Marshall FluhartyMaroon Echoes Reporter On Tuesday, October 29th, MPCHS hosted a Mental Health Awareness Night in the high school library. Before a panel of health professionals there was a small fair of booths with information about mental health issues. Each booth had pamphlets of information and ways to contact help for those who need it. While each one has a different agency they were united in the cause of helping people with their mental health and substance abuse. The panelists are all specialists within the mental health community, ranging from physical health to substance abuse. Each one was eager to speak of their jobs and their knowledge on the topic at hand.
Candi Francis, founder of the Heart Correction Therapy Foundation, a faith-based therapy center, explained how she knows the struggles of having a child with mental health issues, and how it ignited her passion for her foundation. Chris Betsworth, a Specialist at Hillcrest Family Services, another a faith-based family-service clinic that strives to increase awareness, provides counseling, therapy, medical management, and crisis services. They help regardless of insurance coverage, said Betswroth. Dr. Sarah Ledger, Family Medicine Physician at Henry County Health Center; wants to support the community and works to identify depression during wellness checks all the time with children. Sometimes Ledger is the missing piece in the path young people need to better mental health. Jerry Lynn Bloom, a therapist at Young House family services, sees kids who have substance abuse problems, often related to mental health issues. She attempts to help the child and the family solve their financial and emotional problems. Jennifer Starr, the founder of the JBR Foundation started the foundation after her brother committed suicide. The goal of JBR is to help others with mental health issues so they don’t go through what her brother did. Ashlei Venghaus, is the MPCHS Guidance Counselor, explained that she was once an elementary school teacher, who saw young children with trauma all the time. She wanted to be the “good guy” for students, and becoming a counselor helped her achieve that. There were a few very deep and insightful questions asked of the panel. Such as what is anxiety? What is the definition and where is the line between anxiety and common worry? Many of the panelists said it involved the fact whether the worry was debilitating or not, whether it caused you to hyper-work or underwork. Another question was asked if bringing up the subject of suicide were going to put those thoughts in someone’s head. Betsworth speaks up first. “It is unequivocally untrue. It does not put those thoughts into someone’s head.” Mrs. Francis spoke her agreement as well. “If someone speaks about ending their lives, ask them if they have a plan,” Mrs. Venghaus followed up that “If they do, I usually follow them to their lockers or have one of my secretaries follow them while I call the emergency room or call their parents to make a plan to send the student there, for their own safety.” The panelists all had very interesting things to say about the topic of mental health, giving valuable insight into how to deal with someone you know who might have mental health issues. The panel is part of the Mount Pleasant community’s effort to improve the conversation around mental health and Trauma-Informed Care.
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November 2020
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