Dr. Ernest Peets Opens Up About Mental Health, Addiction, and the Growing Crisis Among Bermuda’s Youth
By TNN Trevor Lindsay
In the second part of an exclusive sit-down interview with former government minister and seasoned clinician Dr. Ernest Peets, difficult truths about Bermuda’s growing mental health and substance abuse crisis took center stage. Speaking candidly, Dr. Peets painted a sobering picture of the interconnected challenges plaguing the island—early drug use, rising suicide rates, and the deep-rooted stigma that continues to silence those who need help most.
•Substance Abuse: A Gateway to Lifelong Struggles•
When asked about the role substance abuse plays in the troubling behaviors increasingly seen among Bermuda’s youth, Dr. Peets didn’t mince words.
“Notwithstanding the fact that during adolescence there’s going to be some level of experimentation,” he began, “from a clinical point of view, we want to be mindful that drug and alcohol use can be precursors to more serious issues later in life—issues that become increasingly harder to treat.”
He pointed to what he called a dangerous progression: marijuana use starting in middle school, followed by alcohol, harder substances like cocaine and molly, and more recently, synthetic drugs like “shatter,” a potent and often chemically unpredictable concentrate. These substances, Dr. Peets warned, are increasingly linked with early onset psychosis and other serious mental health disorders.
“What becomes tricky,” he explained, “is when substance use begins to mask underlying emotional issues. Once addiction takes hold, we’re often faced with co-occurring disorders that are difficult to untangle. Do we treat the addiction first? Or the trauma? It’s never simple.”
•The Limits of Bermuda’s Approach•
Despite the growing crisis, Dr. Peets maintains that Bermuda does have the facilities necessary to address dual diagnoses—when a person suffers from both addiction and a mental health disorder. However, he emphasized a critical shortfall: “It’s the programming and clinical approach that we need to sharpen.”
Drawing from his multidisciplinary background in family therapy, addiction counseling, and mental health, Dr. Peets noted a recurring gap in the treatment model. “If we treat the individual but not the family system they’re returning to, we’re setting them up to relapse. The addict goes away, comes back sober, and the family doesn’t know how to interact with this ‘new’ person. That codependent dynamic triggers the same old cycle.”
This gap, he said, keeps the door revolving: brief sobriety followed by relapse, followed by more trauma—not just for the individual but for the entire household.
•A Month of Tragedy: Three Suicides in May•
As Bermuda closed the month of May, a chilling statistic loomed over the conversation: three suicides—two young women and one man—all under the age of 32. Dr. Peets didn’t hesitate to call it what it is: a national alarm bell.
“In a country as small and as close-knit as Bermuda, the loss of even one life reverberates far beyond the family. It hits neighborhoods, churches, classrooms. And when it happens three times in a single month, we have to acknowledge the weight of what’s going on.”
Though he declined to speculate on individual cases, Dr. Peets expressed concern over the larger context: economic stress, a perceived lack of opportunity for youth, and widespread feelings of hopelessness.
“Young people don’t feel they have a future. The pressures mount, and if they’re already dealing with untreated trauma or mental illness, the burden becomes unbearable. When they feel isolated and unheard, suicide can seem like the only way out.”
•Stigma, Race, and the Silence That Kills•
The conversation turned to stigma—particularly around race—and the myth that mental health struggles are more prevalent in certain communities.
“One caller said to me, ‘Isn’t suicide a white thing?’” said interviewer TNN Trevor Lindsay.
Dr. Peets shook his head. “We need to stop racializing mental health. The truth is, stigma exists in all communities. But when we say things like, ‘That doesn’t happen to us,’ we make it harder for our young Black men and women to seek help.”
He stressed that anti-stigma work must begin by acknowledging the problem. “Every day that I’m not busy as a therapist, someone out there is suffering in silence. Not because help isn’t needed, but because people feel they can’t access it—either because of cost, or fear of being judged.”
•A Word to the Young—and Those Who Love Them•
When asked what message he would give to a young person contemplating suicide, Dr. Peets paused before delivering a heartfelt appeal.
“You’re not alone. You are not broken. What you’re feeling is valid, but it doesn’t have to be the end. There is help available, and people who truly care. Please talk to someone—anyone. A friend. A teacher. A pastor. A counselor. There is a way forward.”
And to the community?
“We need to normalize mental health conversations the same way we do physical health. Just like we teach CPR, we need to teach mental health first aid—how to recognize signs of depression, anxiety, psychosis. That’s how we intervene early.”
•The Path Forward•
Dr. Peets ended the interview with a challenge to the island’s leaders, educators, health professionals, and families alike.
“We cannot afford to keep kicking this can down the road. Bermuda is in a moment of reckoning—social, emotional, and spiritual. It’s time to invest in whole-person care, in systemic solutions, and in our young people’s future. Otherwise, we risk losing more of them.”
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