KIDS MUST SPEAK UP ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH

Olivia Goff has obessive-compulsive disorder and depression.

Touching things methodically. Reading the same book pages repeatedly while the rest of the class moves on to future chapters. Worrying about how she's different from other kids.

Like a calculator, Olivia Goff felt compelled to focus on numbers when she was in third grade, but didn't know why. She felt sad a lot of the time, too. Teachers were kind and helpful, but Olivia feared reaching out to them.

She was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and depression in sixth grade.

Depression, which affects 121 million people worldwide, often makes people feel sad, unable to focus and uninterested in life. They may feel guilty and have low self worth. OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts to repeat behaviors such as hand washing, counting, checking, or cleaning.

"I didn't really know that there even was such a thing as OCD," said Olivia, now 17. "So I thought there was just something very wrong with me and that if I tell someone, they're going to think that I'm really, really weird."

Olivia didn't know it then, but she is not unusual. One in five children and teens have a mental health disorder in America. Almost 250,000 Hoosier youth have some type of mental health issue.

And one in 10, or 6 million kids nationally, have a serious emotional disorder according to the National Mental Health Information Center, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Youth today still live in a society where it is too often taboo to discuss mental health issues, according to Edward Alexander, executive director of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Indianapolis. The organization has local, state and national offices.

Mental health advocates, like those with NAMI, are working to take away the stigma of mental illness. They believe schools can play a pivotal role in helping youth understand and get treatment.

About $12 billion a year is spent on mental health care for youth, but it is often fragmented with little accountability for success, according to a 2006 study by the University of South Florida.

In fact, most American children who need it do not get any mental health services for their disorders, but those who do most often receive help from school-based therapeutic services, according to the Florida study.

Schools are an ideal place for community counseling offices, said Donna Augenbergs, assistant director of child and adolescent services for Midtown Community Mental Health Center. She wishes they were available in every school.

"It's a place where teenagers and kids and families are coming in and out of all the time, and it's just kind of a natural place, a natural resource where they can get help if they need it."

Confidential mental health services are available in some Indianapolis schools and have been for more than a decade. For example, Midtown, part of Wishard Health Services, provides services at about 20 Indianapolis Public Schools – elementary, middle and high schools.

"All children who we treat have to have parental consent. We want the family's input on what it is they want their children to achieve or accomplish in school and in their counseling. So we get everybody involved and then try to build on the students strengths so that they can be successful," explained Augenbergs.

For instance, if a teenager is struggling with depression, the therapist figures out whether it is situational depression or could benefit from medication. An advanced practice nurse is part of the IPS program and can prescribe medicine.

"If the depression is linked to family worries, such as homelessness, a Midtown case manager works with the family to find housing and deal with other anxiety and pressures they face.

Augenbergs said Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the most common mental health issue Midtown staff address in schools. But they also see a lot of depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders and kids struggling with drug and alcohol addictions.

She's encouraged, however, by student progress.

"In high schools, middle schools and elementary schools, definitely we've seen positive benefits. We've seen increased attendance. We've seen increased ability to learn when they're in the classroom," Augenbergs said. "When you help children or teenagers figure out what's going on in their lives and how they need to manage it, all of that together increases success."

Many school counselors, like Goff's at Castle High School in Newburgh, Ind., are available to help students battle stress and other adolescent mood disorders, but the school near Evansville doesn't have separate services for mental health care. Castle counselors concentrate on scheduling classes and providing other academic aid.

"Most people that I know that go to counselors mostly go to them for like careers and college information and stuff," Olivia said. "I've never talked to them about like a personal issue or anything."

She wishes now that she wouldn't have kept her own mouth shut for three years. It wasn't until sixth grade that she confided in someone about how she was acting and feeling.

"My mom noticed me doing strange stuff, and then I finally told her because it was really, really taking over my life and affecting like my schoolwork."

Olivia doesn't blame anyone – at school or home – for not figuring out that she was having problems. She's only confided in one teacher about her OCD, but she thinks other teachers would be accepting and patient with her – or with other students struggling with mental health. Empathy is important because OCD is difficult to understand.

She has confided in some friends, especially when they joke and say something like: "I'm so OCD." Olivia will reply: "I know what that's like." Then they talk about it, and her friends better understand her.

Olivia's OCD and depression continue to trouble her. The depression, in particular, flared after she suffered two ruptured discs in February 2007. She had taken dance lessons for years and was forced to stop. Three surgeries have followed, and the first two failed. It's too soon after the third to know how it will help her.

"(The surgeries) kind of have a big pull on my mental health just because when I had the surgery, I was in my house for a couple months, not being able to get out or do anything with my friends. So, it made me a lot more depressed," Olivia said.

Alexander said that recovering from mental illness must begin with communication – both from the person suffering and from his or her friends, family and educators.

"Bring up topics that are difficult, emotional or hush-hush," Alexander said. "Talk about how there are resources out there; there are services out there."

Olivia's mother has helped her get the therapy and medication she needs, but the teen wishes she could join a school support group for youth struggling with mental health issues. She tried participating in an OCD support group for adults, but she couldn't relate to their issues, such as getting and keeping employment.

"I know there are people at my school who have mental health issues like I do, but just the fact that I don't know any of them makes me feel that a lot of people are really introverted about it and don't say anything," she said.

The 17-year-old would like to see every school offer counseling groups. They could be led by a school counselor and meet a couple times a month.

"Then you can talk about the issues you're facing with people who can relate," Olivia said. "If you talk about it with just your friends that don't have it, they have no idea what you're talking about."

"I think the whole peer-to-peer support network really can work well. It's more of a 'How's it going?'" agreed Alexander. "There's a social aspect, and you build friendships."

Olivia already knows that working with peers outside of school makes her feel better. She's a volunteer with the Junior Mental Health Association of Indiana, which has more than 100 youth volunteers in its Evansville chapter. For more information, go to: http://www.mentalhealthassociation.com/JMHAI.htm or contact Helen Kremzar, state chairwoman, at 812-473-0029.

"The Junior Mental Health Association helped my fears because every time I do something with them, I always have such a good time," she said. "The service projects we do helping other people takes my mind off my problems."

The JMHA reaches out to help all ages – children, teens, adults and senior citizens – struggling with mental illness. They serve meals to the homeless, and host events at nursing homes and the Evansville Psychiatric Children's Center. They also do puppet shows in school that educate about mental health issues. They raise money for the poor and meet monthly, listening to guest speakers talk about mental health.

The organization also helps Olivia feel less isolated. "At first I felt so alone and like I was the only one that had these issues," she said. "It's given me more hope and everything like that -- just being there to help each other."

REPORTER: William Andrews, 11.

Copyright 2008 Y-Press