Announcing CreateWell
On Tuesday, April 25, 1989, Brad died by suicide. He was my childhood friend, an 18-year-old high school senior, and a phenomenal musician.
On Monday, April 11, 2022, Zach died by suicide. He was the son of one of my best friends, a 21-year-old college sophomore, and an amazing singer.
In the gulf between these two events separated by 33 years, I have seen countless young creatives struggle with their mental health. I have been shaken to my very core as I watched young musicians and artists battle drug abuse. On more than one heartbreaking occasion, I have even seen them die from a drug overdose.
The true tragedy of these events is they are not outliers; they are a commonality. According to numerous studies:
Over 50% of musicians report battling symptoms of depression—more than double the rate in the general adult population.
12% of musicians report having suicidal thoughts—nearly four times the rate of the general population.
Half claim to have self-medicated due to their symptoms, overwhelmingly through the abuse of alcohol and drugs.
Only about a third will ever seek professional help.
It’s a staggering catch-22. If you are young and you are an artist, your risk is exponentially higher than the general adult population to experience mental health challenges. Yet if you are young and you are an artist, you also feel more isolated and you are less likely to get the help you need.
The solution lies not in remaining paralyzed with hopelessness, but moving forward with hope.
Today is World Mental Health Day. So today, I filed and received official government paperwork for the formation of CreateWell. The singular goal of this non-profit organization is to empower mental wellness for young creatives. As in any health emergency, the first step is to stop the bleeding. Through an excellent training course developed by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, I became a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid responder earlier this year. I was so impressed by that program that I enrolled in training later this month to become a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor. Once certified as an instructor, I will begin conducting Youth Mental Health First Aid training sessions for teachers, administrators, and supporters of students who are most at-risk: musicians, artists, and actors. My goal is to start scheduling these training sessions after the first of the year, using teacher professional development/training days at high schools around central Ohio.
This is just step one of this journey. If you feel as passionate about this as I do, there will be plenty of opportunity for you to get involved along the way. The full website will go live shortly, but for now you can keep up with CreateWell on social media @createwellorg and sign up for additional details at www.createwell.org.
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” — Edward Everett Hale
Thanks for joining me on this journey... to do something.
#BeTheDifference,
Dwight D. Heckelman
Executive Director @CreateWellOrg
The world is full of kind people... if you can't find one, be one.
