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Kids Walk the Walk
The numbers are still shocking to parents and kids alike: an estimated 1 in 8 adolescents suffer from depression.
By Matt Gamewell,
May 10, 2008, 8:38 PM CDT
The numbers are still shocking to parents and kids alike: an estimated 1 in 8 adolescents suffer from depression. Shedding light on that often secret issue is the goal of Saturday night's "Kids Walking For Kids" event in Creve Coeur Park.  Watch
Depression is an illness that hits all age groups, but adolescents can have it especially hard when struggling during such a challenging life stage. That's why participants wanted everyone to know there is help and hope in abundant supply.
The soaking ran of a spring storm giving way to sunshine and blue skies. That abrupt weather change Saturday proved to be an apt metaphor for the mental health challenges of adolescent depression that were the focus of the walk.
According to participant Allie Gardine: "I think people are scared to talk about because they just don't understand it, but I think people should be open about it." Gardine, a student at Fort Zumwalt South High School lost her best friend Taylor to death by suicide last year, so she and her friends skipped their prom to walk in her honor.
"I don't think you can ever really heal from it, I just think you have to learn to deal with it, and you have to learn to move on," she said.
Her friend Sierra Moellering added: "We want to help prevent teen suicide and get as much research as possible."
Funding research and raising awareness are the twin goals of CHADS Coalition, the foundation sponsoring this walk as an outreach to vulnerable kids and their often suffering parents. "That's one of the biggest problems, as far as going forward with mental health, people just don't understand it and they don't realize how bad the problem is," said Marian McCord, executive director of CHADS Coalition.
McCord lost her son Chad to suicide, so she's active in helping students, parents and administrators understand the scope of the problem. "They don't realize how many kids are affected by it, and they don't realize how many kids are dying by suicide."
Walkers came out to Creve Coeur Park in droves for an event with a festival feel, many with powerful and very personal motivations inspired by knowing adolescents who have taken their own lives. They came out to celebrate life with dramatic purpose, while stressing the need for open communication.
Dr. Joan Luby, a featured speaker, is a child psychiatrist with Washington University. She applauds efforts to bring adolescent depression and suicide into a more prominent place in social discourse. "When we learn how to treat it and we know that it's correctable, it's like other medical disorders that can be treated with with medicines and other types of treatment," she said. "It becomes easier to talk about and more important to talk about."
Another student walker, Melanie McCallister of Fort Zumwalt South, walked and talked to support a cause near and dear to her heart. "People just don't understand how big of a deal it is, and I don't want anyone to have to go through what we went through."
The goal of the walk on Saturday is to raise 100,000 dollars for research and prevention programs to address adolescent suicide. CHADS Coalition also recently received a grant to implement the "Signs of Suicide" program in every middle and high school, both public and private, in the St. Louis area.
For more information:
www.chadscoalition.org
Copyright © 2008, KPLR
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