Panel Kicks Off Mental Health Week

Panelists urged students struggling with emotional pain to reach out and talk about their problems at a discussion hosted last night by the Mental Health Awareness and Advocacy Group (MHAAG) to mark the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week.

“The message that I want you to leave with tonight is that to speak about pain is far better than not to speak,” said Sally Weylman, a psychologist at the Bureau of Study Council.

The panel took place just a month after survey results released by University Health Services (UHS) revealed that nearly half of Harvard College students felt depressed during the last academic year and almost 10 percent of undergraduates respondents had considered suicide.

Harvard students are not alone in battling depression, according to last night’s panelists.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students, said panelist Jane Lindquist, the training manager of the Good Samaritans of Boston, an organization which provides suicide hotlines and educates the community about suicide.

Weylman said she believes the UHS survey results are fairly accurate, but she does not think these figures are related only to the pressures of Harvard life.

“I don’t think that this is just about Harvard or necessarily about college. It’s also important to think about the development [people undergo at this age],” she said.

Fighting the stereotypes associated with suicide was a key theme at last night’s panel, which was attended by roughly 60 people.

“I don’t want to be labeled as that girl who tried to kill herself,” said panelist Caitlin E. Stork ’04, who said she attempted suicide twice during her sophomore year in high school. “I encourage you to see [people who have contemplated suicide] and not just label them.”

Stork said she was inspired to participate in last night’s discussion after learning at a recent conference that one of the best ways to reduce the stigma associated with suicide is by exposing the public to real people who have confronted it.

“Overwhelmingly, contact is the thing that reduces stigma the most effectively and lasts the longest,” she said. “People say after a panel that the thing that affected them the most is that people had the courage to talk about it.”

Throughout the night, panelists tried to debunk some of the myths surrounding suicide.

Stork and Paul Barreira, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and chief of clinical services at McLean Hospital, each said that suicide, though often perceived as irrational, can appear to be very logical to those contemplating it.

“When this person is in a bout of feeling overwhelmed and depressed, suicide is unbelievably logical.... It just feels like the right thing to do,” Barreira said. “In those instances one way to help is to remind her of other times when she didn’t feel that way.”

Weylman said that one of the best things one can do for a friend who is contemplating suicide is to just be with them, though she also cautioned people against trying to help others alone.

“No one person can save someone else. We can’t have that ultimate responsibility for keeping someone else safe,” she said.

Weylman also offered alternatives for those contemplating suicide.

“In the short run its about finding someone to talk to...and getting through the moment safely. If the urges are more immediately drastic, you might need to find a safe place to be,” she said. “In the longer one, if someone has a chronic episode of suicidal urges, in the context of good therapy [one can] talk about where the urge comes from.”

Catherine Shapiro, the senior tutor of Leverett House, spoke to the impact that suicide can have on a community.

She stressed that people can be deeply affected by a suicide even if they did not know the person.

Shapiro encouraged those affected to talk to others about their feelings, regardless of their content or when they occur.

“It’s hard to predict what emotions will come out for you personally,” she said.

Weylman also encouraged students to take time to just process their emotions.

“Here at Harvard in particular we don’t give enough time to our feelings, our emotional life,” she said. “Attending to one’s feelings is so important.”

Deborah C. Morton ’03 said she felt that the panel was helpful in promoting understanding of mental illness.

“I think that it is good that people are talking about this,” she said.

The Mental Health Awareness and Advocacy group seeks to promote awareness of mental health issues and to aid those who have mental health problems but may be reluctant to seek help. Additional events occurring during

Mental Health Awareness Week are listed on the MHAAG’s website, www.hcs.harvard.edu/~mhaag.