New York mental health charity hosts events to break the stigma: what to know

Note: The following story deals with topics such as suicide, self-harm and trauma. Support resources for people who are in crisis or have suicidal thoughts can be found at the end of this story.

In 2018, Donna Thomas lost her son to suicide, a year after graduating from Roy C. Ketcham High School. He had never been diagnosed with any mental illness.

“A couple of weeks before she died, we started seeing signs, but we as parents thought they were growing pains,” she said.

He was starting a life of his own, had just bought a new car and was making long-term plans with his girlfriend. He wasn’t sleeping well, so Thomas thought about making him a sound machine and heavy blankets, “never thinking about a mental health disorder,” he said.