Out of the Shadows

21 November 2013Maddie M, Photos by Joe K & Sarah H

On November 15th and 16th, SPARC hosted speakers who brought mental illness out of the shadows. In the hope of breaking the silence and stigma that surrounds mental illness, Kevin Breele, TED talk presenter, addressed the school with a passionate telling of his personal story about his struggles with depression. Kevin was a high school student, had many friends, a supportive family, and was the Captain of his school’s successful basketball team. He was a popular person who always had a smile on his face or a joke to tell. Kevin admits he led a fairly normal, happy life on the outside. It wasn’t until he was alone at night, or left to his thoughts, that he came to terms with the fact that he was depressed. After feeling like he had to keep his feelings bottled up and hidden from his surroundings, it hit him one night that nothing was truly going to make him happy. Even after winning the Island Championships in basketball, something the team had been working towards for four years, he still felt as if nothing could truly make him happy. This was Kevin’s breaking point. After holding sadness inside him bottled up for years because of the stigma surrounding the topic, he contemplated suicide to the point where he even had a suicide note written. It was after reading the note to himself that he realized that he had never talked any of these issues over with anyone. Whoever read this note would be the first to hear this information. And it was then that Kevin knew he couldn’t quit on himself. He needed to let these feelings out to someone whether it was a counselor, his parents, or a friend. He needed to talk. And talk he did. On November 16th all of the Grade 11s attended a series of presentations related to mental illness. This culminated with a keynote address in the theatre by Ginny Dennehy, author of Choosing Hope and head of the Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation, which has funded mental health projects alongside the BC Children’s Hospital. Having lost a son to suicide, her story is powerful and her journey is inspiring. The presentations were a reminder of how depression and mental illnesses are normal and surprisingly frequent. While some presentations were more science based, other were by our own Brentwood peers sharing their personal stories, as Kevin and Ginny did. It’s time to break the stigma and silence around metal illness. It’s time to lend a hand to someone in need, to a friend, to a family member, or maybe someone you’ve never really taken the time to talk to. Smile at people, take the time to get to know how truly fascinating your peers and teachers and family members are. Listen to their stories, and feel comfortable sharing your own. It’s time to break the stigma. Maddie M, Allard ‘15

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