Local officials have called in a therapist to lead a public forum on depression and mental health among young people 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 (TLC) 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. and is open to the public.
Young adults may need to learn coping mechanisms to deal with stress.
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Warning signs
On Aug. 18, a 19-year old resident took his own life in Mill Creek Point Park. Twelve days later, on Aug. 30, a 22-year-old resident attempted suicide, also in Mill Creek Point Park. These incidents came less than a year after the Oct. 2009 suicide of a 13-year-old Secaucus Middle School student.
Gomez said last week that mental health issues manifest the same way in all age groups.
“Ninety percent of people who attempt suicide have at least one or two diagnosable mental illnesses,” she said. The remaining 10 percent, she added are “impulsive” suicide attempts.
Irritability, moodiness, substance abuse, changes in sleep patterns, and a loss of interest in activities the person used to enjoy may all be signs of a mental health disorder. Drastic changes in behavior may also be a sign of trouble.
Parents and friends are often the first to see the early signs of depression, but may not recognize or properly label what they’re seeing.
“What we’re looking for are changes in behavior,” said Gomez. “Can we say that teenagers are withdrawn because they don’t talk to parents? No, because most teenagers don’t talk to parents. But if they stop talking to their friends, that is concerning. Young people may hide their emotions from their parents, but express them more with their peers, or on Facebook. [But] then those peers may feel that they should not share that information with adults.”
Building coping mechanisms
Through workshops, TLC for Youth tries to help young people build “protective strategies to cope with stress,” Gomez said. “They need to know to reach out to their support system, and it doesn’t have to be a parent. It doesn’t have to be a family member. It can be somebody they trust.”
Young adults, she added, may need to learn when stress and depression are too much for them to handle on their own and when outside help is needed.
She recommends that parents talk to their children – and young adults – about how they’re feeling, so that the kids learn to identify when they are depressed.
It’s important to “have knowledge of what mental health is. Someone may feel miserable. But they may not have the vocabulary to identify what they’re feeling.”
When dealing with mental health issues, a range of treatment options are available, from therapy to group counseling, medication, or hospitalization.
Young adults face unique challenges
Young adults in need of medical and mental health care may face obstacles obtaining treatment. Statistically, people between 18 and 24 are the group most likely to be uninsured, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. This age group includes those who have “aged out” of their parents’ health insurance plans, and those working jobs that lack benefits.
Some charity care is available for those without health insurance, Gomez said.
North Hudson Community Action Corp. offers free mental health services in town.
Secaucus residents can also approach Palisades Community Mental Health Center if they need free care. (Most hospital-based mental health centers offer some charity services, Gomez said.) Another resource is the North Hudson Community Mental Health Center in West New York, which offers mental health services on a sliding scale.
Young adults will soon see expanded health care coverage.
Under the federal health reform law signed earlier this year by President Barack Obama, young adults will be able to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans until they turn 26. This portion of the reform law takes effect later this month, on Sept. 23, although employers will likely wait until Jan. 1 to allow employees to add young adults to their plans.
Facebook generation goes online for support
The sudden loss of a loved-one can lead to profound sadness or depression among their survivors. In the aftermath of the Aug. 18 death, friends of the deceased may need support to deal with their own grief.
Paula Clayton, MD, medical director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), recommends that survivors look for a support group.
“I think that’s probably the best resource,” she said. AFSP has a video and other resources on its website for survivors.
Teens and young adults, for whom Facebook and Twitter are integral parts of their lives, may be more comfortable going online for support.
“To be honest, there isn’t a whole lot that’s targeted specifically toward younger people,” said Rebecca Thorp, AFSP’s Survivor Initiatives Manager. “But there are a few online support groups available.”
One that Thorp mentioned, the Lifeline Gallery, allows visitors to use avatars to tell their stories.
“They have stories of people who have lost loved ones to suicide,” she noted.
The AFSP is on both Twitter and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AFSPnational).
Another available resource, according to AFSP staff, is To Write Love on Her Arms (www.twloha.com), a nonprofit online support community for young people dealing with loss, depression, addiction, and other issues. College students dealing with depression or the loss of a friend to suicide may want to see if their school has an Active Minds (www.ActiveMinds.org) chapter on campus. Active Minds, also recommended by AFSP staff, has chapters at Montclair State University and Ramapo College of New Jersey. (According to the organization’s website, there are no chapters at Rutgers University or Princeton University.)
Clayton, however, warns against overreliance on social media for support.
“The problem with just going online is that there may be somebody posting messages who really needs more attention. And if you’re not schooled in how to identify their needs, I’m not sure people online will pick up on that,” she said. “Getting support independently is a little bit dangerous.”
Clayton believes getting support in-person, even for young people, is preferable. – EAW
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.
(Poll ends Thursday, Sept. 9.)