Jamie Tworkowski of To Write Love on Her Arms will be speaking at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in the Grand Ballroom of the Student Center.
The admission is free and the event is part of TWLOHA’s vision to “present hope and find help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.”
The event was rescheduled after being cancelled in February due to bad weather.
Krista Allen, an EMU junior who will be attending the event, is going in hopes of getting, “advice from an expert that will aid me in the future.
“I have had many friends contemplate suicide and admit to being cutters. To Write Love on Her Arms does an amazing job spreading awareness of the issues and making sufferers aware they are not alone and that there are people out there who care.”
At the event, Tworkowski, the founder of TWLOHA, with the help of musical guest Noah Gundersen, will talk about these personal issues and “encourage, inform, inspire and invest directly into treatment and recovery.”
Tworkowski could not be targeting a better audience.
According to National Institute of Mental Health, one out of every four college students or adults suffers from some form of diagnosable mental illness. Suicide, according to the NYU Child Study Center, is the third leading cause of death among people ages 15-24 and the second leading cause of death in college students ages 20-24.
TWLOHA is using innovative ways to combat these harmful behaviors. In order to launch IMAlive, the first ever live online crisis network with partner The Kristin Brooks Hope Center, TWLOHA is hoping to be this year’s Chase Community Giving Contest’s $1 million prize winner.
The winning organization is the one with the most online votes, and one of the ways TWLOHA gained votes was to get the support of celebrity Miley Cyrus, who posted YouTube videos urging people to vote for TWLOHA. There were specific videos where she showed fellow celebrities Joaquin Phoenix and Liv Tyler how to vote for TWLOHA in order to motivate others to do the same.
The attitude surrounding depression and addiction has not always been the cool, hip cause supported by celebrities and today’s upbeat youth. David Cook, a 75-year-old retired mechanic, remembers going to high school in the 1950s and if there was a tragedy that happened to a classmate, “life just went madly on.
“We didn’t have grief counselors back then. Teachers would handle it.”
David Shoup, social worker at Catholic Social Services in Ypsilanti, said, “Growing up in the 1960s I just didn’t know about it. Issues like depression and suicide weren’t talked about in education. It was only until the late 1970s when I was a psychology major that I finally learned about it. It was not general knowledge.”
“Those were things you just didn’t talk about. It was abnormal. It was not proper,” Cook adds. “People suffering from addiction and self-injury? They would just send you up, and when you came back, it was from California.”
Today, issues like depression are seen as complications in a beautiful actor’s storyline or the subject of a glossy front-page magazine cover. While some adults like Cook think, “some of the things out there are overdone,” others believe with the stigma removed, people are finally free to talk about it without fear of social penalty.
According to the Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health, stereotypes are one of the largest barriers preventing young people from seeking the help they need.
Laurie Stevens, a sophomore at EMU, began feeling the full effects of depression when she was in her first year at Grand Valley State University.
“Talking about it can help,” she said. “When you talk to someone understanding, they can help pull you out of it a little. They can distract you or comfort you. That’s why suicide hotlines exist. You kind of open up that spiral of internalized negativity to another person.”
The ease in which these once-sensitive topics are now approached has much to do with the increased awareness, understanding and resources available for people grappling with these issues. On the EMU campus, Snow Health Center provides affordable, confidential and professional programs and services to students, employees and the community. Any student is able to receive up to 12 counseling sessions free of charge.
Stevens recalls the day she first sought help:
“It was summer 2009, and I walked to my hospital a few blocks away from my home. I told them I had planned out my suicide and, within an hour, I was being driven in an ambulance to St. Mary’s where I stayed for three days. They were the best three days of my life.”
Andrew Armbruster, a 21-year-old EMU student, said, “I was diagnosed with clinical depression two years ago. I take 100 milligrams of Zoloft a day.”
The combination of therapy, medication and the support of those close to him have helped Armbruster, who is known as the clown within his group of friends, overcome depression, which he describes as, “an open door that can never be closed again, at least not for me.”
Shoup, a licensed therapist, sees people suffering from depression on a weekly basis. When they come to see him, he “tries to help them work on their issues by rebuilding positive patterns. Depression stops people from their hobbies. If they start doing things they like again, it will lead to enjoyment and self-esteem in their life.”
Armbruster said, “My mother and my best friend were there for me while I had depression. It was my mother who advised me to seek therapy.
“I was lucky; I had people by my side. Organizations like To Write Love on her Arms work because it is for people who don’t have anyone or don’t know what to do.”
Stevens, self described as an intelligent, active woman with a deep love of books, said, “The societal view is to cheer up and stop being such a baby. They don’t understand. Depression is a chemical problem in the brain that is partly genetic. There is a history of depression from my mom’s side. She has it too.”
The major trend of the 21st century is with the growth in communication technology, information becomes easily accessed by anyone. One of the positive benefits is those suffering from issues like addiction and depression have easy access to help and hope in a matter of minutes.
For more information on To Write Love on Her Arms visit http://www.twloha.com.
