SEATTLE — A Seattle-based nonprofit organization is hoping to break the stigma around mental health and is working to highlight the importance of bringing the subject to classrooms.
Todd Crooks, the creator of mentalhealthinstruction.org, remembers his son Chad, who in 2016 ended his life at 21 years old after struggling with schizophrenia.
"He was brilliant. He was funny. He was creative. And he had an incredible scientific mind," Crooks said.
"His design was to be in mechanical engineering and get a job at NASA."
Chad's creativity was visible in his artwork; his zeal for science was evident in his career goals.
"While he was fortunate that he was willing to get treatment and do whatever it took to get better, he really lost hope," Crooks said.
Grieving, Crooks and his wife, Laura, turned to solutions and explored preventative programs so that other parents don't go through the same thing. Their "ah ha" moment came while remembering an instance when Chad was in the emergency room.
"The first thing that he said, 'Can you please tell my brothers and my sister that I'm just staying at my friend's house.' He didn't even want his siblings to know that he was struggling with a mental health issue, even though we all knew it. And we realized in that moment that stigma was a big problem," Crooks said.
Chad Crooks' dad remembers him as brilliant, funny and creative
The father also realized there was no mental health education in schools. To reverse the stigma, Crooks knew it needed to start in the classroom.
His nonprofit organization, Chad's Legacy Project, was already raising awareness of mental health. Now, mentalhealthinstruction.org, an online library of study materials, is expanding to teach kids the importance of mental health.
"So it's kind of like taking all of those different programs and putting them in a silver platter for a teacher," Crooks said.
Crooks believes physical and mental health should be integrated into education and shouldn't just be a service. Teachers may access the online library for free. He said he knows his son, is watching.
"I think he does know, and I think he's proud," Crooks said.
Mentalhealthinstruction.org is undergoing an upgrade, and that version will be live soon. For now, teachers and families can take a look at the site for more information.