Ross Szabo

Staff Report

As part of Suicide Awareness and Prevention Week at Los Alamos High School, Ross Szabo will speak at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20 at Duane Smith Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 16, and hospitalized at age 17 for attempting suicide, Szabo resolved to help others understand their own mental illness, that there is no shame in it and that there are ways to get help, heal and get better, by sharing his own experience.

Szabo advocates mental health by talking to hundreds of thousands of young people across the U.S. He is the director of youth outreach for the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign, an organization that was launched at the White House Conference on Mental Health in 1999. They also partnered with MTV in 2001, introducing the first of its’ kind mental health public service campaign for young people. In 2007, Ross and his co-author, Melanie Hall, wrote a book, ‘Behind Happy Faces – Taking Charge of Your Life.’