South Elgin student project helps raise awareness about mental illness

Corinne Figueiredo sank into depression when she was 9 years old, triggered by her grandfather's death of pulmonary fibrosis.

"He was my best friend, basically. I looked up to him. He just passed suddenly and that was really it," said Figueiredo, now 16, of Bartlett, and a junior at South Elgin High School.

Having a hard time coping with her anxiety, Figueiredo hit rock bottom, got into a big argument with her parents and left home.

After undergoing therapy, Figueiredo learned how to control her anxiety and started taking medication for her depression.

"Talking and having people by your side got me through everything," she said.

The experience prompted Figueiredo to research organizations that help teenagers suffering from depression and anxiety as a health class project. She and her classmates raised $900 at school and in the community for Staten Island-based nonprofit, Freedom from Fear, which advocates for people with mental illnesses.

Group founder and director Mary Guardino said she was touched by the students' compassion and plans to use the money to put on a youth play about mental illnesses and make a video of it for wider distribution.

"This is an incredible story, particularly in today's world where so many young people have forgotten the mission of being humanitarians," Guardino said. "They should be very proud in that school, and the parents should be very proud."

Guardino's organization will be raising $5,000 and applying for a matching grant to start a drama therapy program for children and adolescents.

"So many kids are suffering with the same disorders as adults have, and they don't get help," she said. "They start to use drugs and self medicate."

Figueiredo hopes her school's contribution can help raise more awareness about these issues and provide hope for other teens.

"I don't want those kids to feel the same way that I felt," she said. "It's not the end of the world. It may seem like that now, but it's not. Getting help was actually the best decision of my life. It actually made me a better person. I'm happier."