
Helpful Information for Journalists
HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR JOURNALISTS
Resources for Media and Journalists
We support journalists and their reporting by providing well-researched guidance on covering mental health topics. Please review the library of resources provided here.
Reporters seeking additional information, or mental health subject matter experts, should send requests to outreach@mharslc.org.

Additional Guidelines for Journalists
Suicide Reporting
Responsible reporting on suicide has the power to save lives. How you shape a story will minimize suicide contagion for vulnerable individuals and increase awareness of this major public health issue.
Ohio Suicide Reporting Guidelines
Issued by Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, OhioMHAS
Mental Health Reporting
Journalism Resource Guide on Behavioral Health
Issued by The Carter Center and Emory University
Includes guidance for reporting on both mental health and substance use.
Also see The Carter Center’s online resource library for mental health journalism.
Guide for Reporting on Mental Illness
Issued by The University of Washington and Harris and Smith Public Affairs
Guidelines for Reporting on Violence and Mental Illness
The majority of people who live with a mental health condition are non-violent. Research shows that the manner in which media reports on mass shootings or other violence can contribute to contagion (copycat behavior). Responsible reporting can educate the public and reduce the risk of future violence.
Mindset Reporting on Mental Health
Developed for Canadian journalists, with insights to questions like “Why is stigma an issue for journalists?”
Need background information, statistics, research, or infographics?
The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers background information, research, infographics and statistics, and other useful information for journalists covering mental health.
CHECKLIST FOR JOURNALISTS
Before submitting your story, did you consider these three important questions?:
- Is mental illness or substance use relevant to the story?
If it is not meaningfully linked to the story, there is no need to mention it. Avoid speculation and the generalized belief that behavioral health conditions explain unusual acts or behavior.
- What is your source for the mental illness and substance use diagnosis? If someone’s mental and substance use disorder is relevant, make sure your source is authorized to share health information about the person, and the person’s lived experience, and that the information is accurate.
- What is the most accurate language to use?
Describe the individual first as a person who also is living with a specific behavioral health issue.
Before submitting your story on suicide death, did you:
- Use preferred language? (e.g., “died by suicide” or “took his/her own life;” not “committed suicide.”
- Use objective, non-sensationalistic language to describe the suicide death?
- Exclude details about method, location, notes or photos from the scene?
- Focus on the life of the person versus the death and method?
- Frame suicide as a preventable form of death?
- Indicate that suicide is always caused by multiple factors?
- Convey that suicidal thoughts and behaviors are not weaknesses or flaws and can be reduced with support and treatment?
- Ensure all links contain reliable information?
- Consult a mental health or suicide prevention expert? (Locally, contact outreach@mharslc.org to reach subject matter experts.)
- List suicide warning signs and local resources?
Addiction Reporting
Use Judgment-Free Language When Speaking of Addiction
Michael Botticelli, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, is working to standardize federal communication about addiction and get rid of negative terms. “For a long time, we’ve known that language plays a huge role in how we think about people and how people think about themselves,” he says. “Words have to change so attitudes change.”
Mr. Botticelli notes that calling addiction a “habit” is not accurate, making it sound as trivial as nail biting. Calling people “clean” when they do not take drugs implies they are dirty when they do use drugs, he says. Urine samples that show evidence of drug use are often referred to as “dirty urine.”
“I can’t think of a more telling example of judgmental terminology,” he says. “We don’t say for a diabetic whose blood sugar spikes that they have a ‘dirty blood sugar.’”
Addiction Resources
StopAlcoholAbuse.Gov is your gateway to comprehensive research and resources on the prevention of underage drinking.
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
Founded in 1987 as an anti-drug advertising campaign and formerly known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, we are a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing teen substance abuse and helping families impacted by addiction.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse
NIDA’s mission is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction.
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Helpful Information for Schools
HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS
Resources for Teachers, Students, and Administrators:
If a child in your school is struggling with mental health concerns, either personally or in their family, you can help them connect to services.
If your school has an onsite clinician or counselor, that person can help teachers or administrators make a referral for a child. The clinician will contact the child’s parent or caregiver for permission to conduct a screening or consultation. Often, the clinician then will meet with the child and talk to the parents and teachers to determine what service might be appropriate and available, and can provide information to the parent to connect to the service.
In schools where there is no school-based clinician, teachers can follow their internal policy for referrals.

