Lee Thompson Young’s started a foundation in honor of her son to address the stigma around mental health.
Young died by suicide at the age of 29. He became first known as the lead of Disney Channel’s The Famous Jett Jackson and continued in film and television up until 2013 with his last role on TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles. Young was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his teen years and managed it with therapy and medication until his death.
His mother, Velma Love, established the Lee Thompson Young Foundation in 2014 after recognizing the need for proper discussion and support about mental health.
“Losing Lee was a tremendous shock, and immediately it brought to my mind the need for more education about mental illness, especially the stigma associated with it,” she said to Healthline. “We [wanted] to do something to help other people and prevent other families from losing someone by suicide.”
One of the foundation’s programs to address mental health stigma is its MIND program for schools. Through these programs, children are taught techniques for resilience, such as recognizing and meeting their basic needs, awareness of self, others and the environment, and recognizing changes in thought and behavior patterns, according to NaviPsych owner and executive director of the Lee Thompson Young Foundation Stephanie E. Johnson. Johnson also developed the foundation’s 5-week Emotional & Resilience Training Program.
The foundation is also working with Behavioral Health Consulting Services and its founder, Asha Tarry, LMSW, CLC, to bring Tarry’s mindfulness videos to Lee Thompson Young Foundation Facebook page members for free. The goal is to target college students, who Johnson said is a “vulnerable group.”
“This is geared towards college students because there is not enough support for them as they transition out of high school and go to college. They are a vulnerable group right now,” she said. “We want to provide something easy to access that will help them self-regulate and self-empower.”
The Foundation is also providing Emotion Coaching for Parents from The Gottman Institute for free, and are working with the AAKOMA Project to offer 20 teletherapy sessions to people who “are looking to get help right away,” said Johnson.
“When people are in crisis, it’s about surviving and meeting the basic needs of food, shelter, and safety,” she said. “This program allows people to get mental health support without them having to think about it or stress about it and create more anxiety around it.”
If you or someone you know is suffering from suicidal ideation, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8225 or visit the lifeline’s website.
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