Local woman supports mentally ill children, families
By Katie Freeman Contributing Writer

SUBMITTED Lois DeRusha

Westborough - Westborough resident Lois DeRusha enjoys helping people, and she now spends her days helping people cope with mental illness and behavioral problems in their families at the Wayside Youth and Family Support Network in Framingham.

"Raising a kid with a mental illness is a trying task," DeRusha said. "It's very emotional, overwhelming and filled with stigma."

Mental illness afflicted DeRusha's family several years ago. Fortunately, she received a lot of support from throughout her community, but mental illness still strikes fear in people, she said.

"People don't show up at your door with a casserole like they would if your child has diabetes or something," DeRusha said. "When it's a mental illness, people tend to walk away from you."

DeRusha combines her education in sociology and her own personal experiences to help families at Wayside. She is one of four parent-support coordinators at the organization.

Wayside is located in an old house, where DeRusha talks with families and conducts support meetings, which are free and require no insurance. Similar to many family facilities, psychiatrists and counselors are on the premises too. But DeRusha said the parent support coordinator position is an innovative position.

"Most agencies don't have that position," DeRusha said. "As parents of children with mental illness, we need to be around other parents who 'get it.'"

Supporting parents and families is an essential part of her job. Parents need to know the rights their special needs children have in school and at the doctor's office, she said.

"That's what I'm supposed to do, be a little ray of hope for the families when things are looking grim," DeRusha said. "Things do get better; many kids with mental health issues do go on to live pretty normal lives as adults."

The search for good doctors and treatments can be overwhelming for parents. Finding a therapist is difficult because the demand outweighs the supply, but it is important for children to be diagnosed early, she said.

"Children can put themselves and their families in danger by being aggressive at home, when they are more comfortable," DeRusha said.

Sometimes this aggression at home is blamed on bad behavior, which is not always the case, she said.

Wayside provides four different support groups and information about summer camps for children with special needs. The four groups include: a support group for parents, a group for siblings of children with mental illness, a transitional support group for parents of mentally ill children who are entering adulthood, and an online support group.

DeRusha said she could not be more pleased with the career path she is on now.

"I'm able to help more people and see the results of that help fairly quickly," she said.

As for her family's struggle with mental illness, DeRusha said, "None of us sweat the small stuff anymore."