Turning tragedy into growth

The death of Myles Neuts in February of 1998 devastated many, including his best friend in Grade Five, Sarah Warren.

Thursday, that same Sarah Warren, now with a Master’s Degree and an Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier, took the stage as part of a youth panel at the You Him, Her and Me Mental Health Summit.

She said Myles’ death first left her a victim as well.

“I struggled with self harm because the physical pain was better than the emotional pain,” she told some 150 mental health professionals.

Mental anguish forces many into self destructive, anti-social or addictive behaviours.

“As long as treatment focuses on the addiction instead of the pain behind it, things don’t get better,” she said. “You need to remove the reason for the addiction or behaviour if you want it to stop.”

Panel member Andy Segovia, 21, was on his way to following his father’s footsteps into substance abuse and violence. “I was angry and I didn’t know why,” he said.

He is now peer mentor in the SNAP (Stop Now And Plan) program and aspires to be a child and youth worker.

Nestor Gomez Suarez is, at 18 years old, the leader of a New Mentality Group offered through a youth program centre.

Raised in an atmosphere of drugs and violence, he followed the code of “if you see something bad, don’t speak of it,” until he broke free. He’s now determined to “disable the label” associated with teens in trouble.

The youngest of the panel, 14-year-old Chaz Langford, who suffers from anxiety; said support from teachers and family is key.

As a member of the Access Canada national mental health project, he wants to see youth mental health services become a major priority in schools and hospitals.

Dr. Leena Augimeri of the University of Toronto and summit co-organizer said listening to the needs of youth is the best way to tailor programs to fit them.

“A medical doctor wouldn’t dream of treating a patient without asking questions and we need to make sure we’re doing the same when we’re treating children’s mental health,” she said.