By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Each year for the past five, Mental Health Consultant and Board-Certified Mental Health Coach Marlo Young has held a Mental Health Awareness Walk to bring before the public many of the problems that plague those with mental health issues or mental illness, and to let them know there’s no shame in admitting they face such a situation.
A couple of years ago, Young added a resource fair where numerous organizations and individuals involved in various areas of mental health have helped enlighten the population on the need to seek treatment for themselves and loved ones when mental problems arise.
The combination seems to be working.
Participation in the walk has varied from year to year, with only about three dozen taking part in the trek from Boxcar Willie Park, down Main Street, to Heritage Park last Saturday, May 17, on a muggy morning. (A few late arrivals delayed the start of the walk for 20 minutes, but the gait was steady when they took to Ridgely Street for the block-long jaunt to the city’s major thoroughfare.)
But the number of shared resources, and the attention most of them have received from the public during the annual resource fair, shows that the tide could be turning.
Ten “information vendors” — ranging from an insurance agent to substance abuse professionals and including those who cater to the needs of veterans and single parents — set up shop at Heritage Park, and about 100 people milled around, visiting at least one, and often several, of the tables set up by the various organizations.
An informal poll of those who manned the booths and tables, many of them from outside Atmore, indicated that “business” was brisk.
“We’ve had a lot of people stop by,” said Bethany Albritton, who handles sexual risk avoidance at the faith-based (and Atmore-based) Women’s Resource Center of Escambia. Rachel Chambers, a local therapeutic artist, displayed some of the work her young clients have created as she painted designs on youngsters’ faces.
Others taking part in the event were Healthy Minds Consulting; EMJ Atmore Outreach; P.E.I.R. (People Engaged In Recovery); Ozanam Charitable Pharmacy; Joe Ray Insurance; Sav-A-Vet Project; Drug Education Council; and SPRAG (Single Parents Raising A Gift).
Many of the participants wore buttons or carried placards imploring those who viewed them to “Stop the Stigma” that accompanies mental illness and forces a lot of individuals to not seek help when they feel a problem coming on.
Doctor of Nursing Practice and Registered Nurse Erica Little, who teaches mental clinical health classes at most of Coastal Alabama Community College’s campuses, said she thinks more people would seek mental health treatment if it weren’t for that stigma.
“Until we treat mental health like physical health, we won’t be able to stamp out the stigma associated with mental illness or mental health, we will not make any strides,” she said. “If a person is afraid of being locked up, that person is not going to seek treatment.”
Little said she hopes the new 988 telephone number for the National Suicide & Crisis Hotline could play a part in helping get that started, especially for those who are on the verge of a mental breakdown or of harming themselves.
“A person can call 988, and their call will be answered within 3 seconds,” she explained. “If it’s a veteran calling, the person can tap ‘1’ and he (or she) will be connected to the station in Mobile within three seconds.”
She provided statistics that show 135 suicides occur daily in the U.S., and pointed out that “1-in-5 adults in the U.S. experience mental problems each year.”
After Young gave someone from each organization a turn at the microphone, and most stepped forth to speak a few words about his or her various group or organization and the type of help available at each, door prizes were awarded to those whose tickets were pulled from a box.
Free hot dogs and the recorded sounds played by Russell Robinson (Dee-Jay Double R) kept many in the park’s shade after the comments and prompted more visits to the informational booths, but the humidity eventually won out and left only the cleanup crew, bringing an end to this year’s awareness program and leaving hope for the future.