OSU-M exhibit features 1,000 backpacks representing people's battles with suicide

Almost 1,000 backpacks lined the gymnasium floor in a circle Tuesday at the Ohio State University-Mansfield's Campus Recreation Center building to bring awareness to the number of people who have been lost to suicide and those who have survived.

Suicide remains the second leading cause of death among young adults.

The national touring exhibit Send Silence Packing featured almost 1,000 backpacks with attached photos/stories representing the battle that many students face against their own mental health and thoughts of suicide.

The program is designed to connect individuals to mental health resources and inspire action for suicide prevention.

One of the interactive, virtual stations featured a backpack and a story about a young man named Jacob, who ended his life at age 22 during his last year at college.

"He hid it from everyone who loved him," the printed 8-by-10-inch story read. "His depression deceived him into believing that there was no hope and that path was all he would ever feel. He must have felt helpless and hopeless.

"Depression is an illness that alters your thinking and judgment. Often the person affected feels the stigmatism of mental illness so they hide it because they are embarrassed or ashamed instead of seeking help," his information said. "This was the case with Jacob. No one knew he was sick until it was too late."

"Jacob was a loving, bright successful young man who was ready to graduate and had his whole life ahead of him. Depression took that from him and took him from us.

"If you feel alone or feel hopeless, use your voice. Someone will hear you. This is not a battle that you have to fight by yourself. It is one we will win together."

Send Silence Packing employees Kelsey Pacetti and Claire Bernhard welcomed visitors to the exhibit.

Pacetti said the suicide deaths are not all college students in the exhibit.

Pacetti and Bernhard are constantly on the highway driving a large truck with the exhibit for 22 stops including OSU-Mansfield, which marked their 15th stop, hoping to help even just one student.

Pacetti, a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin having majored in social work, said she struggled with depression starting her senior year in high school. She found the Send Silence Packing group at college. She also found her career.

"There's over 700 chapters in the United States," she said.

Rosie Stone and Shefali Shah, both new admissions counselors at OSU Mansfield, came to the exhibit.

"It's overwhelming to see so many backpacks," Stone said. She knows the heartbreak of losing someone to suicide. A cousin died by suicide about two years ago, the Mansfield woman said.

Shah, who came to Mansfield from Maryland, said the exhibit has an important message to share as they signed a memory book before they headed back to their campus offices.

For anyone in crisis, help is available by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir