WB looks to increase awareness about mental health after student suicides

WEST BLOOMFIELD - Within the past six months, three West Bloomfield High School students have committed suicide, leaving a community reeling and concerned.

The West Bloomfield School District has held several assemblies, presentations and community events to spread awareness about mental illness, depression, bullying and more to continue building a dialogue about what leads someone to commit suicide.

Superintendent Dr. Gerald Hill said district officials have been working with West Bloomfield Youth Assistance and the Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition to hold these presentations, such as welcoming guest speakers Keenan West and Jordan Burnham in the past month to talk about anti-bullying and mental health.

"What we're trying to do, in the mental health arena, is? the brain often needs treatment as well," he said. "You have a mental illness - you need to go to the appropriate medical authorities and experts and seek treatment. It's more or less opening up that dialogue and conversation, and there's nothing to be ashamed of (or) about or anything. You just seek help."

Determining the state of someone's mental health, though, is not easy, as director and owner of the Birmingham Maple Clinic Lori Edelson explained; there's no foolproof way to identify someone who's depressed.

But Edelson, a licensed master social worker and a licensed marriage and family therapist, said some of the ways you can identify a person as possibly depressed is if they have a change in mood; if they feel hopeless, sad or unmotivated; or if they withdraw from the people they normally socialize with.

"They're not going to say (they're depressed) to you," she said, "and they're not necessarily going to show it, but if you really are in a very intimate conversation, they may reveal it.

"Which is why you have to engage the person ? in a very intimate conversation. And not be afraid to have the conversation, and not be afraid to ask, 'Are you thinking about suicide? Do you have thoughts about death?' I mean, people are afraid to do that."

The stigma with mental illness has been that people who are depressed or who suffer from a mental illness feel as if they're being devalued by others, according to a report from the American Journal of Psychiatry, and that influences the way people seek treatment.

Edelson said she believes there's a changing view about people with mental illness and that it isn't being looked at as people who are just crazy.

"You really have to pay more attention to that and not just write it off or something extreme and rare and weird and of no consequence," she said. "People are paying more attention to that, and they're willing to (be) there close to the person."

Hill said a PTO meeting will be held at 7 p.m.Dec. 3 at Orchard Lake Middle School, 6000 Orchard Lake Road, to present information on school and community resources for mental health. Hill said it's about opening dialogue and showing there are people who can help.

"There are people and agencies in the community that can help, and the message we're sending to students, teachers and parents is that when we see indications of mental health needs, we need to make sure that we get the help to the individuals in the appropriate way," he said. "Just talking about it."

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About the author

Staff Writer Mike Koury covers West Bloomfield, Orchard Lake, Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake and the West Bloomfield Schools, as well as Farmington and Farmington Hills. He has worked at C & G Newspapers since October 2015 and attended Michigan State University. He has been described as "a wonderful angel" by his mother and "sleepy" by his editor.

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