listeners who have concerns and issues they want to discuss. But it wasn’t like I could stop my show in the middle of the day to discuss them. Co-hosting this show gives me the chance to have our listeners talk to someone who can help. It offers them the chance to call Dr. Jim and ask the questions they might not ask their parents, teachers, friends or counselors.”
“We knew there was a need for the program and have discussed doing it for over a year,” said Erik Johnson, program director, 94.1. “We wanted to develop a locally programmed show to give people the opportunity to call and ask questions or discuss their concerns.
“It was important to find a medical organization that recognized the need in our community and understood the impact potential of this show. In turn they had to have a doctor that could relate to our audience. We found that partnership with UNMC and Dr. Jim Sorrell.”
Dr. Sorrell graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1983 and earned his doctor of medicine degree from UNMC in 1988. He did an internship from 1988 to 1989, then residency training, from 1989 to 1990 at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He also trained at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo, from 1990 to 1992. He is board-certified in psychiatry.
He is the recipient of the 2001 UNMC Department of Psychiatry Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching and University of Nebraska College of Medicine Nellie House Craven Fellowship in Academic Medicine.