Illinois communities foster more depression awareness after several child, teen suicides

From the Chicago Tribune:

After a 10-year-old boy took his life in Evanston earlier this year, communities stunned by youth suicides are spreading that message to prevent further tragedies.

Three public forums on childhood depression were held in Evanston over the past week. In St. Charles, a year-round action plan now includes the addition of a suicide hot line number on the back of student identification cards.

Meanwhile, Buck Black (pictured) was among those attending a Stomp the Stigma walk organized by Barrington teens last weekend to raise awareness of mental health.

"Therapists say sometimes it's just like a bad cancer. If it's a bad one, you can't treat it," said Buck Black, 51, of Lake Barrington, whose 16-year-old son received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder before he took his life.

Meanwhile, in Evanston, three public forums on childhood depression were held over the past week. In St. Charles, a year-round action plan now includes the addition of a suicide hot line number on the back of student identification cards.

Black's son, Danny, a lacrosse player undergoing treatment for the illness characterized by extreme mood swings, stepped in front of a train on June 2, just days before his 17th birthday, his father said. He was one of four Barrington-area teenagers whose deaths were ruled a suicide within 18 months.

"We did everything we could," said his father, who said he forces himself to attend such events, despite his raw emotions. Neighbors, clergy members, school officials and classmates have poured out their support, he said.

Evanston leaders organized their forums in response to the death of Aquan Lewis,who was discovered hanging by his shirt collar from a restroom hook at Oakton Elementary School in Evanston on Feb. 3.

"People find it incomprehensible that children that young can kill themselves," said Irene Doyle Sandler, a parent who attended one of the events. "Yes it's rare, but parents need to know it happens."

Advocates hope to train parents, students and teachers about how to recognize signs of depression, which may not be obvious, especially in youngsters. Loss of interest in favorite activities, giving away personal items or talking about a sense of hopelessness are a few red flags.

Other youths can appear to function normally, said David Clark, psychiatry professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, while speaking to 35 people last week at Evanston's Chute Middle School.

"Depression is just as real as a physical illness," Clark said. No one would ask a child with a broken leg to toughen up."

Clark suggested that parents be fearless in asking their children questions to help them describe what they are feeling, even about feelings of death or dying.

"It's a scary question, because then you have to do something if you get a yes answer," he said.

Barrington Community Unit School District 220 officials realized that they needed to emphasize the importance of mental health after four teen deaths. Family members dispute that suicide was the cause of death in two cases.

"One of the obvious questions was, 'Were these copycat incidents?' " said Jeff Arnett, school district spokesman. "Ultimately, what everybody came to is you can't always easily connect a thread to students."

Barrington leaders, in response to the deaths, started HERE, or Help Encouragement Resources Education, which sponsored events that began last spring. They looked to the St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 for help. The district lost six students to suicide over the past seven years, said Stacy Anderson, assistant director for prevention.

Those schools now have a curriculum in sixth- through 12th-grade classrooms on identifying and getting help for mental illness, she said. The district led four community summits that drew 300 at one and 100 to 150 at others.

Students, experts and parents of children who committed suicide were among those who led panel discussions. The most useful information came from students, Supt. Donald Schlomann said. In response to their input, the district has started a Facebook yellow-ribbon page, and provided the suicide prevention hot line number on ID cards.

Yet officials weren't sure how to proceed with community education, but "People realized whatever we were doing currently wasn't working, so we had to try something else," Schlomann said

Sandler, who attended one of the Evanston sessions, said her 22-year-old sister killed herself in 1973. Her college-age son is being treated for depression, and her father struggled with the illness for years, she said.

"People can also live wonderful, productive, meaningful lives even if they live with depression once in a while," Sandler said. "People with depression might be down for a while, but they shouldn't give up hope, because there is light."