NAMI Will-Grundy brings youth mental health program to schools

Hannah Meinert, physical education and health teacher at Aux Sable Middle School in Plainfield, praised a free interactive mental health presentation that a local nonprofit brought to the school.

The Will-Grundy chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness is now offering NAMI’s “Ending the Silence” program to local schools with good responses.

According to the NAMI website, “Ending the Silence” is “an evidence-based, 50-minute session designed for middle and high school students.”

“I hope more schools embrace it and introduce it to their children.”

—  Danielle McDermott, a counselor at Brooks Middle School in Bolingbrook

“It’s just a way to give young people an opportunity to learn the warning signs of mental health conditions and what to do if they need to reach out for themselves or a friend who is struggling,” said Cheryl Habeeb, assistant director of NAMI Will-Grundy. “As the title says, we want to end the silence and reduce the stigma so people feel they can reach out for help.”

During the interactive presentation, students receive facts and statistics, watch short videos, learn warning signs and how to get help, and hear personal testimony of the journey to recovery, Habeeb said.

That personal testimony is important to students.

“They can see this person is doing well, that it’s OK to have a mental health condition and still lead a successful happy life, that treatment works and that having a mental health condition doesn’t mean you can’t achieve what you want in your life,” Habeeb said.

“Ending the Silence” is typically given during health and physical education classes, Habeeb said.

“We want to normalize that it’s important to take care of mental health just like we take care of physical health,” Habeeb said.

Meinert said “Ending the Silence” meshed with the sixth grade health curriculum, which focuses on mental and emotional health. She said speakers asked students questions and distributed wristbands as students answered. Students learned about signs of suicide and received cards on where to go for help, she said. They heard stories of people who’d gone through counseling and group counseling, she said.

“We closed it out the next day with identifying emotions and on how all emotions are OK; it’s how you really handle them,” Meinert said.

Meinert praised NAMI Will-Grundy representatives for their authenticity and passion for spreading awareness of mental health.

“They have humankind in their best interest,” Meinert said.

Habeeb said 1 in 6 young people are struggling with their mental health “at any given time” and that some people never receive treatment. In Will County, which translates to 9,660 young people who struggle with their mental health, she said.

That’s why young people should know resources are available and how to connect with those resources, she said.

“Early intervention is really key,” Habeeb said. “We don’t want people to suffer in silence or think, ‘This is the way my life had to be, that I have to deal with it’ The sooner someone reaches out for help, the sooner they receive treatment and the sooner they start to feel better.”

Students need mental health awareness

Danielle McDermott, a counselor at Brooks Middle School in Bolingbrook, said Wednesday that the eighth grade students attended the “Ending the Silence” presentation during their physical education classes in September and she hopes to make the presentation a recurring event at the school.

McDermott said in a written statement that the program was “eye-opening” for them.

“It broke down stereotypes and showed them that mental health challenges are nothing to be ashamed of,” McDermott said in a written statement. “Our eighth graders left the session with a deeper understanding and a commitment to being more supportive classmates and friends.”

NAMI’s “Ending the Silence” presentation reinforced previous teachings and helped normalize non-judgmental discussions about mental health, which is “a very near and dear thing to our school and our district.,” McDermott said.

“Over the last year, the district has done a phenomenal job of helping our students and out community in regard to mental health concerns or problems,” McDermott said Wednesday. “And this is just one more way to do so. We have four different counseling agencies in our building alone that come and support out students.”

Students were surveyed after the presentation and more than half felt more comfortable discussing mental health in appropriate ways, which is an important skill for middle grade students.

“I hope more schools embrace it and introduce it to their children,” she said.

Immediate help for teens and young adults

Call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) to speak with a NAMI HelpLine specialist now.

Text Friend to 62640 to immediately connect with a HelpLine Specialist.

Visit nami.org/talktous.