Davies students get word out about help

• Davies High School DECA chapter students

Courtney Jacobson, front, Austin Cariveau and Ellen Keim will present a teen depression awareness campaign in several Fargo schools starting Monday. The Davies High School DECA chapter students say the “Defeat Depression” campaign is aimed at middle school and ninth-grade students. Helmut Schmidt / The Forum

Talk about it

Students from Fargo Davies High School will start a campaign Monday to increase awareness of teen depression and to point students dealing with it toward help.

Students in the DECA chapter will set up booths at several middle and high schools during lunch to share their “Defeat Depression” message with peers, said chapter President Courtney Jacobson.

She’ll be joined by sophomore Ellen Keim and junior Austin Cariveau.

“We picked a topic that’s very close to home. I suffer from depression myself,” Jacobson said. “We want to put on this campaign to encourage kids to get help.”

Keim has known two people who committed suicide while suffering from depression.

Middle school and early high school students are the prime audience for the campaign because academic and other stresses loom larger in their lives, she said.

“I know they are just really hard times. I know it was for me,” Keim said. “I just know if anything can be prevented, that would be really amazing.”

“It’s a really good cause. I know suicide (tied to depression) has been too common in our area,” Cariveau said.

The group will offer information on the warning signs for depression, statistics and resources to get help. It will also hand out stickers and will have drawings to win “Defeat Depression” T-shirts, Jacobson said.

“One out of five teens will have serious depression before adulthood,” Jacobson said. “We want to serve as a reminder that there’s help out there.”

She said her depression came on when her parents got divorced during her freshman year.

“I really felt sad all the time. I wasn’t myself. I didn’t hang out with my friends. I just thought, ‘Why me?’ ” she said.

Jacobson said her aunt noticed the changes and got her to talk with a school counselor. Since, she’s seen a therapist and is now on medication.

“It’s been a complete 180 (degree turn),” she said. “Without my aunt, I don’t know where I’d be today.”

The group will be at Carl Ben Eielson Middle School on Monday, Discovery Middle School on Tuesday, Woodrow Wilson High School on Wednesday, South Campus II on Thursday and South High on Friday.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Helmut Schmidt at (701) 241-5583

Tags: mental health, k12 education, davies high school, news, health, depression, fargo, education