Rock Hill grad faced fear, stigma with her depression. Now, she’s helping others.
For years, Rock Hill graduate Megan Hullett was scared to get treatment for her depression. It eventually led to two suicide attempts.
“It was out of fear and the stigma that I didn’t seek treatment,” Hullett said.
Hullett, 24, said she feared the reaction of her husband, friends and family if she admitted having a mental illness. When she was diagnosed with depression, Hullett said it was “almost like a relief” to know what was going on but was still difficult to accept.
“It took a really long time for me to feel comfortable saying it out loud,” she said. “I thought having a mental illness was synonymous with ‘freak’ or ‘crazy.’“
Hullett told her story during a mental health symposium last week hosted by the Rock Hill school district. The event, held at Rawlinson Road Middle School, included school district and community experts.
Hullett said she was bullied often in grade school, being tall for her age even in fifth grade. Hullett graduated from Rock Hill High School in 2011.
“It was difficult all through high school,” Hullett said.
The bullying led to depression and other mental health challenges, which Hullett said she ignored. Hullett said her parents also brushed off what she was going through as typical teenage drama.
“They didn’t allow me to seek help because it was just what you were supposed to go through growing up,” Hullett said.
Fifty percent of children ages 8-15 who experience a mental health condition don’t receive treatment, according to the National Alliance for Mental Illness, or NAMI.
“There seems to be this disconnect that it is either a physical condition or a mental condition,” said Judy Rauppius with NAMI Piedmont Tri-County. “It’s all the same thing. Our health doesn’t stop at the neck.”
When Hullett had her now three-year-old son in 2015, she suffered from postpartum depression and attempted suicide. Hullett attempted suicide again in 2017. Hullett also has a one-year-old son.
Hullett still struggles with cycles of depression and hopelessness.
“I wake up just stuck in a loop,” Hullett said. “I get so lost in what if, what if, what if that I don’t live in what is.”
Hullett is not alone.
According to NAMI, 17 percent of high school students seriously consider suicide and one out of five children experience a mental health condition in a given year.
So far this school year, Catawba Mental Health therapists that serve Rock Hill schools have received 200 referrals, said Jenny Sexton with Catawba Mental Health Services. Of those, 146 cases have been opened for services. In other cases, parents or guardians declined treatment and, in some cases, Catawba Mental Health was not the right place for treatment.
In total, the center currently serves more than 500 Rock Hill students, Sexton said. This year’s referrals include students from all grades.
Catawba Mental health receives referrals from teachers, counselors, school administration and others, Sexton said. The most common diagnoses the center is seeing in students include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, personality disorder traits, self-harm, suicide and mood disorders, she said.
Hullett eventually sought treatment and now speaks to students as a representative with NAMI.
Hullett also started The Angels in Disguise Program, an effort to spread kindness and raise awareness for depression and suicide. Earlier this year, members in the program posted more than 2,000 sticky notes with positive messages written on them in businesses, schools and other areas of the community, she said.
“You never know what one small act of kindness, how it can change someone else’s life or keep them from going over the edge,” Hullett said.
“Today, my success is being able to realize that I am loveable, I have a purpose on this earth and I’m meant to be here,” she said.
Hullett said counselors and people who have supported her made the difference.
“It’s mind-blowing how much people do care,” she said. “That was something I didn’t understand as a teenager or even four years ago. There are people who are willing to be there for you no matter what.”
Resources
- SC Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative: SCYSPI.org, 803-896-4740
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
- Crisis Text Line: Text TALK to 741741
Suicide Prevention Resource Center: sprc.org
National Alliance on Mental Illness: nami.org, 800-950-6264