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Be Local: Area mental health officials here to help

By John Sacco for The Observer-Reporter newsroom@observer- 4 min read
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Editor’s note: This is a weekly series focusing on the importance of buying local.

The first week of October is Mental Illness Awareness Week.

Mental stress and its impact on athletes has a hot topic throughout the year as tennis star and champion Naomi Osaka and multi-time Olympic gold medal champion gymnast Simone Biles backed away from competition, citing mental stress and fatigue.

Other high-profile athletes from the past have walked away for similar mental health reasons including multiple-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Michael Phelps, Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Aly Raisman, NFL quarterback Andrew Luck, women’s soccer player Abby Wambach and NBA star Kevin Love, among others.

During the week, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and participants across the United States raise public awareness of mental illness, its symptoms and prevalence in society.

Local agencies and doctors are among those attempting to help those with mental and stressful issues and fatigue.

That group includes:

  • Washington Health Systems, Washington;
  • Mon Valley Hospital, Monongahela;
  • Mental Health Association, Washington County;
  • Washington Care Center;
  • Mental Health Association, Bentleyville;
  • Dr. Michael Crabtree, Ph.D., professor of psychology, Washington & Jefferson College;
  • Michael K. Pecosh, M.Ed., NCC, LPC, owner Pecosh Counseling and Consulting, Canonsburg.

Recent statistics published by the National Institute of Mental Health show:

  • There are an estimated 46.6 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with any mental illness (AMI). This number represented 18.9% of all U.S. adults.
  • The prevalence of AMI was higher among women at 22.3% than men at 15.1%.
  • Young adults aged 18-25 years had the highest prevalence of AMI at 25.8% compared to adults aged 26-49 years at 22.2% and aged 50 and older at 13.8%.
  • The prevalence of AMI was highest among the adults reporting two or more races at 28.6%, followed by white adults at 20.4%. The incidence of AMI was lowest among Asian adults at 14.5%.

Since nearly one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness, chances are, almost everyone knows has a mental illness. They may not even know it is the cause of their suffering. Statistics suggests there are several reasons people are unaware. It’s one of the reasons Mental Illness Awareness Week sets a goal to help people become aware of the diverse symptoms.

Since 20% of people know one who could be suffering from a mental illness, one can help by doing one simple exercise that works better than many of the historical practices: listen without judgment; listen without trying to “fix” the person who is struggling.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness recommends the following steps:

  • Talk to them in a space that is comfortable, where you won’t likely be interrupted and where there are likely minimal distractions. Silence and pauses are ok.
  • Ease into the conversation, gradually. It may be that the person is not in a place to talk, and that is OK. Greeting them and extending a gentle kindness can go a long way. Sometimes less is more.
  • Be respectful, compassionate, and empathetic to their feelings by engaging in reflective listening, such as “I hear that you are having a bad day today. Yes, some days are certainly more challenging than others. I understand.”

Those interested in joining the Be Local Network can contact Chris Slota at 724-225-1326 or by email at chris@belocal.net. Discount cards are available at the Observer-Reporter and Almanac office, 122 S. Main St., Washington.

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