POULSBO — It is safe to say that speaker Ross Szabo hit a nerve with many North Kitsap High School and Spectrum Community School students.

Szabo, the Director of Youth Outreach for the national mental health awareness campaign, visited North Kitsap last week to talk to teens about mental health issues. In a period when the school district has experienced three suicides in the past year, his timing couldn’t have been better.

“You guys know there’s a lot of (mental health) problems,” Szabo said, as he addressed students at North Kitsap Auditorium Nov. 20. “So why don’t young people want to talk about those problems?”

“They’re embarrassed,” one student said.

“They think they don’t need help,” said another.

“They can’t find people they trust,” yelled another.

“All of these problems are part of a larger stigma,” Szabo said. “In our society we focus on external things. I will talk about things that are internal; thoughts, feelings and emotions, things that affect all of us.”

Using anecdotes along the way, including impersonations of Chris Farley’s famous “Saturday Night Live” character Matt Foley and wrestling and entertainment star “The Rock,” Szabo’s speech drove home a specific point: you cannot be afraid to share inner-feelings with those you trust.

Diagnosed as bipolar and manic depressive when he was 16, Szabo used his personal story — including how he once tried to kill himself — to demonstrate his point.

“I thought that I could handle everything on my own,” he said. “But I hated myself … I wouldn’t be alive today if I hadn’t embraced the individual I am and if I hadn’t sought help.”

Medicine and treatment can help in dealing with mental illness. But in Szabo’s estimation, embracing individuality can be the best medicine.

“It’s hard to be different in a world where we don’t talk about our differences,” he said.

By identifying individual traits and being able to spot possible problems, Szabo said he believes lives can be saved.

“I hope none of you will have to go through (mental health problems),” he said. “But chances are you know someone who has … but we can survive these things.”

The vast majority of people who consider suicide exhibit warning signs, he added.

“The problem is we need to learn the warning signs,” he said.

In an era where mental health problems are better understood, Szabo said treatment has vastly improved as well.

“We’ve learned more about the brain in the past three years than in the past 2,000,” Szabo commented.

There is also a large difference between “sadness” and “illness,” he added.

“Life is about ups and downs and good days and bad days,” he said. “But when ups and downs and good days and bad days stop you from doing the things you want to do … that’s a problem.”

Szabo said ultimately, he hopes teens can learn to understand each of their peers’ differences, and should showcase their own, as well.

“On some levels, everyone’s a freak,” he added. “So I say embrace your freakishness.”