Author to speak at event
By PAUL LaPANN, plapann@newsandsentinel.comPARKERSBURG - Doug Merrill believes physical and mental health go hand in hand.
When a person feels good, he or she thinks more clearly, Merrill said. Physical health can help a person stave off depression, he said.
Merrill, a longtime high school baseball coach in Bowling Green, Ohio, wrote the book "Fighting the Demon of Suicide" in 2008. Merrill's book is based on the eight friends he lost to suicide and how their deaths affected him and Bowling Green. He hopes the book will serve as an educational tool to those who work with youth and their parents.
Merrill will be a guest speaker at Parkersburg's "Out of the Darkness Community Walk" Aug. 1 in City Park. Walkers in the fundraiser and community awareness program that deals with mental health and suicide can register online at outofthedarkness.org or at the park that day at 9 a.m.
Organizers hope the walk, which will be from 10 a.m. to noon, raises at least $20,000. The event will have face painting and music, and is designed for the entire family, said Parkersburg physician Libby Powers, who is coordinating the walk.
This year Merrill formed the Power UP Foundation to provide financial assistance to communities with programs that promote positive physical and mental health. He plans to run from Boston to Key West, Fla., this year and next, raising money for the foundation and speading his positive message at colleges, community organizations and high schools.
Merrill noted that suicide knows no boundaries. If depression and mental illness are left untreated, the results can be devastating, he said. A terrible pain is left behind in loved ones when a suicide occurs, Merrill said.
Depression can be treated through physical activity, medication and counseling, Merrill said. He has made it his life's mission to provide help to others in need.
Local pastor Gary E. Nelson, author of the book "A Relentless Hope: Surviving the Storm of Teen Depression," will be participating in the City Park program, Powers said.
More than 200 people attended last year's walk, which raised $18,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
"Our focus is increasing public awareness about depression and encouraging patients to seek treatment," Powers said. "Money raised goes to local suicide prevention programs, which have been presented in the past several months by our group to many different audiences - health care professionals, students at WVU-P, Wood County school nurses and to the general public."
Proceeds from the walk also will go toward research into understanding the genetic, biological and psychosocial factors that contribute to suicide and for the distribution of an educational film to college campuses, including West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Powers said.
