Increasing knowledge
The more we talk about it, the more chances there are to educate people -- and greater education can reduce the fear and the stigma:
Man with mental health problems to bring his message to students
By MOLLY McCARTHY
Star-Gazette
May 6, 2006
Ross Szabo was diagnosed as bipolar with anger-control problems and psychotic features when he was just 16 years old.
Now 28, Szabo hopes to put a positive spin on a serious diagnosis by traveling across the country and sharing his experience with others as director of youth outreach for the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign.
Szabo will address community members at Elmira College on Tuesday and students at four area high schools on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Szabo's visit comes during National Mental Health Awareness Month and at a time when community members have expressed concern about the recent loss of several young people to suicide.
Pat Breux, community advocacy and prevention coordinator for Chemung County Children's Integrated Services, hopes that people will take Szabo's message to heart.
“I hope that people see mental health in a more positive light. Teens don't traditionally access mental health care,” Breux said.
“You have to take care of your mental health as well as your physical health.”
Szabo, who lives in Northern California, has spoken to more than 400,000 people across the country over the last five years about mental health issues, he said in a telephone interview Friday.
He addresses the stereotypes associated with mental illnesses, as well as the warning signs for mental illnesses and places where people may go for help.
“The main message we promote is that we can talk about mental health (problems) with others,” he said. “It is treatable.”
His visit is sponsored by the Chemung County Department of Mental Hygiene's Subcommittee for Mental Health and the Suicide Prevention Task Force.
posted by Cali Scribe @ 1:04 PM
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