13 REASONS WHY discussed in roundtable

(Via Dave Herndon, The News-Herald Newspapers)

About 20 people gathered in Taylor recently to discuss the new Netflix television series “13 Reasons Why” and how that is helping to raise awareness of mental health issues.

The series is 13 episodes long and focuses on a teenager, Hannah Baker, who commits suicide by slitting her wrists. Each episode shows off some of the reasons, or more specifically people, who caused her to get to the point of suicide.

The character in the show identified the 13 people in her life that gave her reasons.

“This is a very popular series,” Taylor Schools therapist Sandra Kluk said. “It is Netflix’s most talked about series of all times.”

It tackles several themes that helped to lead up to Baker’s suicide in the series.

In the show, Baker was shamed, having a graphic photo of her shared around the school, teased, picked on and more.

“Our teens are watching this and not processing it with anyone,” Kluk said. “It’s very graphic. Each of these characters in the show she blames as a contributor to her suicide.”

The specific discussion at the event was kept private, so names in the story of people other than officials have names to protect their identities.

Is suicide anyone’s fault?

“I don’t think it is,” a woman who will be referred to as Mandy said. “My niece committed suicide, and I blamed her parents.”

Mandy said after a while she realized that her niece’s parents weren’t at fault, it was just something that happened.

“I’m sorry that it happened to you,” a woman called Susan said. “A lot of these teens want to reach out and talk to someone. They have a fear of being judged or making their parents look bad.

Susan said that she feels that some people are at fault.

“My son came home the other days and told me about the girl around the corner having slits on her wrists,” she said. “Now I have to figure out how to deal with that and help her.”

Another woman, Michelle, said that there hasn’t been a month go by in recent memory where she didn’t hear of a child committing suicide due to pressures, real or perceived, put on them through school or other methods.

Officials with the Community Care Services center in Taylor said there is no reason why one child commits suicide and another doesn’t. They said every student reacts to things differently and each case is unique.

Hannah talked to no one. CCS officials said that was the key point missing for Hannah Baker. There were many key points in the series where she became a victim and seemed to feel like she deserved it.

“Hannah talked to no one,” Kluk said. “She didn’t talk about her problems with anyone.”

The characters were “far too adult” to be “real” according to officials running the meeting, however their stories are real.

“We work in the high school,” Kluk said. “We see these things, kids go to parties, kids get raped.”

Officials said that talking about their issues is the first step to getting help for people.

What do good friendships look like?

“Do good friendships keep suicide plans a secret or do they risk shaming the family by getting help,” one of the officials asked.

The group consensus was that it was better to seek help than to keep a secret. The group said that sometimes people, especially teens just need time to get out of the headspace they are in, and by seeking help they often help the other person get that time.

Officials said it’s better to seek help than to attempt to be the person’s therapist on their own.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, the event was put on as part of the continuing education and raising awareness for people with mental health problems.

(see accompanying story tracking “13 Ways to Reach Out)