ANN ARBOR, MI - Depression and suicide are much more than just problems facing the fictional characters that Ann Arbor resident Liza Taylor creates for her books and short stories.

For nearly 18 million Americans, including Taylor, depression is a very real and often disabling disorder. And, if left untreated, 15 percent of those people with severe depression will attempt suicide.

Fortunately, there is help and treatment available for the 1.5 million Americans at risk for suicide and the 500,000 currently living with depression in Michigan – a fact that Taylor, a patient who has been successful treated for depression at the University of Michigan, hopes to educate the public about by taking part in the second annual “Into the Light” walk on Saturday, Sept. 20.

“Into the Light” will again be a seven-mile journey to represent the one in seven Americans who suffer from depression. A three-mile route is also available. It will begin at 9 a.m., with registration opening at 8 a.m. at Pioneer High School, 601 West Stadium, Ann Arbor.

Following the walk through Ann Arbor, participants will have the opportunity to eat, converse, get a free neck massage, read personal messages on the "Why I Walked" board and browse educational materials. Free face painting will also be available for children, in addition to T-shirts, food and music.

The event’s guest hosts will be Dick Purtan from Oldies 104.3 WOMC and former Detroit Lions quarterback Eric Hipple. Congressman John Dingell and his wife, Debbie, who is a member of the U-M Depression Center board, along with Washtenaw County Commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman and State Representative Ruth Ann Jamnick, will also be in attendance.

The purpose of the walk, sponsored by the U-M Depression Center and the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), is to encourage members of the community who have lost family members to suicide or watched loved ones battle depression, or who have experienced depression themselves to raise awareness about the prevalence of depression, its link to suicide, and the treatment that is available.

“Suffering in silence is not the only option for people with depression,” says Taylor, who writes fictional works based on her own experience with depression. “After seeking help at U-M and finding the treatment that works best for me, I’ve been symptom-free for almost a year now – and I would have sought treatment sooner if I had known more about the help that is available.”

At last year’s inaugural walk, more than 200 participants, including State Senator Liz Brater, walked to raise awareness about the link between depression and suicide, and the treatment that is available. Their efforts also helped raise funds for education and prevention programs at the U-M Depression Center.

“Into the Light” organizer and the co-founder of the Ann Arbor AFSP Tammi Landry, is optimistic that the 2003 walk, an event designed more for the whole family, will build upon the momentum and success of last year’s walk.

“Bringing people together each year really works to create a community awareness about the link between depression and suicide by letting people know it is okay to ask for help,” says Landry, whose father took his life in 2001 as the result of depression. “For those of us left behind after a loved one dies by suicide, events like ‘Into the Light’ help lessen our pain by coming together, gaining strength from each other, and teaching the world that others do not have to die. By educating the public about depression and diminishing stigma for good, we will convert our very worst life experience into something positive.”

And educating the public about depression and suicide is key to encouraging families to be more open about depression and recognize the signs of the illness earlier so that their loved ones can be effectively treated, says John F. Greden, M.D., director of the U-M Depression Center and chair of psychiatry at the U-M Medical School.

“It’s important for people to understand that although depression is one of the most disabling illnesses in the world, it can be successfully treated before it transitions into suicide,” he says. “If left untreated, depression and its painful symptoms will persist, leaving patients overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness, which often makes it difficult for them to continue in life.”

But recognizing symptoms of depression can be difficult since it's an illness that's not talked about among family members. In many cases, depressed and suicidal people hide their symptoms from family and friends.

Depression, Greden says, is an illness that often presents itself with many physical symptoms - fatigue, pain, loss of appetite. It's also characterized by feeling of sadness, helplessness and irritability, which may not be apparent to health care providers, who often just treat the symptoms while the underlying syndrome goes undetected.

Although the exact causes of depression are unknown, experts believe that depression is a brain disorder that is in part hereditary and is often associated with current or early life stress. It affects an estimated 21 percent of women and 11 percent of men at some point in their lives.

Greden says it is a privilege for the U-M Depression Center to be collaborating with AFSP in an event that he feels will help end the sigma attached to depression, which often prevents families from discussing the disease and helping their loved ones seek treatment. The U-M Health System is also working to help more patients with depressive disorders get the medical help and treatment they need by building the nation’s first depression center, set to open for patient use in 2006.

Pre-registration for the walk is not required, but is encouraged at www.depressioncenter.org. The registration fee is $25 or $10 for students. Children 12 and under are free. Stroller and pets on leashes are also welcome.

This year’s “Into the Light” walk has once again been made possible through the support of local businesses and individual donations.

Written by: Krista Hopson

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