Mental illness: the conversations we need to have

Last year, we wrote an article about student mental health. We filled two pages with statistics about teen depression, anxiety and other disorders. We conducted interviews with NIH specialists and students who had grappled with mental illness. Through research and interviews, we learned a lot.

But it was easy to feel distant. Statistics, quotes, hypotheticals: we knew that what we were writing was true, but it didn’t always feel real.

It wasn’t until Tuesday, when principal Alan Goodwin’s shaky voice cracked through the loudspeaker and announced the unexpected passing of sophomore Jojo Greenberg that, unfortunately, we felt personally connected. We needed to say more.

In the wake of this tragedy, the school climate shifted. The media center opened to students who needed a quiet place to grieve, parents filled the CIC with dogs to raise spirits, and additional counselors and volunteers consoled distressed students. The school did more to accommodate student expression than it has in the wake of past tragedies, Goodwin said.

As a whole, the school is grieving, but individually, a lot of people seem to feel lost. Although neither of us was good friends with Jojo, these past few days have still been difficult. We can only imagine how painful it is for those closest to her. Mourning the loss of someone—whether a best friend or just someone you saw in passing—isn’t easy, and grief doesn’t follow a script.

Even guilt is a common reaction. From feeling guilty about being sad because you didn’t have a personal connection to Jojo, to feeling guilty for being happy about anything in a time of such sadness, unexpected death comes with a wide range of emotions and uncertainties.

Yet we shouldn’t feel guilty about certain feelings. Everyone deals with tragedy in their own way, and nobody should feel like they have to act a certain way during this tough time. Whatever you may be feeling is okay; don’t let yourself think otherwise.

In the past week, social media has proven a blessing and a curse. Soon after news of Jojo’s passing broke, red hearts filled Snapchat. Slideshows of Jojo and her friends, with captions saying how loving, kind and friendly she was, covered Instagram feeds.

In school, Jojo’s friends decorated her locker with a beautiful display of pictures, handwritten notes and sparkles. Spanning several lockers, it became a sort of mural. Administrators removed the artwork and gave it to her mother for Thursday’s gathering.

Removing the locker art also combats a larger issue: the risk of suicidal contagion, defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as “the exposure to suicide or suicidal behaviors within one’s family, one’s peer group, or through media reports of suicide that can result in an increase in suicide.”

For those who are already vulnerable, exposure to tragedies like this and even to the loving reactions is often harmful. As assistant principal Jerome Easton reminded us at Thursday night’s gathering, we need to work together to prevent further tragedy.

We wish nothing like this will ever happen again. We wish no family, no friend, no school community will ever again have to deal with the grief that we are experiencing.

To try to ensure it won’t happen again, we should follow every possible preventative step.

It starts with how we think about mental health. Even with assemblies, posters, articles and other measures, the stigma remains.

Mental illness is exactly that: an illness. It’s not something to be embarrassed about and those affected can’t just “snap out of it.” With a broken arm or torn ACL, one doesn’t hesitate to go to the doctor. A mental injury should be no different.

Recognizing mental illness early is critical, and one of the most effective tactics for identifying mental illness is a friend sharing their concern. Worried peers can find a student concern form on the Whitman website.

“If there could be any good that’s come out of this, it’s that the concern forms are more active,” Goodwin said. “Normally we have concern forms filed about students who are worried about their friends’ drug abuse, but now we’re getting more forms about students who are depressed.”

These concern forms help students who might pull away when a friend confides in them about mental illness, allowing them to push past the fear of inadvertently making it worse.

Filling out a concern form, participating in Whitman’s Sources of Strength initiative and attending a school-wide assembly with instruction on how to help a friend in need are good starting points.

Still, even if every student who’s experiencing mental illness or knows someone who is, reports it to a friend or counselor, we have to make sure there are enough resources for them to access help. MCPS could start by allocating more money to mental health resources, including more counselors—currently the only full-time staff members professionally trained to help students with mental illness—and dedicated therapists for each school. The Black & White has also advocated for the need for mental health screenings in schools.

No single solution will fix such a complex, tragic issue. It will require a community effort that listens to and incorporates ideas from students, parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, county officials and anyone else. If you have a solution you think can be implemented, tell someone who can make it happen. Speak to a member of Leadership, send a letter to The Black & White or tell Dr. Goodwin.

“We need ideas—there’s no doubt,” Goodwin said. “I don’t like my kids to be hurting.”

Through a communal effort, we can make a difference. We can save lives.

With that hope, here are some of our ideas. First, we need to appreciate each other. Appreciate those around you, whether you know them or not. In a time when it’s easy to feel alone, know that there are so many people who are there for you and know that you matter.

During the gathering in Jojo’s honor Thursday, friend after friend spoke of her friendly nature, her bubbly attitude and her endless kindness, all qualities we can aspire to match. Kindness is so important and can mean so much, because what we’ve learned this week is that you never know who may need a little extra kindness in their day.

“Our school and society need to bring mental health issues out of the shadows and into the light,” Jojo’s mom wrote in a note that Goodwin read at the gathering Thursday. “Please reach out to anyone you think may be at risk of depression and be kind to each other. Let’s spread Jojo’s love in this community.”

—Tiger Bjӧrnlund and Amy Nankin, Managing Editors

If you are considering suicide or experiencing suicidal thoughts, tell a friend, contact a trusted adult or counselor, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 to speak to a counselor.