EAST LANSING, MI — Throughout May, National Mental Health Awareness Month, WKAR TV will present a variety of programming related to depression and other related mental disorders. The televised programming is part of a larger community health awareness campaign sponsored by WKAR and PBS.
In December 2007, WKAR was one of 12 PBS stations nationwide to receive a $5000 grant to sponsor a community health summit on depression. The community summit will take place in mid-May on Michigan State University’s campus and will be attended by educators, counselors, human resource professionals and other facilitators of health programs. The goals of the community summit are to: help people better understand the complexities of the mental illness; educate participants on early diagnosis; reduce stigma associated with depression, and link professionals with current community programs and potential new alliances.
Community partners assisting WKAR with the planning and implementation of the community summit are the Lansing area YMCA, (capital area main branch as well as outlying communities); Lansing Area National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and the Community Mental Health Authority of Clinton/Eaton/Ingham Counties (CMH). NAMI and YMCA are national partners of the project.
The documentary that is a key part to this community outreach effort is the new special Depression: Out of the Shadows, a 90-minute documentary about clinical depression followed by a half-hour panel discussion hosted by Jane Pauley. The program will be broadcast Wednesday, May 21, 9-11 p.m. on WKAR, and tell the dramatic stories of people of different ages, from diverse backgrounds, who live with various forms of clinical depression – and explores its causes and treatments.
On Sunday afternoons at 2:30 p.m., WKAR will feature a variety of related mental health programming. Programs will include The Pain of Depression: A Journey Through the Darkness (May 4); No Ordinary Joe: Erasing the Stigma of Mental Illness (May 11); Men Get Depression (May 18); The Prize (May 25), and Caring for Depression with Jane Pauley (May 25 @ 3:30 p.m.). The programs will repeat the following Wednesdays at 11 p.m.
Specials will also be broadcast Fridays at 8 p.m., on WKAR World throughout the month of May. WKAR World is broadcast on digital channel 23.4 and Comcast channel 904 in Greater Lansing, East Lansing and Meridian Township. Check the online listings for details.
WKAR will also offer a viewers’ kit filled with information related to depression and treatment. For a FREE copy contact, cynthia@wkar.org or call (517) 432-3120, ext. 430.
