The Daily Campus

Issue date: 9/10/08 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Kevin McQuade Ross Szabo talks about suicide prevention at the Jorgensen Center for Performing Arts.

"The biggest thing that kills are secrets," said John Saddlemire, vice president of Student Affairs. One of the highlights of Suicide Prevention Week was an inspirational speech given by Ross Szabo, Director of Youth Outreach for the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign and co- author of Behind Happy Faces.

"I liked the fact that he kept reiterat[ing] that everyone has mental health issues and that no one is alone," said Kim Sadowski, a 7th-semester international business major.

From the moment that Szabo came on stage at the Center for the Performing Arts, one could tell that this was not going to be an average, boring speech. He had an outwardly charismatic nature and immediately started making jokes about Dave Chappelle and The Spice Girls.

Once the crowd was loosened up, Szabo got down to business about the importance of understanding the term "mental health." Mental health is stigmatized with negativity. When some people hear that some one suffers from "poor mental health" they automatically think that person is a raving lunatic who cannot control their own life.

Szabo, however, wanted everyone to know that way of thinking is not true. Everyone, at some point in their life, deals with issues concerning their mental health. One in every four college students have some sort or mental health issue, however over 66 percent do not seek professional help or even tell any one at all.

Szabo told the audience of his past struggles with bipolar disorder, depression and even a suicide attempt while he was in high school. He was able to open up to his father about the issues he was tryng to deal with on his own. While his high school friends weren't too accepting of Szabo's mental health issues, the friends he made later on at American University were. He was pretty open about his mental illness to his new friends.

It was at college that he began to realize what a good person he is and how much he has to offer in the world. It took a few years of working on himself and leaving college to do so but in the end, he stopped abusing drugs and alcohol.

Once Szabo became comfortable with himself and started talking about his mental health issues with others, the world became a more enjoyable place for him. He would not be alive today if he had never opened up and talked about his issues that were kept buried inside for so long.

Szabo conveyed many crucial lessons to UConn students in his speech, but the most important one was that you must always love yourself for who you are. "I think every UConn student should have seen Ross Szabo's presentation," said Chelsea Raftery, a 7th-semester communication major. "People need to know that those suffering with mental illnesses are not portrayed correctly in the media, they are just regular people like you and me trying to cope with their issues."

For those who were uninformed, Suicide Prevention Week began this past Sunday and will continue until Saturday, Sept. 13.

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