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Local delegation, first lady launch national mental health initiative

La Crosse Tribune (WI) - 3/5/2015

March 05--Kaitlin Mahr's suicide death on Nov. 19, 2007, put a face on mental illness that stunned her family members but also propelled their resolve to help others to honor her, her father, Todd Mahr, told a national audience Wednesday.

"Life was good" for him, his wife, Deb, Kaitlin and son Sam, Mahr said during remarks at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., for the launch of a new mental health initiative titled the Campaign to Change Direction.

Mahr's comments preceded the appearance of first lady Michelle Obama in support of Change Direction, when she said, "At the root of this dilemma is the way we view mental health in this country. Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain, it's still an illness -- and there should be no distinction."

Although Kaitlin was receiving help, she succumbed to bipolar depression and died of a drug overdose at the age of 20, her father said.

"Deb, Sam and I stopped. The path we were on stopped," said Mahr, of Onalaska, a physician at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse who specializes in allergies.

"The stigma was overwhelming, but yet there was light," he said, noting an outpouring of support when the family acknowledged Kaitlin's cause of death in her obituary instead of hiding it.

"Suddenly, the path before us was clear," Mahr said, and they established Kaitlin's Table and the Teen Service Providers Network to encourage young people to talk.

As the Mahrs tried to plumb the depths of the illness, he said, "The face of mental health was like the face of the community," affecting all walks of life.

"To me, Kaitlin is one of the many faces of Changing Direction," Mahr said.

Also addressing the audience during the live-streamed, four-hour program was Logistics Health Inc. founder and CEO Don Weber. He has been helping Barbara Van Dahlen develop the campaign as an outgrowth from the Give an Hour organization she founded.

Change Direction's inspiration came from the White House National Conference on Mental Health in 2013 in reaction to the murders of 26 people in the Dec. 12, 2012, massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Van Dalen said.

It is a coalition of government, business and nonprofit leaders to spur open discussions about mental health, mental illness and well-being.

"It's an effort to change the story," said Van Dahlen, who founded the Bethesda, Md.-based Give an Hour in September 2005 to enlist mental health workers across the nation to provide hours of free counseling to veterans and others.

During Weber's participation on a panel, he said ensuring employees' mental health is vital not only to companies' bottom lines but also to staunch the bleeding of chronic diseases that increase health care costs.

"Get rid of the stigma," he said. "What's the difference if someone is being treated for cancer or obesity or diabetes or mental health?

"Healthy employees are productive employees," Weber said. "This is an area of investment that I realize has far greater return than any other."

Weber, Van Dahlen and other campaign organizers note that 1 in 5 people has a diagnosable mental illness and that more Americans are expected to die from suicide than in car accidents this year.

The Coulee Region mirrors that bleak national statistic, as La Crosse County alone is on track already this year to approach last year's record-setting number of 26 suicides.

Contending that many people endure mental misery without seeking help, the campaign wants all Americans to learn the five signs that indicate someone may be suffering in silence so they can urge the person to ask for assistance.

Briefly, those signs are:

--People stop taking care of themselves and may engage in risky behavior.

--They withdraw or isolate themselves from other people.

--They seem uncharacteristically angry, anxious or agitated.

--They seem overcome with hopelessness and overwhelmed by their circumstances.

--Their personality changes.

When acquaintances notice such signs, they should talk to their friends, Van Dahlen said.

In addressing mental health difficulties, Van Dahlen said, "One size doesn't fit all. Not everybody needs to see a mental health counselor -- it can be meditation, yoga or other services."

Van Dahlen has been in La Crosse to work with Weber and other community leaders to prepare for the Coulee Region launch of the Campaign to Change Direction at 6 p.m.March 23 at the Weber Center for the Performing Arts.

More than 40 companies, organizations and schools in the region have signed on to participate, while also recognizing efforts already in progress at hospitals and organizations such as NAMI, the La Crosse Area Suicide Prevention Initiative, Mental Health Coalition of the Greater La Crosse Area and other groups.

"This is how we already provide help," said Charish Badzinski, LHI's communications manager, who has been involved in the local planning and was in for the national roll-out. "How can we be a part of the change in direction for mental health?"

Lamenting increasing numbers of suicides, Badzinski said, "We are looking at this campaign as an effort for prevention and awareness. Every day, we see signs of suffering. The idea is to open up and talk about them."

Teresa Pulvermacher, a nurse practitioner and operations manager at Riverside Corporate Wellness, another Weber enterprise, said, "Our goal is not to reinvent the wheel. It's to organize and see what's next."

The key is to offer support to each other, said Pulvermacher, who is helping organize the local program and was in the nation's capital for the national kick-off.

"Some days, we feel fine and rosy, but other days, we're in a dark place," Pulvermacher said. "If you see somebody having a bad day, ask how they are doing. We need to show each other kindness and compassion."

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(c)2015 the La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wis.)

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