By Shannon McMahon

With skyrocketing childhood obesity and diabetes rates, plenty of people understand the importance of physical fitness for kids. But with a 30-year history of providing mental and behavioral health services to the Dublin community, the Dublin Counseling Center also recognizes that healthy young minds are as important as healthy bodies.

Partnered with Dublin middle schools, the counseling center implemented the “Red Flags” program in January. The program, endorsed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), teaches eighth grade students about the signs, conditions, and treatments of depression. The four Dublin middle schools involved –Davis, Grizzell, Karrer and Sells – have approximately 1,200 eighth graders who will take the course. Seventh graders at these schools took the course in the fall.

“We were more than happy to grab hold of a program that had proven outcomes,” says Lucy Smith, community relations director for the counseling center.

The program works to create a community context for depression recognition and intervention. It teaches students about these topics through in-class videos. Smith says that the program was first implemented in northern Ohio’s Summit County, and efficacy was greatest for this age group.

While expansion into more grade levels is possible, Smith says the counseling center and the schools would do so only if there is a need for it.

“Right now our goal is to implement it and do a fabulous job,” says Smith.

The program is based on a video titled Thick and Thin, which depicts the struggle of a young girl who shows signs of depression, such as irritability, fighting, loss of interest in activities and self-mutilation. The important lesson lies in her friend’s ability to recognize her symptoms and provide support.

The program’s central theme teaches kids how to talk about depression. Questions pop up on the screen during the video to facilitate classroom discussions. Illustrated by the friend in the video, kids are encouraged to see it as a chemical problem. The program also includes a lesson on brain function and chemistry.

Lisa Brickert, a licensed social worker and clinician from the counseling center, says the program fills a need in student education.

“The program helps put words to the feelings that some students possess but don’t know how to express,” she says. “It teaches kids that these feelings are OK and it is OK to express them.”

The program creates a comfortable environment for students as they learn to look out for each other. Brickert says kids have displayed positive reactions to the lessons. Equipped with the right words to address depression, students have approached staff members to alert them about a friend who is showing symptoms.

Teaching how to talk about depression also extends beyond the classroom with various take-home newsletters and other literature, plus an informational seminar for parents.
These help reach the long-term goal of de-stigmatizing depression, both in school and in the community. Both Brickert and Smith say stigmas exist and can act as obstacles in the path to recovery if they are not addressed.

“The more that people know, the more tools they have, the more likely it is that help will be provided,” Smith says.

For more information on the Red Flags program, contact the Dublin Counseling Center at 614-889-5722.

Shannon McMahon is a contributing writer for Dublin Life.