One program can't solve teen depression, but it helps

Frontiersman editorial board

A teen suicide prevention program is getting mixed reviews in the Valley, but that probably shouldn't come as a great surprise. It's a difficult topic for many people to even talk about, let alone agree upon, so any attempt to tackle it with something like a solution is bound to please some and anger others.

Carry the Cure takes the approach that life is worth living -- that teens should take advantage of life's good things and get on with living. It's about making a commitment to life. Part of the program uses rock-and-roll, snowboarding images and other visually appealing media. It also includes a skit about a forlorn girl who takes her own life. It's the mixed message that has some school officials nervous. Some are concerned that the skit may actually present suicide as a viable option.

Maybe the problem is that suicide is anything but a black-and-white problem. Perhaps even less clear is teen depression, which really is what is at the heart of the Carry the Cure effort. There are an almost unlimited list of reasons and causes for teen suicide and for the decision to take one's life. It's difficult to imagine one program that could possibly address all of those possible causes. For instance, a significant portion of depression may be more attributable to physiology than to circumstances. Some people may just be more prone to depression than others -- of course the difficulties of being a teen contribute fuel to the fire.

The question here is, when someone is clinically depressed, do you do them more harm than good by telling them that life's not so bad and you ought to just buck up and dive back into it. In fact, no matter what the cause of the depression, that may be a painful, or at least meaningless, message to someone who only sees futility.

It's not fair to place that entire burden upon Carry the Cure, however. One program, one approach, cannot hope to provide all the answers -- or even to address all the questions. What it can be is part of a wide community effort to provide all the support and help our teens need. Looking on the bright side and taking a big breath of life is not the miracle cure for teen depression and suicide, but teaching kids that they can have a positive attitude certainly can be part of that solution. The fact that there are people who have identified the problem and are willing to work toward a solution is worthy of praise. If others will take on part of the problem and pitch in, maybe we'll eventually get there.