Other Education Resources
FREE Trainings in basic suicide prevention, Mental Health First Aid, and more
Request a Speaker. Tell us your need, and we will match a speaker to your request.
Helpful Publications
Behavioral Health Toolkit: Best Practices and Resources for Lorain County Schools
This toolkit was designed to provide information to educators and administrators regarding the best practices and policies that can help Lorain County middle and high schools to reduce risk of student suicide or substance abuse among students. In addition to providing information about what school’s need in order to better prepare, the tool kit includes information about resources that exist right now in Lorain County to assist schools in improving school readiness.
It includes information to help you assess your school’s readiness for averting a behavioral health crisis. It also includes information on effective behavioral health policy, professional development, student education programs, and resources for parents and students.
This toolkit was created through a collaborative effort of the Lorain County Partners, including the Lorain County Board of Mental Health, the Lorain County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Board, the Lorain General Health District, the Elyria City Health Department, with assistance from staff from the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake, Vermilion, and Amherst school districts.
Addiction Resources
StopAlcoholAbuse.Gov is your gateway to comprehensive research and resources on the prevention of underage drinking.
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
Founded in 1987 as an anti-drug advertising campaign and formerly known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, we are a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing teen substance abuse and helping families impacted by addiction.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse
NIDA’s mission is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction.
Search Our Library of Information by Topic
Mental Health Resources
Psychological First Aid Guide
The Psychological First Aid Guide is a resource of interventions designed to assist students, faculty and staff in the event that they may experience natural disasters or acts of violence. The guide includes removable worksheets and handouts that list important things to consider when providing support and assistance in a campus environment. The worksheets and handouts cover various issues including PFA core actions, a checklist of services, tips for self-care and relaxation, as well as individual tip sheets for adults and families and pre-school, school-age and adolescent children and youth.
Helping Youth after a Community Trauma: Tips for Educators community
Traumatic events, such as a natural disaster, school violence or the traumatic death of a peer or educator, can affect student’s learning, behavior and relationships. The tip sheet lists common reactions educators might see in the students with whom they work and suggestions on how them may help.
Suicide Postvention
This document recognizes and builds upon the skills and resources inherent in school systems. Schools are especially resilient and resourceful organizations whose staff members may be called upon to deal with crisis on any given day. Schools can be a source of support and stability for students and community members when a crisis occurs in their community.
These suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention guidelines are designed for schools to use within existing protocols to assist students who are at risk and intervene appropriately in a suicide related crisis. The purpose of these guidelines is to assist school administrators in their planning. These guidelines do not constitute legal advice, nor are they intended to do so.
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How to talk to your child about suicide
HELPFUL INFORMATION
How to talk to your child about suicide
It’s OK to acknowledge that this is a tough subject: “You know, I never thought this was something I’d be talking with you about, but I think it’s really important.”
If a child has lost a friend to suicide, they really need your support. The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide has advice on how to help your loved ones, including ways to cope when your child’s friend dies by suicide, preparing your child to attend the funeral of a friend, and ways to help keep your child safe, even when you don’t know for certain what they are thinking and feeling.
Find resources for parents here: www.sptsusa.org/parents.
Also, download this Headspace Sheet about how to talk to young people about suicide.
[Another Headspace resource: What is mental health?]Watch: It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask Video
In Lorain County, if anyone is experiencing a mental health crisis, call the hotline at 1-800-888-6161.
Things you can do to support the children or teens in your life:
Discover if your teenage child is depressed or anxious.
Take our quick online quiz! This does not replace medical/health intervention, but it can give you a place to start for finding resources.
Make sure that the Crisis Text Line number is in your child’s contact list on their phone: 741741.
This is a free, confidential resource that people of any age can use to help them in a distressing moment. Sometimes, youngsters need someone to talk to, and even if you and your child have a very strong relationship with open communication, research shows that they may not turn to you when they need to talk about potentially life-threatening concerns. Make sure they have the Crisis Text Line (741741) in their phone, and encourage them to use it.
Talk to your child about all of the digital resources below, and encourage them to download these apps and numbers to their phone. They can use these resources when they are distressed, or to get advice about how to help a friend who is distressed.
Explore These Resources

