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Tackle Youth Depression With Love
by Jan Waters
“Life’s good, but not fair all the time” — my favorite line from Lou Reed’s 1992 Magic and Loss album. For most of us, we can easily relate to this statement. Life is sometimes hard, but we persevere. However, when faced with a life-altering event, it is HOW you handle the situation that determines if “life is still good.”
There are two women, connected by devastation, yet connected by hope. They are fighting for the children — past, present and future. Marian McCord and Robin Harris have been dealt an unimaginable blow – the death of a child who could no longer live with the depression that inflicted every ounce of their being. Both women could have chosen to deal with their profound grief and despair inside their close family circles. Yet, they have opted for a much different direction — one that may affect thousands of children and adolescents in the future, possibly into the millions.
CHADS Coalition
CHADS (Commun-ities Healing Adolescent Depression and Suicide) Coalition For Mental Health was founded by Marian and Larry McCord after the 2004 suicide of their 18-year-old son. Chad, who suffered from depression and an anxiety disorder, was not your ordinary
teenager. He was an Eagle Scout. He was in the top 15 percent of his class at Oakville High School with nearly 20 college credits earned. He was a retreat leader for his church youth group and an outstanding athlete. He was nominated for and attended a week-long leadership program in Washington D.C. He was the assistant coach for his church’s Catholic Youth Council (CYC) track team. In his last few months of his life, Chad volunteered at Ride On St. Louis, a horse therapy program for physically-challenged kids.
As Chad underwent treatment for his depression, he vowed that he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives by bringing mental illness out of the closet. He wanted to stand in front of the school assembly and say, “Hi, my name is Chad McCord and I suffer from depression.”
Chad had once commented, “If I had cancer, students would rally around me and make posters and give me a hero’s welcome when I came back to school. But since I have a mental illness, the students will shy away from me. They will think I am weird and not want to be around me.”
Unfortunately, Chad left this world before fulfilling his dream to increase awareness and acceptance of mental illness. The McCords have vowed to become his voice. Marian says, “If we really want to help the thousands of teenagers in our community who are suffering from depression, then we must talk about it and treat it with the same urgency as we do with physical health. This way the appropriate coping skills and resources can be offered to these kids who need the help now, not later. We were shocked to discover that there has been very little research done on adolescent depression as compared to other diseases. How can this be? How can we turn our backs on our children?”
The McCords found Missouri’s statistics staggering:
• One in eight teens suffers from clinical depression — approximately three adolescents per classroom.
• Fifty percent of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14.
• An estimated 40,000 high school students seriously consider suicide each year. For every completed suicide, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made.
• More teens die from suicide than from the next eight leading medical causes of death, combined.
• The fastest increase in suicide deaths is among those 10 to 14 years old.
CHADS Coalition will host its second annual “Kids Walking For Kids” fundraising drive that culminates May 10 at Creve Coeur Park. Last year, the first event raised $75,000, with more than 1,500 participants! This year, the goal is to involve 200 fundraising teams and raise a minimum of $150,000.
Funds raised by CHADS will be used to support research of early-onset mood disorders and for suicide prevention programs for children and young adults. Its goal is to implement the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program into 290 public and private middle schools and high schools in St. Louis and surrounding areas. SOS is an evidence-based program for suicide prevention and mental health screening. In Phase II, the CHADS Coalition plans to introduce the program into 107 Illinois schools.
The 2008 “Kids Walking For Kids” event will run from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. and include an entertainment-filled evening of live music, games, team-building activities, prizes and great food. The night will conclude with a sunset luminary memorial walk and a fireworks display. Teams can win iPods, a Hot 104.1 private party, a five-day family getaway, a luxury box at Busch Stadium, gift cards and more.
According to Dr. Richard D. Todd, director of the division of child psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, “There are many groups in our region promoting research for a variety of disorders. None of them address one of the biggest killers of our youth – adolescent depression and suicide. CHADS Coalition is making a difference in the lives of teenagers in our area in ways that will enhance adolescent mental health across the U.S. Please help support their efforts to promote research, awareness, and prevention of suicide locally. I do.”
By having your own children join the “Kids Walking For Kids” fundraising event, you will be helping to instill a lifelong commitment of compassion and giving to the community. If we do not teach our children this, who will?
To register, make a donation, or form or join a fundraising team for “Kids Walking For Kids,” please call 314-952-2046 or go to www.chadscoalition.org.
Kaitlin Harris Foundation
Just three weeks before Chad McCord died by suicide, a precious 15 year old woke up to find that she didn’t have the strength to live with the pain she endured inside — a pain so intense that she felt she had no choice but to take her own life. Despite all of the beauty she carried and the blessed life she lived, it was not enough to fight the enemy — depression.
Kaitlin Harris was an honor student, cheerleader, artist and gifted musician. She was a great friend. She was a beloved daughter with three sisters and a brother who adored her. Ultimately, Kaitlin’s death has impacted hundreds, if not thousands.
Kaitlin’s family was left shattered. Her friends struggled with the “whys and what-ifs.” A parent of one of Kaitlin’s friends, realizing that this was the fourth suicide among her children’s friends, decided that the community needed to find a way to prevent more of these shocking deaths.
Out of the love and courage of many, the Kaitlin Harris Foundation was established by the generous gift of LoveMeKnot, Inc., in an effort to reach out to the hurting teens that are at risk for depression and other mental illnesses. The LoveMeKnot™ necklace was created to honor Kaitlin’s life and as a tool to fund the Kaitlin Harris Foundation’s work of saving teens by educational programs and support programs for school and businesses.
A LoveMeKnot™ necklace is a new spin on an old design and is symbolic of a caring friendship with oneself. “It is so easy to become our own worst enemy. If we truly learn to be our own best friend, think of the mountains we could climb,” says Mary B. Gentile, the founder of LoveMeKnot. Each necklace has its own unique design.
LoveMeKnot™ necklaces were inspired by the memory of all teens who have tragically ended their lives. The Kaitlin Harris Foundation was set up to help save lives. Through the support of friends and family, dreams are coming true. Ten percent of every LoveMeKnot™ necklace sold goes to Kaitlin’s foundation for teen suicide prevention, awareness and counseling.
To purchase a LoveMeKnot™ necklace, you may contact them at www.lovemeknot.net or by phone at (314) 560-9420. Stores that sell LoveMeKnot™ jewelry are Special Occasions by Paulette on Clayton in Ladue, Birdie Golf in Kirkwood, The Flower Petaler in historic St. Charles on Main Street and Sophia’s at the Junction in downtown Hermann, Missouri.
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