Charles Grodin and Cathy Malloy at Laurel House

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When Diane Frost was four years old, she wondered why all her classmates were smiling and having fun when she was so sad.

Debilitating sadness continued to plague her through childhood until she was diagnosed with major clinical depression shortly after starting college.

That she’s learned to manage her illness and become successful “doing what I care about” she largely attributes to Laurel House, a nonprofit agency based in Stamford that has provided support for people with mental illness since 1984.

On Monday, Laurel House celebrated the academic successes of the many individuals it has mentored and to whom it has offered support services to improve their lives. The hourlong "celebration," with speakers talking about the organization, took place at Norwalk Community College, with which Laurel House has had an affiliation since 1989.

The ceremony on Monday honored 12 students, faculty and volunteers, all of whom have contributed to the success of the program,  Pauline Nicholls Anderson, Laurel House’s vice president of development.

Frost was a featured speaker, telling her story with heartfelt emotion. A graduate of both NCC and George Washington University, she works as a peer support professional with Goodwill Industries.

Actor and commentator Charles Grodin gave the keynote address, speaking from personal experience.

“When my father died when I was young, I just remember staring into space for six months and doing nothing,” he said.

His mother sank into a deep depression and his brother, six years older, became manic-depressive.

“I’m on the phone with him every day and we sing songs together, seven days a week. It’s the highpoint of his day,” related Grodin, known for his role in the film “The Heartbreak Kid” and as a commentator for CBS News Radio.

Laurel House collaborates with NCC, the University of Connecticut and Housatonic Community College through the organization's "supported education" program, set up to help people with mental health challenges get through college.

“If Laurel House didn’t exist, we would invent it,” said Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia. One of the featured speakers, the mayor said he was well acquainted with the special needs of people suffering from mental illness because his wife is a psychiatric nurse.

He said the days of stigmatizing people who suffer from depression and bipolar disease are gone, and that it’s recognized that economic stresses can bring on mental difficulties.

“Thirty-day rehab isn’t enough,” he said, citing a 10-year program to end homelessness in Norwalk. “The emphasis needs to be on day-to-day continual care.”

Laurel House’s CEO, Linda M. Autore, said studies show that depression is the No. 1 cause of absenteeism and low productivity in the workplace.

Students who participate in Laurel House’s educational programs become motivated to succeed, she said, with 90 per cent graduating from the courses in which they are enrolled, with an average grade-point average of 3.3.

The nonprofit’s goals are to provide skills for getting along in life and being engaged in the world, she noted.

One longtime supporter of Laurel House sat wordlessly in the audience, listening and applauding for the honorees.

She was Cathy Malloy, the wife of Gov. Dannel Malloy, who said after the program that she would have attended the event had she been “Joe Schmoe” rather than the state’s First Lady.

“Laurel House is our neighbor,” she said.

Malloy said she’d gotten to know and appreciate Laurel House’s good works in her capacity as executive director of the Sexual Assault Crisis and Education Center and, before that, as vice president for development for the United Way of Greenwich and Stamford.

 Referring to herself and the governor, she said, “We are both huge advocates for those with mental health issues.”