Did you know Arizona is ranked third in the nation for teen suicide?  We are first in the nation when it comes to teen suicide by firearms! Recently there has been an upswing in news stories regarding bullying, intolerance and cruelty linked to teen suicides. The statistics are shocking…….. Our kids are important and we need to do what we can to stop the trend.

Undiagnosed depression is the number one cause of suicide, yet few people know what the symtoms are and even fewer seek treatment.  Each year nearly 26,400 teens in Arizona attempt suicide…….and that number reflects only the attempts that end up in an emergency rooms and/or require treatment by a professional! Many times the family is able to do something to treat the effects of the attempt (induce vomiting, CPR, etc.) without anyone outside the home ever being notified.

Education and awareness is crucial and O.P.T.I.O.N.S. (Offering Parents and Teens Information on Needless Suicide) is a free depression education and suicide prevention program offered to Arizona high schools by Mental Health America of Arizona. The successful educational program has been operating in the Phoenix area for several years and it is now available in Southern Arizona. When evaluated, 85%  of the students said the program provided helpful information on clinical depression and were able to identify at least 5 of the symptoms, and 90% felt that schools need a program like this.

Mental Health America of Arizona (MHAAZ) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization providing leadership to address the full range of mental health, illness and wellness issues in Arizona. We are dedicated to improving care, treatment and recovery for people with all types of mental illness through support services, education and advocacy.

For more information or to schedule presentations in your child’s school, please contact Susan Moreno at:  smoreno@mhaarizona.org

Recent articles on teen depression and suicide:

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/childrens-health/articles/2010/10/04/adhd-depression-and-suicide-how-parents-can-keep-children-safe.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-harold-koplewicz/gay-teen-suicide_b_760093.html

Memorial Day: Honoring the Heroes Fighting PTSD (from the National Alliance on Mental Illness)

Nine years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a great toll on soldiers who are serving repeated and longer tours of duty. USA Today this month reported that mental health disorders resulted in more American soldier hospitalizations in 2009 than any other reason—and that depression, substance abuse, anxiety and adjustment problems such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder cost the Pentagon 488 years of lost duty in 2009.

On Memorial Day, we remember veterans and active duty service members, those who have sacrificed much in their service to our country. It is also a good time to remember those who struggle with PTSD—some of whom have never served in the military.

PTSD doesn’t just affect those who have enlisted; studies suggest that anywhere between 2–9 percent of the population has had some degree of PTSD, but the number may be higher among people diagnosed with another serious mental illness.

The consequences of untreated mental illness both within the military and in the civilian population are staggering: unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, broken families, inappropriate incarceration and suicide. But these tragic outcomes are preventable. Treatment works and recovery is possible.

NAMI’s online Veterans Resource Center offers a variety of mental illness, policy and health care resources for veterans and active duty military members, as well as their families, friends and advocates.

Visit the website at:  www.nami.org

It’s already starting…..including right here on the Tucson Citizen site……..the man, Major Nadil Malik Hasan was “crazy.”  If you have read any of my blogs before, you know how important it is to me to try and create a world where people living with mental illnesses do not feel stigmatized and one of the first steps is to stop using horribly discrimating terms like “crazy” or “crazed.”  Yes, I agree that someone who goes on a rampage killing 12 people and wounding at least 31 others is not of sound mind, but why don’t we take a look at why this happened? 

If you believe, as I do, that mental illnesses are illness just like any other, than why was this man, who supposedly treated other people with brain disorders, not receiving treatment himself?  Did  anyone not notice how he was struggling?  According to the “God Blogging” post on this site, NPR interviewed others at Walter Reed who said he was. 

Which brings us back to the same problem, the same issues that continue to plague people with mental illness and their families.  Because of the stigma, because of the inattention by our health care system that doesn’t think the mind is part of one’s physical health, because of an overburdened mental healthcare system, because people suffering from a mental illness can feel isoloated and abandoned by their support structure, people with diagnosable brain disorders are falling through the cracks.  One again, as President Obama called this tragedy, “a horrific” catastrophe has occured in this country.

Who knows what was going on in Hasan’s head……Certainly listening to war stories from our returning Veterans experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was not an easy thing to do, but why is it that no one saw the signs, especially when he was set to deploy at the end of the month? Maybe Major Hasan will be able to shed some light on our questions.