R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Sally and Jeff Olson recall delightful memories of their son in the documentary “Do it For Daniel.”

GLADSTONE — Depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses are medical diseases, and they are treatable.

Such was the message of Jeff Olson’s presentation to the students of Gladstone High School Monday afternoon and to the public later that evening. Jeff has been spreading the word about what he and his family have learned about depression since the disease took his son, Daniel, in 2012, when the 19-year-old completed suicide. Jeff believes the way to help others is to educate and reduce stigma.

Before playing the documentary “Do it for Daniel” — which was about the Ishpeming Hematites’ unbelievable experience during the 2012 football season, when they pulled together to defy odds after immense loss — Jeff addressed the group gathered in the high school auditorium.

When teenage Daniel first came to his parents and told them he was experiencing suicidal thoughts, he had already been struggling in silence with anxiety and depression for years. Jeff explained that he has since learned that the longer a person experiences depression, the frequency of depressive episodes increases, and for that reason, early diagnosis and treatment should be sought.

To make that path easier, he said, it’s important that a person not fear judgment. 15 years ago, when Daniel was getting diagnosed and treated, Jeff explained, he and his wife Sally chose to keep it quiet. They now understand the better response is to talk about it. Ignoring the elephant in the room doesn’t make it leave.

Just like a person with the flu would be expected to have symptoms like aches and fatigue and make efforts to recover like getting rest and taking medicine, a person with depression may have symptoms like difficulty sleeping and hopelessness and may benefit from therapy and medication.

Often, the cause of clinical depression is biological — an imbalance or deficiency in the brain that inhibits certain connections to be made. There are medicines to aid in rectifying that. For most people, a combination of psychological counseling and antidepressants is effective at combating depression, according to Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health, and other leading medical experts.

Because depression is experienced differently by different people, it can take time to identify, find a therapist one is comfortable with, and get on a prescription that works for them. Patience, early treatment, and the strength to continue to talk about what’s going on — so that treatment can be adjusted if needed — are good things to strive for, Jeff encouraged.

Jeff described a few non-mental medical situations that he found comparable. One was about sports-related injuries.

“Growing up, being very active — twist my ankle; it’s all swollen. Bend my thumb back; it’s all swollen. I’d go into the emergency room and get it x-rayed just to check to see if it was broken, and I knew I wasn’t going to get judged.

“It has to be the same with this illness and any other illness,” he implored. “(If) you’re not sure — check. Everyone deserves to be happy.”

While anxiety and depression are very common, certain clinical cases are rarer and more severe. They are also treatable; therefore, the importance of providing paths for those in need of help persists.

Many people do improve and find ways to manage their struggle.

“90% of people who attempt suicide do not go on and die by suicide,” said one interviewee, Carol Ann Swanson, in the Olsons’ documentary. “That’s a really hopeful number. That means that people, after an attempt, may get the help that they need.”

The statistic came from a 2002 systematic review by Owens et. al. published in the British Journal of Psychiatry after studying 90 cases of people who received medical care after suicide attempts. The report, which has been well-reviewed by other sources since, showed that approximately 7% of attempt survivors eventually died by suicide, approximately 23% reattempted non-fatally, and 70% had no further attempts.

“This relatively good long-term survival rate is consistent with the observation that suicidal crises are often short-lived, even if there may be underlying, more chronic risk factors present that give rise to these crises,” reads an article on Harvard University’s Means Matter Campaign webpage.

However, most people who die by suicide did not make a previous unsuccessful attempt, meaning that prevention must start sooner.

Some people interviewed in the Olsons’ documentary said that they had difficulty understanding what Daniel and others with depression were going through. Some said that they even felt angry with Daniel after he died — angry that he had left his family in others in such a horrific condition of shock and trauma afterwards.

But for those who complete or attempt suicide, it’s not a choice — it feels like the only option to get out, others explained. It’s not meant to be selfish and it’s not because they want to die — Jeff said that after his son’s earlier suicide attempts, Daniel said that he didn’t want to die, but he blacked out and all that mattered was getting rid of the pain.

“We talk about the analogy of the people in the World Trade Center, you know, the people that ended up jumping because the heat was so intense,” said Jeff in the documentary. “They didn’t jump because they wanted to die; they wanted to live, but that was the only door available to them. The only other door was to right into that inferno, and they had to escape the pain.”

To break down the metaphorical burning walls that make a person feel trapped, it has to be clear that there is another means of escape. By making it easier to ask for help, by making treatment accessible, that path can be exposed, and lives may be saved.

In “Do it for Daniel,” the Olson family and members of the Ishpeming High School football team and community spoke about Daniel — a boy described as selfless, find, funny, and an exemplary football player who led by example rather than vocally — and the team’s experience playing at Ford Field in Detroit the year Daniel died, emerging from the state championship as the victorious underdog, bolstered by passion and strength and teamwork.

It was about the team’s impressive victory, but it was also about Coach Jeff Olson’s determination to keep saying his son’s name and encouraging others to recognize and address depression when it presents itself.

For students, school counselors, resource officers, teachers and parents are usually good avenues of contact. At doctors’ offices, when a patient vocalizes mental distress, general practitioners can often point them in the right direction by providing a list of potential therapists to contact.

Anyone currently struggling with suicidal ideation may call 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Unaffiliated with the Olsons, but on similar subject matter, a presentation for people in leadership roles who want to help prevent suicide is taking place April 23 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Tickets for that event may be found at https://SSLescanada.eventbrite.com (with a “d,” not a “b” in the word that almost reads “Escanaba”). John Gagnon, board member of the Delta County Suicide Prevention Task Force, will be at the training as a mental health professional. Faith leader Maria Branson will be co-leading the event.