Tarrant County communities are turning loss into hope for the future.
Following two teen suicides within three days of each other at the same school in the Keller Independent School District, a group of educators and mental health professionals are coming together to host a community mental health forum in Bedford on Tuesday night.
BREATHE: The Mental Health Forum begins at 6 p.m. at Midcities Montessori, 209 Harwood Road in Bedford. The event is free and open to anyone in the Metroplex who wants to have a one-on-one discussion with an expert about youth mental health.
School Principal Kim Olstrup, one of the driving forces behind the effort, said she wants to ensure as many families as possible get the help they need.
“Let’s talk about the kids and what they need. That’s more important right now than sitting back and focusing on what happened in our community and what we’re going to do now. Let’s make sure this never happens again in our community,” she said.
The effort began about a month ago in response to a call for help from Scotty Cooper, a father in the Keller Independent School District whose teenage son, Anthony, died by suicide.
The 16-year-old was one of two students who died by suicide within three days at Timber Creek High School in April.
Cooper told NBC 5 at the time that her son had been open about feeling depressed in the past and had experienced bullying, but she didn’t see any signs of him being distressed in the weeks before his death.
Olstrup said the tragedy prompted her, several community leaders and mental health experts to come together and organize the forum, which will be held Tuesday night. They also created a Facebook group for families to join and find mental health resources.
“We thought we should create a place where people can ask questions, educate themselves and get the right answers from trusted sources, because searching the internet isn’t necessarily the best place to find all this information,” she said. “It’s open to anyone who has questions. Bullying happens a lot more than we realize. It’s really, really important to know kids, give them a voice and know that their voice will be heard.”
Olstrup works with Ashley Stafford, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Canvas Outpatient, an intensive outpatient clinic in Hurst for adolescents ages 12 to 17.
Stafford will be attending the forum to engage with parents along with other mental health professionals, including psychiatric nurses.
“According to the National Institute of Mental Health, suicide is the second leading cause of death in children ages 10 to 14 and the third leading cause of death in children ages 15 to 24 in 2021,” she said. “What’s happening in our communities can sometimes feel like a shock, but I can tell you from having been in this field for a long time, this is a problem and it’s an epidemic across this country.”
The pandemic has been a common factor in the rise of mental illness: Another study estimated that suicide rates have risen by 27% among people under the age of 18 in the United States since COVID began.
Topics at Tuesday’s forum will include signs and symptoms of depression, misconceptions about suicide, bullying and the impact of social media on young people.
“I think it’s important to normalize the fact that this isn’t just about your family, this isn’t just about your child. There are a lot of people out there who are suffering, and that’s OK. If we can remove the stigma, remove the shame, and understand that there are places to get help and that it’s OK to talk about it, then people can open up and ask for help.”
The forum will also focus on parents having open and honest conversations with licensed mental health professionals.
“I think just by referring people face-to-face to a provider who’s here for the community, it makes people feel more comfortable getting care,” Stafford said.
Canvas Outpatient connects families with resources, including free evaluations, to help families who are unsure of the level of care their child needs.
Olstrup said that if there are more opportunities and demand for more mental health forums like this one, the school would be open to hosting more in the future.
