The article below, which appeared on CNN’s website today (3/21/10), is a tragic wake-up call to ALL school systems, K-12 through University, to intensify their mental-health awareness initiatives. EVERYBODY at EVERY SCHOOL needs to be aware of the warning signs of depression and suicide. I like Cornell’s message across its campus:

“If you learn anything at Cornell, please learn to ask for help. It is a sign of wisdom and strength.”

Please take the time on Monday to share this story with your local school administrators and let them know of your concerns.

Ithaca, New York (CNN) — Two suspected cases of suicide on the Cornell University campus have officially been confirmed by the Tompkins County chief medical examiner, bringing the total number of suicides for the academic year to six.

Cornell officials had previously said authorities confirmed four other deaths at the school as suicides.

The medical examiner says his office has been in touch with the families of the latest suicide victims.

“They have all been made aware of the manner of death,” Dr. Howard Socoff told CNN.

The rash of cases has rocked the highly competitive Ivy League school in central New York State.

The most recent suicides came on successive days and prompted the university’s mental health initiatives director, Timothy Marchell, to declare a “public health crisis.”

In February, a freshman jumped off a bridge over one of the area’s well-known gorges. The body of a sophomore engineering major was found March 11 under similar circumstances. Police are also searching for a body in another suicide witnessed March 12.

David Skorton, who became president of Cornell in 2005, has been praised by counselors for encouraging openness on an issue that many schools try to cover up.

In an e-mail to students on Friday, he encouraged them to use available suicide-prevention resources.

Skorton placed full-page ads in the university newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, every day this week, which read, “If you learn anything at Cornell, please learn to ask for help. It is a sign of wisdom and strength.”

The message may be getting through. The first sentence of the quote has been written in chalk on one of the bridges where the suicides took place.

The cause of the wave of suicides is unclear, Marchell said.

The national average for school suicides is 7.29 per year for every 100,000 students, said Paula Clayton, medical director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. That means Cornell, with 19,639 students, should average fewer than two suicides a year.

Cornell had no suicides from 2005 to 2008, according to Marchell. And the school has consistently fallen within or below the national average, said Karen Carr, assistant dean of students at Cornell.

The school has been praised by psychologists such as Keith Anderson, chairman of the American College Health Association’s Mental Health Best Practices Task Force, for counseling and prevention programs that confront the issue of student suicide with comprehensive training and understanding.

Cornell responded to a cluster of suicides in the late 1990s with comprehensive training for members of the university community.

Everyone on campus, including janitors, administrators, residential advisers and professors, is trained to look for symptoms of depression. Freshmen are screened for indicators of psychological disorders, and multiple counseling services are available for students in need.

“I know that they’ve been doing a lot of outreach efforts to educate the community. Cornell is kind of a model in some ways,” said Anderson, a staff psychologist at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York.

In response to the current wave of suicides, Cornell will “strengthen the capacity of the community to know what to do,” Marchell said. “They will be showing nonmental health professionals what role they can play and help students and faculty get the kind of support that they need.”

The school also has posted guards to monitor the bridges over the gorges.

On Wednesday, campus clubs such as Cornell Minds Matters took part in a schoolwide event to promote mental health awareness.

CNN’s Cassie Spodak contributed to this report.

All:

Please take a moment to watch this short video. Sir Ken Robinson addresses the critical situation we face with our current education system. He also draws a direct cause-effect relationship between academic pressures and suicide.

Members of the Lines of Love Club at Centennial High School are selling baked goods every other week, raising money for direct reach-out materials for teens in need. Money raised from these events also go to raising awareness about suicide and suicide prevention.

Lines of Love is working closely with Carroll Community College for our next big event, which will be April 13. More information is coming very soon, so stay tuned!

I just heard the news that Marie Osmond’s son took his own life last night. Here is the report from E-Online:

Marie Osmond‘s son, Michael Blosil, took his own life Friday night after leaping to his death from his Los Angeles apartment, E! News confirms.

The 18-year-old reportedly suffered from severe depression in recent years, leaving behind a note which detailed his plans to commit suicide. In it, Blosil explained his loneliness, stating that he felt as if he had no friends and simply did not fit in.

Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b169268_marie_osmonds_son_commits_suicide.html#ixzz0gmStSINF

Owen, a student who attends the high school where I teach, shared this video on his Facebook group Small Acts of Kindness (SAK), which he started to give people a chance to share the little things that make the lives of others a bit better. He certainly did just that in sharing this video with me.

The video is about a man named Nick who has no arms or legs, and he has an amazing outlook on life that he shares with others through motivational workshops. Please take the five minutes or so to watch it. Let Nick share his story with you.

I’m always humbled by these stories and encouraged to appreciate my life in ways I never imagined. Nick reminds me that we must never give up, never quit, never stop trying to accomplish whatever goal we might have established. I think that’s what is so refreshing about the new year. If we’re able to give ourselves second chances and renewed opportunities just because the calendar year changed, why can’t we do that at any other time during the year?

I suggest we can, simply by remembering Nick and all that he teaches us in this brief video.

Enjoy this day, and Never Give Up. There’s always a reason to give the goal another try so that you may “finish strong.” as Nick puts it.

Dear Friends and Supporters of Lines of Love:

With the beginning of a new year, I wanted to take a moment and share with you some rather candid thoughts about Lines and the direction it will be heading in 2010.

