Event focuses on depression, suicide risk

Sept. 06--With the news that actor/comedian Robin Williams took his own life in August, the national spotlight focused on depression, its prevalence, and its role as a suicide risk factor.

Wanting to continue the discussion, the Mental Health Association in Wilson County is sponsoring a discussion about depression, its signs, treatment, and how friends and family members can become involved in their loved ones' healing during the first installment of a new quarterly lunchtime series called "Women's Connections."

Each Women's Connections program will feature topics of interest to women's health, both physical and mental. The first program, Sept. 9 from noon until 1 p.m. in Wilson Medical Center's auditorium, is "Depression: How did I get here? And how do I get out?"

Dr. Leon Johnson, a licensed professional counselor and state certified school counselor with offices in Wilson and Greenville, will discuss the causes of depression, its symptoms and how family and friends can successfully intervene and find help. A question and answer period will follow Johnson's presentation.

"The social stigma associated with depression and every other mental illness often keeps people from admitting they have a problem and seeking help for it," said Janelle Clevinger, Wilson's Mental Health Association executive director. "We need to talk about mental illness in a completely different way and see it as the physical illness that it is. We also need friends and families of those who are depressed to feel comfortable bringing up the subject and talking about it."

Statistics show that one out of every 10 people suffers or has suffered from depression at one point in his or her life and chances are that most of those cases have gone untreated.

"When the world is telling you to 'brush it off' or 'just get over it,' it's easy to think that you're different from everyone else, when in fact you are probably surrounded by people just like you -- people whose brain chemistry makes it more difficult to handle stress and negative life events," Clevinger said. "On the other side of the coin, we want to tell families and friends that it's more than okay to get involved in their loved ones' lives if they suspect depression, how to recognize the warning signs, and how to find help."

Suicide takes the lives of nearly 40,000 people each year in the United States, and depression is a risk factor.

It is the 10th leading cause of death in this country, far surpassing homicide (which places 16th). Unknown to many is the fact that the highest suicide rate is among men over 85 years of age.

Treatment usually entails both therapy and antidepressant medications.

Women's Connections is free to the public and open to both women and men. The audience is welcome to bring their own lunches or lunch from the hospital's cafeteria. Beverages will be provided.

For more information, call the Mental Health Association in Wilson County at 252-243-2773. The Mental Health Association is a United Way of Wilson County agency.

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