Helpful Information for Youth
HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR YOUTH
Step Up ... Step In ... #BePresent Make a difference for close friends, siblings and classmates!
#BePresent on Snapchat @bepresentohio
#BePresent IRL (ask your school or church to do peer-to-peer trainings so that you can learn how to support someone who is struggling with mental health concerns or addiction)
If one of your classmates seems sad, lonely or depressed, or is cutting, drinking or drugging; if you’ve had a suicide in your school, a problem with drugs or addiction in your neighborhood or family; or if you’re generally concerned the emotional health of yourself or another young person, we can help. Here’s where to go:

GET HELP
Crisis Numbers
If you are worried that a friend is struggling with suicidal thoughts or addiction, but you are also worried that “telling on them” will make your friend upset, remember: it is better to lose a friendship than a friend. But honestly, they will probably be grateful to get the help they need, and know that you were looking out for them.
Put these in your phone
How to talk to your child about suicide
Talking -- directly, non-judgmentally, and with compassion -- with a child about...

More to Know
Find what you need in Lorain County by searching United Way 211
Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Network
The Truth: Let’s Finish Smoking for Good
View More Helpful Videos
More Helpful Information for Youth
Search Our Library of Information by Topic

Helpful Information for Parents
HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
Things you can do to support the Children or Teens in your life
Discover if your teenage child is depressed or anxious. Take our quick online quiz! How Are You Feeling?
Find an agency that serves the mental health needs of children and/or teens in our Services Directory. Or, if you want personalized help finding the mental health or addiction resources you need, call the Navigator at 440-240-7025.
If you or a family member are experiencing a mental health crisis, call 1-800-888-6161.
Register for the next Mental Health First Aid for Youth training or request a basic suicide prevention class. It is completely free, and gives you the skills to recognize a child’s need and support them. View Training Opportunities!

Learn More About Mental Illness and Addicition
Heroin and Opiates in Lorain County
Marijuana Talk Kit: What you need to know to talk to your teen about marijuana
Youth and Marijuana Use – Impacts on Brain, Development and Public Safety DFAA
Project DAWN (overdose prevention and Nalaxone kits)
Hidden in Plain Sight from Power to the Parent
National Night of Conversation Resource Kit
Vaping / E-cigarettes: What you need to know from Kids Health
For more resources, see our full Library of Information by Topic.

