Visitors to Boston Common came across an unusual scene Monday, as more than a hundred backpacks hung from metal racks spread across the lawn.
The backpacks were empty, but attached to each zipper was a story of a person — a sibling, a child, a friend — who struggled with mental health challenges. Some sought help and found hope. Others were lost to suicide.
The exhibit, called “ Send Silence Packing,” was a touring display highlighting the prevalence of suicide and encourage conversations about mental health.
“It strikes you,” said Margaret Brady of Beacon Hill as she stopped to take in the exhibit while walking her dog, Riley. “It’s quite impactful to read these stories and just look at these backpacks and what they were filled with. Were they filled with hope? Were they filled with sadness? What’s in there, and does it represent what they were feeling and carrying around with them?”
Jim Johnson of North Attleboro pointed to a black and blue backpack with a photo of a smiling teenager.
“This is my son, Kyle,” he said. In the photo, Kyle is wearing a backpack. And he holds up two fingers in a peace sign.
“It’s been six years since Kyle passed,” Johnson said. “And when I look down at an exhibit like this and see his picture, it all flashes right back to us. How fragile life is. And, you know, it seems like it was just yesterday that he was here with us.”
Johnson and his family have created a mental health focused foundation in his memory called KyleCares. Kyle was an active kid and voted funniest in his class, Johnson said. He put up a facade that masked the obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression he was struggling with.
“He got to the point where struggling with mental health and mental health challenges became so exhausting that he came to the decision that taking his own life was the best decision for him to escape his pain,” Johnson said. “And so we work closely with schools to try and make sure that other kids never reach that point.”
The KyleCares Foundation is one of several organizations that worked together to bring this exhibit to the Boston Common. It’s supported by the New England Patriots Foundation, and created by a youth mental health nonprofit called Active Minds.
“I think the gist of all the stories is that you can still get help,” said Josh Kraft, president of the New England Patriots Foundation. “Don’t give up hope. Don’t feel like you’re an outcast because you need mental health support. And we’ve got to destigmatize it. And I think all of us in our lives, just about every human being, goes through periods where their mental health is challenged.”
“We want people to know they’re not alone,” said Joy Sheppard of Active Minds. “There’s so many, not only just resources and organizations that are here to help folks, but your friends, your family, your support circle. So it’s really just finding those things that can help you and being able to reach out and just say, 'I’m not OK,' and know that it’s OK.”
In Massachusetts, suicide is the leading cause of death for kids aged 10 to 14, according to the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health. Across all ages, there were 626 deaths by suicide in Massachusetts in 2022, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
It’s been a little over two years since a new national hotline launched to connect callers to suicide prevention services. Anyone facing a mental health crisis can now just call 988.
“Nationally we’ve had over 10 million impressions. So that’s a combination of chats, texts and phone calls since the launch,” said Scott Gagnon, regional director with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “And what we’re seeing is roughly between 400,000 and 500,000 calls every month nationally that are being answered to 988.”
But a lot of people still don’t know about the hotline. And Gagnon said that’s why exhibits like the one on the Common — which draw attention to suicide prevention, and get people talking about it — are so important.
“I think in years past, something like this might not have happened,” he said. “And we need to do more of this and have it at more places. To make it more normal. One of our goals is that 988 is just as second nature is 911.”
One thing that gives Jim Johnson some hope is that in the six years since his son’s death, he’s seen the stigma start to lift around talking about mental health, especially among young people.
“They want to talk about mental health,” Johnson said. ”They’re comfortable talking about mental health, and they want to sink their teeth into something as advocates to try and support their friends and peers who might be struggling and to find ways to support themselves.”
It’s going to take change at all levels — including teachers, administrators, coaches, parents and friends — to create a culture that gives young people the confidence to ask for help, Johnson said.
