“Let’s End the Stigma of Mental Health” Speaking Tour Comes to Hood

On Monday, October 3 2016, the JCK foundation came to Hood to start up the conversation of mental health.

JCK, which stands for John Cleaver Kelly, was a long time sufferer of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and ended up committing suicide because of his struggle with the mental illness. His friend, John Tessitore, another sufferer of OCD, came to Hood College to tell his friends story and how he is motivated to end stigma.

The talk was sponsored by Active Minds, a mental health advocacy group on campus.

The documentary called “Heroes Get Remembered, but Legends Never Die” was created by Tessitore and some of his friends to tell the story of Kelly. Kelly grew up in New York and loved baseball and traveling.

He had a lot of friends and was there for anyone who needed him. People loved Kelly. He was diagnosed with OCD during his 8^th grade year and struggled with the illness until the day he died.

OCD took over his life but he continued smiling. He wanted to make a difference in the world and made sure people knew they were not alone. He cared deeply about others. Some days were better than others, but the intrusive thoughts became too much for Kelly, and he committed suicide in 2011. His death shocked the community, his friends, and family.

His family wanted him to live on, so they created the JCK foundation in his honor. The JCK foundation is part of the movement to end stigma surrounding mental health, and to help spread the word about OCD.

They hold a softball tournament annually, and have even gone to Uganda where they set up a clinic for people struggling with mental illness. The foundation has also been to over 20 colleges to tell his story and fight to end stigma surrounding mental illness.

The most moving part of the night was when Tessitore spoke after the documentary had ended. He came up on stage visibly shaken up and crying.

The death of his best friend was still fresh in his mind. Tessitore spoke about how when he was diagnosed with OCD in his 7^th grade year, Kelly talked to him about his experiences with OCD, and that made Tessitore not feel so alone.

Kelly made it easy to talk about their illness in a society where it is a taboo topic. Their story was inspiring. Tessitore continued with telling the audience that they “Should never stop fighting” and that it was “Up to them to change the stigma”. In a world where ¼ people have a mental illness, we need to be there for each other.

He left us with two important closing points:

1. Do not be afraid to get help.
2. Do not be afraid to give someone help

Mental illness does not discriminate and is a topic that needs to be brought up more especially among the college communities, since we are at a vulnerable in our lives. There is always hope, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. The JCK foundation is making a difference for people struggling with mental illness which is exactly what John Kelly would have wanted.