More Helpful Information for Parents
Search Our Library of Information by Topic

Morning Journal | October 11, 2019 | MHARS Board expands student-led “You Belong” program to four new schools
The Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County received a record 14 grant proposals from local middle schools to bring the student-led “You Belong” program to their campuses for the 2019-2020 school year, and is honoring all 14 requests.
Four schools applied for the first time, including Avon Lake’s Learwood Middle School, Columbia Middle School, South Amherst Middle School and North Ridgeville Academic Center, according to a news release.
Funded by mini-grants from the MHARS Board, youth leaders and teacher mentors at each school propose school practices or policies to improve the sense of belonging and safety experienced by students, the release said.
“You Belong” was developed five years ago, with a pilot of just 61 student leaders across four schools.
Its goals are to promote positive school culture, increase connectedness and resilience among students, in order to improve overall health and buffer students from the development or exacerbation of mental health symptoms.
“I am already sensing the excitement and energy from our newly granted schools,” said Elizabeth Wolanski, director of Child and Adolescent Services with the MHARS Board. “The students and their adult supporters are ready to bring a youth-led component to their social and emotional programming.”
“The Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services Board is seeing not only a record number of proposals for this middle-school program, but more requests for staff and student mental health education,” said Elaine Georgas, interim director. “We offer multiple well-researched curriculums on mental health for school personnel and students of all ages.”
The 14 awarded schools are:
• First year schools:
Learwood Middle School (Avon Lake City Schools)
Columbia Middle School (Columbia Local Schools)
South Amherst Middle School (Firelands Local Schools)
North Ridgeville Academic Center (North Ridgeville City Schools)
• Second year schools:
Avon Middle School (Avon Local Schools)
Durling Middle School (Clearview Local Schools)
•Third year school:
Keystone Middle School (Keystone Local Schools)
• Fourth year schools:
Eastern Heights Middle School (Elyria City Schools)
Langston Middle School (Oberlin City Schools)
Southview Middle School (Lorain City Schools)
• Fifth year schools:
General Johnnie Wilson Middle School (Lorain City Schools)
Longfellow Middle School (Lorain City Schools)
Midview Middle School (Midview Local Schools)
Brookside Middle School (Sheffield/Sheffield Lake City Schools)
The mission of the MHARS Board is to improve the well-being of our community by establishing and maintaining an effective, efficient and quality system of addiction and mental health services in Lorain County.
Residents will have access to the most progressive mental health and substance use disorder treatment, prevention and recovery support services available.
For more information, visit mharsloraincounty.org.
Morning Journal | October 14, 2019 | Most local alcohol retailers pass compliance checks for underage drinking laws
Fifty-six out of 64 Lorain County alcohol retailers passed the most recent secret-shopper style compliance check conducted by a coalition of health and law enforcement officials to combat underage drinking, according to a news release from the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County.
Multiple convenience stores, gasoline stations, drug stores, grocers and taverns in Amherst, Elyria, Lorain, North Ridgeville and Wellington were in compliance with laws on the sale of alcohol by properly checking the age of the potential buyer and asking for identification, the release said.
“Preventing underage substance misuse is a major local health priority,” said Elaine Georgas, interim director of the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services Board. “Early alcohol or drug use can prime a young person’s brain to be more likely to experience addiction later in life.”
Area police departments, the Ohio Investigative Unit and the MHARS Board with the Sober Truth On Preventing Underage Drinking Task Force (STOP Task Force) partner to conduct these compliance checks on a regular basis to help combat underage drinking, the release said.
In Lorain County, more teens in sixth through 12th grades report using alcohol than any other substance, according to 2017 STOP surveys, the release said.
Also, over one-third of young adults ages 18 to 20 reported frequent use of alcohol.
“With local law enforcement, we conduct random compliance checks across Lorain County, to help ensure that our community is supporting a drug-free culture for our kids,” said Deborah Kelley, who coordinates Communities That Care, Lorain County’s Drug Free Community Coalition.
If a retailer does not pass the compliance check, the arm of law enforcement that is onsite immediately issues a citation to the clerk who made the sale.
Alternately, local police departments can send the complaint to the Ohio Investigative Unit for review to issue a citation after the fact, according to the release.
To help vendors become or stay compliant, the Underage Drinking Task Force and MHARS provide merchant education and training on responsible alcohol sales and are working to develop and disseminate tool kits and resource packets to alcohol retail outlets, the release said.
Certificates of appreciation are being presented to compliant businesses by members of the Underage Drinking Task Force this week.
The mission of the MHARS Board is to improve the well-being of the community by establishing and maintaining an effective, efficient and quality system of addiction and mental health services in Lorain County, the release said.
Residents will have access to the most progressive mental health and substance use disorder treatment, prevention and recovery support services available.
For more information, visit mharsloraincounty.org.

Solace Lorain County holds its last meeting
SOLACE will no longer be meeting as of Wednesday, November 13, 2019. SOLACE Lorain County began in 2012 due to the impact of the opioid epidemic. It was inspired by the SOLACE groups that formed in southern Ohio to provide comfort and support for families who lost loved ones to opiates and other drugs. The Lorain County group morphed to become more of a support for families with loved ones still in active addiction and in early recovery. The leaders of this group also poured their hearts into advocacy by manning information tables, telling their stories and comforting family members who didn’t know where to turn. While the ending of SOLACE is bittersweet, it is wonderful that many other supports have developed to meet the needs of families struggling with addiction, recovery and loss. A sincere thank you to all who were involved in SOLACE, held a hand, told a story, and shared strength. You paved the way. You reduced stigma.
If you are in need of support related to a loved one’s addiction, please consider the following resources:
The LCADA Way Family Education and Support Group: (440) 989-4900 (loved one does not have to be a client of LCADA)
Let’s Get Real Family and Kids Group (runs concurrently): (440) 963-7042
Al-Anon: www.ohioal-anon.org
Families Anonymous: www.familiesanonymous.org

Recovery Rocks
Recovery Rocks at FireFish Festival Get messy and show your support for addiction and mental health services by painting a recovery rock. Schedule of all events here: http://www.firefishfestival.com/
Learn More