Test Your Mood Day

May is National Mental Health Month. We know that one in every five adults, or about 42 million Americans, experience some type of mental disorder every year. But young people are not immune from mental illness. In fact, as many as one in 33 children and one in eight adolescents have clinical depression. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for persons aged 15 - 24 and the sixth for five - 15 year olds.

Last year, after learning of three suicide attempts by young people in Washington County, the Washington County Mental Health and Recovery (MHAR) Board instituted a groundbreaking program in several county schools, "Test Your Mood Day." The Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH) provided funding and guidance in developing this day-long depression screening and educational program for students in grades 6 - 12. In return, ODMH has asked us to provide technical assistance to other mental health boards and agencies around the state that wish to implement this program. Many adults who are diagnosed with depression have experienced symptoms of depression for years. Treatment for depression is extremely effective; the success rate for treating even the most severe cases of depression is about 85 - 90 percent and the earlier the treatment, the higher the chances for success. Test Your Mood Day allows students, with parental permission, to undergo an early, simple screening that can detect symptoms and to receive vital information about suicide prevention and various mental disorders. Before the first Test Your Mood Day, my expectations were minimal. While I felt that most students would be interested in the more gimmicky give-away items at the exhibit table, such as stressometer cards that change color when pressed to indicate levels of stress, puzzle pens and kaleidoscope-like prisms that advertise 24-hour crisis hotline numbers, I felt that only a handful of students would ask to be screened or take the handouts on suicide and depression. What I expected and what happened are two different things and I learned a great deal Young people are not afraid or embarrassed to be screened for depression. There has been a steady trend in the schools who have had Test Your Mood Days. About 10 percent of the eligible student population requests a depression screening and about 40 - 50 percent of those students who are screened score high enough to warrant some intervention. Young people are concerned about mental health and want helpful information. No doubt about it, the stressometers, pens, and prisms are the most popular items at the exhibit table, but students have also taken thousands of informational cards and leaflets. The most popular is a small suicide prevention card that fits in a wallet or billfold and gives tips for what to do if that student or someone he or she knows is thinking about suicide. Follow-up services are critical to Test Your Mood Day. When students have symptoms of depression they are urged to either let the guidance office notify their parents or to tell them themselves. Younger adolescents are usually amenable to this, but older teens are more reluctant to let their parents know. I believe there are several reasons for this: 1) Adolescence is a time of fierce yearning for independence. Older teens feel very vulnerable disclosing anything that that leads them to feel needy or dependant on their parents. 2) Depression in adolescents does not always present in ways that we as parents understand depression. The symptoms many parents may notice are anger, defiance, and laziness, often resulting in major family conflict. Many teens have said that they do not think their parents would believe they are depressed, probably because they work hard not to show the more vulnerable symptoms of overwhelming sadness and hopelessness. Often follow-up visits are spent role-playing ways to communicate more effectively and honestly what they are experiencing. Test Your Mood Day will have been in seven Washington County schools by the end of this school year and will be available next year to any interested middle, junior high or senior high school in the county. Any school interested in scheduling this event for next year may call me at (740) 374-6990. It is exciting and rewarding to be part of this innovative program that addresses one of our children's most treasured assets - their mental health.