This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Eric Stroup's stepdaughter was 14 when she was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Over the years, more conditions were added to the list including obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
The diagnoses were financially and socially traumatic. One organization helped lessen the blow, Stroup said Monday: the Utah chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The family took classes to learn about their daughter's diseases and how to cope.
"It helps you understand this is a biological illness, like diabetes. And it's not because you're a bad parent that your child is schizophrenic," he said Monday. "If it wasn't for NAMI, it would have been catastrophic for our family."
To show his support, and to do his part to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, Stroup has helped organize a team of about 130 people who will walk in the 7th annual NAMI Walk on Saturday.
The walk is NAMI's main fundraising event. [See details at left and below.] The group, which provides education classes and support groups, hopes to raise $100,000 this year. Ten percent of the proceeds go to the national NAMI organization.
"This is a way to raise awareness and bring the community together to say mental illness is real," said Amber Watkins, NAMI spokeswoman. "This is a way to erase the stigma associated with mental illness."
She said people with mental illnesses, along with their supporters, are encouraged to walk. Registration is free so that everyone affected can participate.
Nationally, an estimated 1 in 4 adults have a mental illness, most commonly anxiety or mood disorders. Stroup, whose wife is on NAMI's board of directors, said it is easy to find someone affected by mental illness if you look.
As an adviser to the fraternity Kappa Sigma at the University of Utah, Stroup has told fraternity members about his daughter, who died three years ago at age 23 due to physical conditions related to her mental illnesses, he said. His point was to show them people their age are affected by mental illness.
The fraternity took on the cause for the past two years, wearing shirts in honor of his daughter, Brittany Lee Olpin.
This year's walk has become more personal for the team: A fraternity brother committed suicide in April. And a member of the sorority Alpha Chi Omega, which is joining the Kappa Sigma team for the walk, also committed suicide this year, Stroup said.
"This is something they don't necessarily talk about, but it is right in their face all the time: Stress, anxiety, mental illness," he added.
—
7th annual National Alliance on Mental Illness Walk
When • Saturday, Sept. 24
Where • Valley Regional Park, 5100 S. 2700 West, Taylorsville
Cost • Free
Check-in • 9 a.m.
Walk begins • 10 a.m.
7th annual National Alliance on Mental Illness Walk
When • Saturday, Sept. 24
Where • Valley Regional Park, 5100 S. 2700 West, Taylorsville
Cost • Free
Check-in • 9 a.m.
Walk begins • 10 a.m. —
Mental illness in Utah
According to several surveys of adults taken between 2004 and 2009:
8.7 percent had depression (compared to 8.7 percent U.S.).
12.6 percent of women who recently had a baby had post-partum depression (14.5 percent U.S.).
19.6 percent had ever been diagnosed with depression, the 9th highest in the country (15.7 percent U.S.)
1.9 percent had experienced serious psychological distress, the lowest percent in the country (3.9 percent U.S.).
12.6 percent had ever been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (11.3 percent U.S.).
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Sept. 2, 2011 report, "Mental Illness Surveillance Among Adults in the United States."