Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation Offers Web Site, DVD
for Teens to Recognize Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Web Site and Award-Winning Video Reach Out
to Teens, Encourage Treatment

WILMETTE, IL, -- The The Balanced Mind Foundation (The Balanced Mind Foundation), an advocacy organization providing education and support for families, has acquired depressedteens.com, an educational site for teens, their parents, and teachers. The site appeals directly to teen audiences, to help them recognize signs of depressive disorders, communicate openly, and seek treatment. It presents information about teen depression and bipolar disorder, and encourages reflection and discussion among young people watching the award-winning film Day for Night: Recognizing Teenage Depression. The Balanced Mind Foundation will also distribute a DVD of the 30-minute film.

"Although the public has become more aware of the seriousness of mental health problems in students, most people do not know that suicide is the third leading cause of death in teens," said Susan Resko, executive director of The Balanced Mind Foundation, "More needs to be done to educate teens about mood disorder symptoms and treatments. 'Day for Night' and the depressedteens.com site present not just information, but also moving testimonials from teenagers who have experienced depression and bipolar disorder."

Depressedteens.com and "Day for Night" were developed by the Depression and Related Affective Disorders Association (DRADA), which requested that The Balanced Mind Foundation carry on its mission of educating teens by taking ownership of the site and distributing the DVD.  The site and film were developed with the assistance of the Rodwell Dart Memorial Foundation, established by Hailey Dart, who lost her son Roddy, a sufferer of manic-depression, on his 22nd birthday. After her son's death, Mrs. Dart began a personal crusade to educate the public, especially other teens, about depressive disorders. "I'm very gratified that the Depressed Teens Web site and the DVD will reach a national audience of teens through The Balanced Mind Foundation," said Mrs. Dart.

"Day for Night" features teenagers who dispel myths about mood disorders by sharing their personal stories of recovery from depression and bipolar disorder. Two prominent experts on depressive disorders are also featured: author and psychology researcher Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., and Paramjit Joshi, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine. It has been screened in high schools throughout the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area.

DRADA was formed 20 years ago in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University and has served the mid-Atlantic region by providing an annual seminar; local support groups DVDs and booklets.

The Balanced Mind Foundation has 25,000 constituents across the country and receives 35,000 unique visitors to its Web site each month.

More than 1 million American children suffer from bipolar disorder, a highly heritable brain illness that affects an individual's ability to regulate mood, energy, behavior, and thinking.  The The Balanced Mind Foundation was established in 1999 to educate, support and advocate for families raising children with bipolar disorder.  At the time, no other mental health organization served the needs of these families.  The Balanced Mind Foundation is a national, not-for-profit organization of more than 25,000 families raising children diagnosed with, or at risk for, bipolar disorder.  Its Web site, www.thebalancedmind.org, provides information and support for parents, including online support, advocacy tools, and a library of the latest research on pediatric bipolar disorder.

CONTACT: For more information about the DVD, contact The Balanced Mind Foundation at cabf@thebalancedmind.org or 847-492-8510.