SECAUCUS – Local officials have called in a mental health professional to lead a forum on mental health and depression after a recent suicide and an attempted suicide, both in Mill Creek Point Park.
The forum, which will be held on Wed., Sept. 8 at the Secaucus Recreation Center, will be led by Silvana Gomez, who coordinates the Hudson County Traumatic Loss Coalition for Youth. The coalition, which is run out of the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, is a statewide network of mental health professionals and resources dedicated to preventing suicide in youth and helping young people deal with death.
The forum will begin at 7 p.m.
The local Department of Social Services, Police Department, and the Secaucus School District agreed that parents needed a town hall style meeting to help them identify possible signs of depression in their children, including children who are young adults. Parents also need to know what resources are available if their children need mental health services.
On Aug. 18, a 19-year old resident took his own life in Mill Creek Point Park. More recently, a 22-year-old resident attempted suicide, also in Mill Creek Point Park.
To prevent similar incidents, the park will now be monitored 24 hours a day.
The incidents in Mill Creek come less than a year after the Oct. 2009 suicide of a 13-year-old Secaucus Middle School student. – E. Assata Wright