First, I am extremely grateful to the many individuals who have helped Lines establish itself in 2009. Some of you supported us financially, and others helped with the various events we held. Still others have donated their ideas and energy in helping Lines become a permanent foundation to help teens struggling with depression and anxiety. Thank you, one and all. Lines of Love would never have been possible without you. Even more important, we would not have been able to reach out to the hundreds of teens who attended our events or the thousands who have joined us online.

In 2009, we raised over $2,000 in donations. We established a small but very popular merchandise line of tee shirts, lanyards, and journals. We held two college events, sponsored one high school varsity lacrosse game, established a Lines of Love club at Centennial High School, and promoted suicide prevention and awareness throughout the month of October at Centennial and encouraged other high schools in Howard County to raise awareness as well. In October, I was honored to serve on a panel discussion at Stevenson University about depression and suicide prevention. In November, author Larry Cohen published his book, I’m Still Trying To Figure It All Out Myself, and is donating $1 of every book purchased to Lines of Love. In early December, Lines of Love was part of a focus group in Howard County about raising awareness about depression, and we were fortunate to meet with Active Minds founder Alison Malmon and southern chapter coordinator Marc Peters about how Howard County Public Schools and Active Minds could work more closely together. Finally, we established an interim board to discuss the future of Lines of Love as a 501c3 nonprofit foundation.

Again–I am grateful for all of you who have contributed in some way to our work in 2009. Thank you.

Our work has just begun. In 2010, we will be working more aggressively in developing materials to offer direct support to teens struggling with depression and anxiety. We will be working closely with other national initiatives such as To Write Love On Her Arms and Help-Portrait to raise awareness and remove the stigma attached to depression. Our events will be lively, filled with words, music, and a strong message that every life matters.

This is just the beginning, though (and here’s the candid part). I spent much of the last part of 2009 reflecting on the possible directions that Lines might take. I talked with many of you about your opinions and ideas concerning the future of Lines of Love. And in the process of having those conversations, I learned a great deal about what I believe the mission of this foundation is all about.

I don’t want us to be limited to colleges or high schools. I want us OPEN TO ALL INDIVIDUALS and provide those opportunities in a variety of events that are not limited in any way by the rules or boundaries that govern school systems or universities. We will continue to work very closely with both institutions (and we will be addressing the needs of pre-teens, too), but the primary work of Lines will be larger than any existing system. 2010 is the year we make our mark as a stand-alone foundation to do everything we can to educate, inform, and inspire.

I encourage you to join us. We are eager to have new individuals join our team as we work together to raise awareness about depression and reach out to teens who are struggling. Contact me directly at linesoflove@gmail.com for more information about our upcoming events, to purchase merchandise, or to make a donation.

We look forward to spreading our Lines of Love to all teens in Maryland (and beyond) in 2010. Please join us in our mission.

Every Life Matters. Let’s make sure our teens know that.

Love to all, and may your 2010 be blessed with encouragement and inspiration.

Rus VanWestervelt, Founder

Lines of Love is currently offering all of its merchandise at 20% off for the holidays! Please download the form and mail or return to the Lines of Love Club at Centennial High School on or before December 18th.

lines merch 1209 flier

Rus VW will be at Stevenson University participating in the first Active Minds Panel Discussion on Mental Health on College Campuses. The panel will be held on Monday, October 5th from 2:00 – 3:00 PM in the Cuvilly Exchange on the Greenspring Campus of Stevenson University. Please stop by if you can.

Maryland’s 21st Annual Suicide Prevention Conference, “Inner Strength During Challenging Times,” will be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2009, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Martin’s West in Baltimore (6817 Dogwood Road, Baltimore, 21244; 410.944.9433).

The keynote speaker for the conference is Alison Malmon, founder and executive director of Active Minds. a student-run mental health organization on the college and high school campus. She started the program in 2001, while a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, following the suicide of her older brother, Brian, one year earlier. Wanting to combat the stigma that caused her brother to suffer in silence and ultimately take his own life, she created a group on her campus that promoted an open, enlightened dialogue around the issues. Just two years later, Ms. Malmon formed the organization to develop and support chapters of the student group on campuses around the country. She currently serves as President and Executive Director of the non-profit organization, creating a unified national voice for young adults, in the mental health awareness movement.

Conference cost is $90 and includes continental breakfast, keynote, your choice from 15 workshops (see listing below), lunch, and snacks.

Workshops include:

* Victim Precipitated Violence
* Veterans Initiative Update
* Fighting Depression During a Recession
* The Rippling Effect
* Practical Methods to Relieve Stress
* Update on Youth Suicide Prevention in Maryland
* Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Suicidal Adolescents
* Picking Yourself Up: How to win when it feels like you lost
* Crisis and Stress Management
* Domestic Violence During Times of Increased Stress
* Compassionate Responses
* Transgender Issues

For more information, contact Henry Westray, Jr. at 410.402.8494 or via Email: westrayh@dhmh.state.md.us.

Lines of Love plans on being there in some capacity. If you are interested in joining us, or if you are planning to attend, please contact Rus directly at linesoflove@gmail.com and let him know.

Please read today’s memorial post to Casey at rusvw.net/blog.

I cannot stress enough the need for us to reach out to our teens who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and addiction. We cannot wait for the nation to recognize that we’re already in a crisis that just continues to deepen with each passing day.

Love to all of you,

Rus